Verdi Heroines - Angela Gheorghiu

• Vespri siciliani (1855) Merce' dilette amiche
• Don Carlo (1867) Tu che le vanità conoscesti
• Rigoletto (1851) Guartier Maldé
• Rigoletto (1851) Caro nome che il mio cor
• Aida (1871) Qui Radames verra'

Amazon.co.uk The voice of Angela Gheorghiu defies categorisation. To call her a lyric soprano would be to ignore the rich power of her lower register. To suggest that she is a spinto doesn't do justice to the near-incredible flexibility and agility that she brings to coloratura passages. But on this album of arias from the middle and late Verdi operas Gheorghiu demonstrates that not only does she have a voice of awe-inspiring beauty, with a range of colour and expression unequalled by almost any other singer, she has a dramatic instinct for the truth of a role which simply leaps off the recording. She expresses all the joy of Elena's bright hopes (I vespri Siciliani) with infectious breathlessness--but is equally capable of producing heart-breaking pathos for Desdemona's "Willow Song". Her interpretations of these arias bear comparison with those of any previous singers, Sutherland and Callas included. The orchestra is also excellent, and Chailly brings out the best from the players: the opening to Amelia's aria from Simon Boccanegra for example, conjures up a moonlit seascape with cinematic vividness. --Warwick Thompson Product description Angela Gheorghiu - Verdi Heroines - CD