Vocally speaking, soprano Angela Gheorghiu is at an odd stage in her career, judging from this exciting, enjoyable recital. Her beautiful, dark-hued, grainy voice seems to gain in stature and size with each CD, and here she sounds as if she’s growing out of an aria like “Caro nome” (if it ever quite fit to begin with) and into the heavier Verdi roles, such as the two Leonoras and Aida. Her “Pace, pace” is just wonderful, with the final phrase taken correctly in one breath, soaring up to a big, bold B-flat. “Tacea la notte” and its cabaletta are just as good, sung with ease and great depth of understanding. “O patria mia” seems to hold no fears for her either, with the important high C sung almost softly. Her Vespri “Bolero” is bright and fluent, Amelia’s aria from Boccanegra meltingly lyrical. Both “Tu che le vanita” from Don Carlo and the “Willow Song” and “Ave Maria” from Otello are absolutely comfortable for her as well, and she has an innate sense of the structure of these two big scenes–and Riccardo Chailly’s sympathetic but tight leadership certainly helps. One wonders what the Aida and Forza arias would sound like in the opera house now: can she carry over a big orchestra? I guess that’s not our problem–on CD, at least, she’s totally captivating.
