Angela Gheorghiu Pays Homage to Maria Callas on EMI

Now that the vast majority of operatic recordings made by Maria Callas are in the public domain, EMI Classics needs to figure out how to keep profiting from its #1-selling artist. How do you do that when said artist has been deceased since 1977? Perhaps the answer lies in taking one of the current divas that signed onto your roster in 1998 and create a new tribute album of sorts. That is exactly what the public gets from the latest release from Angela Gheorghiu: Homage to Maria Callas. The soprano is joined by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of conductor Marco Armiliato and the part-time colleague tenor James Valenti for his offstage singing on the Traviata track. The curious part of this project is that Ms. Gheorghiu has always professed that fellow Romanian Virginia Zeani is the soprano she most admires
and practically modeled herself after once deciding to become an opera singer (listen to an audio interview here). Before becoming an exclusive artist with EMI, Ms. Gheorghiu had signed with competitor Decca records. It was for this label that Virginia Zeani herself recorded two full studio albums. One recording was an all-Puccini program of arias from Gianni Schicchi, Turandot, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, La Rondine and more, with conductor Franco Patanè. The second operatic recital with conductor Gianandrea Gavazzeni featured coloratura arias from prime Callas territory including La Traviata, I Puritani, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Bohème and


La Sonnambula. In some ways it may seem that Zeani was Decca's answer to EMI's Callas. Recording repertoire wasn't the only thing they shared. In 1952, conductor Tullio Serafin replaced Maria Callas with Virginia Zeani as Elvira in I Puritani at the Teatro Communale in Florence. The bass that evening was Nicola Rossi Lemeni, future husband to Ms. Zeani. So it seems odd that Decca never took advantage of their exclusive rights to Ms. Gheorghiu when they had her in order to make a dedication album to her homeland heroine. One thing that Ms. Gheorghiu does share with Madame Callas is that this "homage" will feature music that dips into mezzo-soprano repertoire (Samson et Dalila, Le Cid, Carmen), something that the latter began to record once vocal decline began to set in. 2012 will mark the 60th anniversary of Callas joining the EMI family and that just might prompt an increase in sales of her greatest recordings. [Source]
Label Divas: Maria Callas (l) and Virginia Zeani (r) strike similar poses:"Homage to Maria Callas is a collection of beloved French and Italian operatic masterpieces performed by Angela Gheorghiu, the defining diva of this century. The programme is inspired by the career and recordings of Maria Callas, the greatest diva of the last century. The arias are shared favourites of both Callas and Gheorghiu, and Angela’s new recording demonstrates once again her extraordinary vocal and emotional range. Angela Gheorghiu said recently, 'Callas was original in everything she did; she was a phenomenon. In every performance she gave her all. She was the most wonderful painter and you can always hear exactly the right colour in her voice. Just hearing her sound, you understand all the power or fragility of her emotions. That’s a rare talent and a great gift.' Gheorghiu continued, 'EMI was her record label and it’s mine too. It feels like a family.' Recorded at London’s iconic Abbey Road Studios in London and in New York, the repertoire of Gheorghiu’s first studio recital in six years (during which time she recorded several complete operas, including a multi-award-winning Madama Butterfly), shows her versatility in lyric, spinto and mezzo roles, with each of which she feels a strong emotional connection. These include Mimi (La bohème), Marguerite (Faust), Imogene (Il Pirata), Adriana (Adriana Lecouvreur – an opera which Gheorghiu added to her repertoire in 2010 to great critical acclaim), Maddalena (Andrea Chénier), Nedda (Pagliacci), Wally (La Wally), Medea, Chimène (Le Cid) and Delilah (Samson et Delilah). The new album also includes two arias from the opera that launched her career: La traviata by Verdi, New York Magazine praised at the time that 'Her lady of the camellias is a worthy successor to Garbo and Callas.' [Source]
Did Angela Gheorghiu inadvertently pay tribute to Maria Callas
while still on the Decca label with this 1998 release?
Paul Pelkonen reports, "...the most controversial addition to the disc is a digitally built duet between La Gheorghiu and the late Maria Callas. The two sopranos, one living, one very dead, will sing 'L'amour c'est l'oiseaux rebelle,' the Habañera from Act I of Bizet's Carmen. According to a press release (received today from EMI Classics) the new 'duet' was created from the original master tape of Callas' 1961 recording of the aria. The engineers chose this over the '63 recording of the complete opera, because it lacked the usual choral accompaniment. In the engineering booth, the original orchestra (the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française under the baton of George Prêtre) was scrubbed out. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Marco Armiliato re-recorded the music, with the players using a special click track to match the original. Ms. Gheorghiu also chose to learn Callas' particular sense of rhythm and meter, enabling the two divas to warble together, or seperately. Leaving aside obvious reservations (the biggest one being that the Habañera is intended for one singer!) the new disc will hit New York's few remaining record shops in October [sic], shortly before Ms. Gheorghiu's scheduled appearance with the Opera Orchestra of New York. In the OONY performance, she will sing the title role in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvrer." [Source]

