This new album from Rumanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu is a mixed bag indeed.
On the one hand, the voice is still beautiful and the interpretation in a few songs shows the singer at her finest. On the other hand, there are signs of technical flaws, the repertoire is less than inspiring, and the overall impression is one of disappointment.
Angela Gheorghiu: Live at La Scala documents the soprano's debut at the great Italian opera house. The singer feels that it was brave and daring of her to appear before Italy's most volatile opera audience for the first time in a solo recital rather than in one of her celebrated operatic roles. I would agree on the whole, though her appearance there in La traviata earlier in the year was booed, unlike this recital in which she was evidently cheered throughout. It's clear that the Gheorghiu fanclub took up residence for the recital, and the audience seems to react with equal delight regardless of whether the singing is faultless or deeply flawed.
The twenty-two tracks on the disc consist of four groups of songs and three encores: four arie antiche ('arias in an antiquated style'), six songs by Italian opera composers of the nineteenth century, three French chansons and seven Romanian songs. The quality of the performances varies from group to group; sometimes the singer seems absolutely at one with the style, but sometimes she struggles to connect.
Gheorghiu has never really been a great baroque or Mozart singer, so I wonder why she chose to sing these songs by Martini, Scarlatti, Gluck and Parisotti. Crystal clear diction and pure intonation are called for but rarely delivered. She makes heavy weather of 'Plaisir d'amour' by Martini, for instance, when it requires simplicity. Songs by Bellini, Donizetti and especially Verdi would seem to be more Gheorghiu's fare, but while her attack is perfect for the Italian spirit of this pieces - not least Verdi's early 'Brindisi', whose accompaniment sounds deliciously drunken and calls to mind Rossini's salon songs - the spotlessness of the bel canto repertoire is something that has never suited her voice as much as the later Verdi pieces. And none of these pieces could really qualify for the 'masterpiece' category. So the first ten tracks of the disc are ordinary to say the least.
The recital enlivens with the French items, whose sensuality sits well with Gheorghiu's luxurious approach. There are odd moments of questionable tuning in both Gounod's 'Sérénade' and Bizet's 'Chant d'amour', but they are unimportant when set against the singer's expressive use of portamento and indeed her eloquence in general. She really comes into her own in Massenet's 'Élégie', a beautiful song which ballet fans will know as one of the main sources for the score for Kenneth Macmillan's ballet Manon. The pathos with which Gheorghiu imbues this short song is remarkable and a sign that she can still do special things when she tries; if only the whole performance were like this.
Gheorghiu is also a surprisingly strong advocate for the music of her homeland. By far the most powerful performance in the whole recital is that of the aria 'Te iubesc!' by Dendrino from a Rumanian operetta. It runs the gamut of emotions, but more importantly it shows off the singer's voice at its best, highlighting both her full middle and her secure top notes.
The first encore, Tosti's ''A vuchella', is also sung with a rapt beauty, but the remaining two encores are simply awful. As someone who spends several days a week writing about My Fair Lady, I think there should be a law against such a loose, inaccurate and out-of-tune performance of 'I Could Have Danced All Night' as this. Although generally sensitive, the pianist, Jeff Cohen, seems simply to have invented the accompaniment on the spot, because both the harmonies and the melody are bizarrely eccentric, there are wrong notes every three seconds, and the whole thing is just plain ugly. (And why is the verse printed in the CD booklet when it's not sung in this performance?) Even worse is 'O mio babbino caro'. The singer is flat several times, most painfully during the first ascent up to the A flat on 'bello'. From one of the world's most famous opera singers, this is worrying indeed.
There are a few good things on this CD - but given the many flaws and indifferent recorded sound, only Angela Gheorghiu's most devoted fans will want to purchase it.