LOS ANGELES―The most prominent Romanian opera singer, soprano Angela Gheorghiu, showcased great operatic heroines at the Los Angeles Opera on March 17.
Often compared to Maria Callas, Gheorghiu is mostly known for her strong dramatic voice and the way she colors her voice's lower register. Her performance was expressive and with good voice projection. She sang beautifully throughout but excelled with Verdi and Puccini, her favorites. Accompanying Gheorghiu was the lively Los Angeles Opera Orchestra conducted by Eugene Kohn.
Gheorghiu has a stunning stage presence augmented by her beauty and elegance. She made her stage entrance in a beautiful bright red dress, and made a number of changes into equally elegant dresses as the performance progressed. In "Pace, Pace Mio Dio" from La Forza del Destino (Giuseppe Verdi) Gheorghiu dazzled the audience with her sparkling gray gown.
There was a cultural feel to the evening as many in the audience were her Romanian fans, who were more than animated in their cheers and enthusiasm.
The program songs and orchestral pieces included: Hungarian March from The Damnation of Faust (Hector Berlioz), "The Jewel Song" from Faust (Charles Gounod), "Pleurez Mes Yeux" from Le Cid (Jules Massenet), Beatrice and Benedict Overture (Hector Berlioz), "Adieu, Notre Petite Table" from Manon (Jules Massenet), Habañera from Carmen, (Georges Bizet), Overture to Le Maschere (Pietro Mascagni), "In Quelle Trine Morbide" from Manon Lescaut (Giacomo Puccini), "Chi il Bel Sogno di Doretta" from La Rondine (Giacomo Puccini), Sicilian Vespers Overture (Giuseppe Verdi), "Pace, Pace Mio Dio" from La Forza del Destino (Giuseppe Verdi), and "Un Bel dí Vedremo" from Madama Butterfly (Giacomo Puccini).
Gheorghiu started strong by singing first in French and later in Italian to copious applause and several shouts of "Bravo!" after each aria. She added some unexpected excitement by dancing to Habañera from the opera Carmen, the crowd's favorite.
Gheorghiu and conductor Kohn displayed great chemistry together on stage.
Kohn conducted with energy and gusto while carefully synchronizing the orchestra with Gheorghiu's changing rhythm and pace. He was outstanding in his conducting of the Overture to Les Vêpres Siciliennes by Giuseppe Verdi.
Each piece performed was followed by overflowing applause and shouts of appreciation. Her final piece, Madama Butterfly, brought down the house. Gheorghiu took one rose from the bouquet of flowers she received and gave it to conductor Kohn.
However, Gheorghiu's fans wanted more. Their persistence paid off with five additional encores: "I Could Have Danced All Night" from Alan Jay Lerner and Fredrick Loewe's My Fair Lady, "Granada" by Agustín Lara, "Muzica" by Grigorio, "O Mio Babbino Caro" from Giacomo Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (with conductor Kohn at the piano), and "Non Ti Scordar di Me" by Ernesto De Curtis.
After what seemed like unending standing ovations, Gheorghiu finally took the Concertmaster (first violinist), Stuart Canin, and walked off stage while vigorously saluting the audience.
Angela Gheorghiu later met with hundreds of her fans in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion's lobby to autograph her CDs.