VERSIONS AVAILABLE:
- Deluxe Edition comprises a CD encased in a hardcover book containing an essay from Angela in three languages, a gallery of glamorous new photos and exclusive access to a video and mini-feature on the making of the CD.
- Standard Edition consists of a CD in a digipack with a booklet excerpting Gheorghiu’s essay. Both Deluxe and Standard editions feature song texts in English, French, German and the original language, if different, as well as booklet text in all three languages.
- Standard Digital Version offers the entire standard CD contents.

RELEASE DATES: USA (9/28),  UK (11/7) and Germany (11/18)
Sample tracks by clicking here.
TRACK LISTING:
1. "Donde Lieta Uscì" (Mimì's Farewell): La Bohème, Act Iii
2. "O Dieu! Que De Bijoux" (Jewel Song ): Faust, Act Iii, Scene 6
3. "Col Sorriso D'innocenza": Il Pirata, Act Ii, Scene 3
4. "Qual Fiamma Avea Nel Guardo!...Stridono Lassu": I Pagliacci
5. "Mon Coeur S'ouvre à Ta Voix": Samson Et Dalila
6. "Ebben?...Ne Andrò Lontana": La Wally
7. "L'amour Est Un Oiseau Rebelle" (Habanera): Carmen
8. "La Mamma Morta": Andrea Chénier, Act Iii
9. "Dei Tuoi Figli La Madre": Medea, Act I, Scene 1
10. "De Cet Affreux Combat...Pleurez Mes Yeux": Le Cid
11. "Poveri Fiori": Adriana Lecouvreur
12. "È strano! È strano!...Ah, Fors` è Lui": La Traviata
13. "Follie! Follie!...Sempre Libera": La Traviata - with James Valenti

NEW Harmonia Mundi: Gheorghiu, Mehta and Pendatchanska

Harmonia Mundi will be making three fall releases that may grab the attention of vocal enthusiasts. The first is a disc with soprano Teodora Gheorghiu titled Anna de Amicis with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques on the subsidiary label Aparté. "The pre-classicist programme is dedicated to the historic figure of Anna de Amicis, famous soprano who first created the role of Giunia in W.A. Mozart's Lucio Silla. Besides works of the young Mozart the programme comprises arias by N. Jomelli, J. C. Bach, C.W. Gluck and others." [Source] Watch a video (below) featuring the recording of some wonderful music that has been forgotten for many years. (Release dates: Germany - September 11, 2011; UK - October 3, 2011)

The second disc is a follow-up for countertenor Bejun Mehta to his debut disc with Harmonia Mundi (Ombra Cara featuring Händel arias). This time around the singer chose to work with pianist Julius Drake to focus on English songs of the 19th & 20th centuries on a disc called Down By The Salley Gardens. Included are such legendary composers as Howells, Finzi, Tippett and Britten. To listen to some audio clips from the album, click here. (Release dates: USA - September 13, 2011; Internationally - September 16, 2011)

Lastly is a complete recording of Händel's opera Agrippina featuring Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Jennifer Rivera, Sunhae Im, Bejun Mehta, Marcos Fink, Neal Davies and Dominique Visse with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin under the direction of René Jacobs. Ms. Pendatchanska has performed on other Harmonia Mundi recordings with René Jacobs including Mozart's Don Giovanni, Idomeneo and La Clemenza di Tito. This particular recording is taken from a live stage version done in Berlin and there will be a limited edition of the opera put out with a DVD. Watch (below) Alexandrina Pendatchanska sing "L'alma mia fra le tempeste" from Agrippina. (Release dates: USA - October 11, 2011; Internationally - January 1, 2012)

Krassimira Stoyanova Follows Debut CD with Slavic Repertoire

"Although she came to international prominence in leading soprano roles in Italian and French operas, Krassimira Stoyanova is equally at home in the Slav repertory, a point well illustrated by her European successes as Xenia in a touring production of Dvorák’s Dimitrij under Sir Richard Hickox and by last year’s triumphant performances as Dvorák’s Rusalka at the Zurich Opera. And she has also appeared frequently in one of the most famous roles in Russian opera: Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. All of which is a good enough reason to present scenes from all these works as part of her new recital for Orfeo, an album in which she appears with the Munich Radio Orchestra under Pavel Baleff. And yet this varied compilation includes far more than this, for with Parashkev Hadjiev’s Maria Desislava and Veselin Stoyanov’s Hitar Petar, Krassimira Stoyanova also draws attention to two operas from her Bulgarian homeland. Both are 20th-century works, and both of the soprano arias that are taken from them reveal a high degree of originality in their handling of the orchestra and their melodic writing. With every breath Krassimira

