I have now read two reviews by esteemed, albeit British, colleagues who adore this recital; I must disagree, at least in part. I am second to no-one in my admiration for soprano Angela Gheorghiu; I love her way with words, the “grain” that goes through her voice enchants me, and her use of dynamics is never less than intelligent and alluring. As a Verdi soprano she is growing handsomely; as the voice matures, if she continues to take care of it, she probably will be an ideal Leonora, Amelia, Elisabetta. On this CD, however, she takes on the bel canto, and while her technique turns out to be (just about) up to the difficult, specialized music’s demands, often she simply doesn’t quite make it.
This is not to say that she’s ever entirely off–except perhaps as Rossini’s Rosina, whose aria comes across as a humorless threat (Callas was less than a hoot in this aria too, with forced humor, but the words were so well colored that just listening to it was a treat); and as Donizetti’s Lucia (the first act cavatina and cabaletta), where she seems under-rehearsed and the aria insufficiently understood. Furthermore, the pyrotechnics near its end are weirdly off key, and in general, Gheorghiu sounds as if she’d rather be elsewhere during the whole selection. And perhaps it’s precisely the fascinating texture of her voice that keeps her Bellini from being ideal, but she simply sounds wrong at least half the time, and it’s not for want of trying, keen intelligence, or study.
Despite the well-inflected feelings in “Casta diva” and a fluent cabaletta, she doesn’t sound like a born Norma; the scene may be well done, but would the rest of the opera suit her? I doubt it. Her Puritani cavatina is beautifully sad and the “Vien diletto” nicely manic (with a rock solid high E-flat at its close), but conductor Evelino Pido spoils it and the Norma scene by imposing a cheap concert ending on each. The William Tell aria is gorgeous; Mathilda might just suit her to a tee. “Ah non credea” also contains requisite melancholy, but shorn of “Ah non giunge” it seems anticlimactic. Brilliantly successful is the Bolena final scene; Gheorghiu’s inherently dark tone is just right for the character. Ditto for Pamira’s scene from L’Assedio di Corinto, with its intimate, introspective mien and the soprano’s wise use of chest voice in the recitative. She also embellishes its vocal line tastefully. So what do we have here? A series of interesting experiments, I’d say, some successful, some ill-advised and downright uncomfortable. Just because a soprano can sing all the notes in an aria doesn’t mean she ought to do it, and while it’s nice that Gheorghiu is avoiding being pigeon-holed, that doesn’t excuse a Rosina who sounds like Lady Macbeth.