Stoyanova brings out all the elegance, beauty and radiant colour of these two very different pieces. And the same is true of Tchaikovsky’s final opera Iolanta and of Maria’s lullaby from Mazeppa, a number which, dramaturgically speaking, provides a tragic and profoundly affecting dénouement to the action and which is sung by Krassimira Stoyanova with all the requisite simplicity, making its impact all the more intense. The same may be said of Maenka in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, while Lisa’s aria from another of Tchaikovsky’s operas, The Queen of Spades, reveals all its dramatic potential. Finally, Krassimira Stoyanova displays her world-class credentials in the scenes from Borodin’s Prince Igor and from Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden and The Tsar’s Bride, allowing her uniquely varied vocal facets to flash like diamonds, while building to an impressive climax within the aria’s overarching form." [Source]

Listen to the album by clicking here.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Eugene Onegin, opera, Op. 24: Act 1. Puskáy pogíbnu ya (Letter Scene)
2. Maria Desislava, opera: Scene 4. Velíki bózhe, chuy móyata molbá!
3. Prince Igor, opera (completed by Rimsky-Korsakov & Glazunov): Act 2. Ne málo vrémeni proshió s tekh por
4. Iolanta, opera, Op. 69: Otchevó éto prézhde ne znála
5. Mazeppa, opera: Act 3. Spi, mladénets moy prekrásny
6. Rusalka, opera, B. 203 (Op. 114): Act 1. Mesícku na nebi hlubokém (Song to the Moon)
7. Dimitrij, opera, B. 127/B. 186 (Op.64): Act 4. Mne zdálo se, ze smrt bledá
8. Rusalka, opera, B. 203 (Op. 114): Act 3. Necitelná vodní moci
9. Dimitrij, opera, B. 127/B. 186 (Op.64): Act 4. On odesel! Jiz obet' dokonána
10. Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades), opera, Op. 68: Act 3. Uzh pólnoch blízitsya
11. The Snow Maiden (Snegurochka) (i), opera ('springtime tale') in 4 acts with a prologue: S podrúzhkami po yágodu khodit' (Prologue)
12. Hitar Petar, opera: Act 1. Zvezdíte tázi noshch blestyát
13. Prodaná nevesta (The Bartered Bride), opera, JB 1:100: Act 3. Och, jaký zal! jaký to zal
14. The Tsar's Bride (Tsarskaya nevesta), opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Iván Sergéyevich, khóchesh

For information about Ms. Stoyanova's first CD release of operatic arias by Meyerbeer, Verdi, Puccini, Massenet and more, on Orfeo, click here.

Miah Persson Sings Schumann (Both Robert and Clara...)

"Women in love, in pain and in emotional turmoil such is the subject matter of most of the songs that Swedish soprano Miah Persson and pianist Joseph Breinl have chosen for this recital of works by Robert and Clara Schumann. The year of Robert and Claras wedding is often called "Schumanns Liederjahr"; during this year of song he composed more than 150 songs, and his wedding gift to Clara was in fact a song cycle, Myrthen, Op. 25. Sixteen songs dated 1840 can be found here, including the Frauenliebe und Leben cycle, the crowning achievement of the year. But Robert also encouraged Clara to write songs and in 1841 they jointly published a collection entitled The Spring of Love. Clara had composed three of the songs (the 3 Lieder, Op. 12) and Robert the remaining nine, including "Der Himmel hat eine Träne geweint." This disc also features Roberts final song cycle composed in 1852 and focussing on the life and tragic end of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots along with four of Claras last songs. As well as being well-known in opera houses across the world, Miah Persson is increasingly in demand as a recitalist, performing regularly with Joseph Breinl." [Source]

A complete listing of the CD contents can be found after the jump.

Sony Classics Releases Live MET Operas, 3.0

The third round of Metropolitan Opera broadcasts featured on Sony Classical will be released domestically in the United States on August 16 and internationally in the United Kingdom on August 15, as well as France and Germany on August 29.

Diva Débutantes Spice Up New Releases on Decca, DG & Sony

Among the sopranos making their debut recordings in the coming months, there are sprinklings of returning favorites like Diana Damrau and Danielle de Niese. Click on the images to enlarge. Enjoy!

Beethoven "Fidelio" With Kaufmann, Stemme, Abbado on Decca

Germany release date: July 15, 2011

Sony Classics Releases Live MET Operas, 2.0

Hot on the heels of the last set of releases in January, the Metropolitan Opera is ready for the second batch to officially be released May 27 (Europe). Of the live recordings being put out, it's hard to imagine a better cast than the one in Wagner's Die Walküre with Nilsson, Rysanek, Ludwig, Vickers and Stewart!