Opera singer Angela Gheorghiu on Puccini and her new album

Angela Gheorghiu: I already performed a few of Puccini's songs in my recitals before, and I started to discover he had composed many other songs for voice and piano, during his whole life. So the idea for this album came about, because I always had a soft spot for Puccini since the beginning of my career. I think the album is a treat for music lovers and also a new opportunity for audiences to listen to his lesser-known works.

AG: I approached “Melanconia” similar to how I approach every new score, but with the additional responsibility that I have to convey everything that Puccini wanted to transmit, at the highest level, from the very first take.

It is a thought I always have when performing: what did the composer want to transmit? The challenge for this song were the words (text by Antonio Ghislanzoni), because it is an extremely sad, even morbid song, but a beautiful composition. 

AG: I am very fortunate that my voice did not change too much, and my vocal timbre has always been very distinctive. When I was young I was already very aware of my voice and of what I can do with it, so I never changed anything about breathing, technique, linea di canto etc.

Over the years, the voice becomes a bit more mature, just like our bodies, it is a physiological process. The spirit does not change too much and I live everything that I perform at the same intensity. Each month when I was a student, I learned a new aria and new song, in many languages. Very few singers can sing both styles for an entire career. You need a very flexible and pure voice because the voice is accompanied only by piano. My voice is my life.  

AG: I adore Mimì, it is a role anybody can relate to to this day and this is the beauty of it. We were all young, maybe with money struggles, but very happy with our friends and in love, just like in La bohème.

My interpretation did not change too much, as I said before: I have the exact same spirit, my inner self is the same. It's always a pleasure to perform this role. It will be of course in the new production, which l am very curious to discover. 

AG: I was born with this great and natural gift, my instrument is my voice and I have always taken good care of it and continue to do so. I don't change anything about my voice, I always sing the same, whether it is in a 4,000 seat venue or a smaller one, whether it is in an acoustic venue, with no amplification, or in an open air stadium, with microphones. l am always the same with my soul, intensity and body.

I am the same also when I am recording in front of the microphone, for a new album. If I would start doing artificialities, I would not be myself, so I never change anything.  

AG: I never liked comparisons, I often think it's wrong and it can also show the lack of understanding of art of those writing these comparisons. Maria for sure felt the same. Every artist is unique in their own way. During my artistic life, I never tried to copy anyone. l was already an opera singer before listening to recordings.

My very first was a Romanian LP with La Traviata with Virginia Zeani. Later I always listened to everybody, to see how they resolve a certain musical fragment, but I always perform my way. One of the keys of succeeding in the opera world is originality. I prefer to be original, even if I am wrong. And we should never forget: music, like any type of art form, is subjective, because we are people with different preferences and tastes. I will tell you my opinion about Angelina playing Maria after l see the movie.

AG: I am not sure. If anybody will be playing me in a film, I would like to still be alive so that I can pass on to the actress playing me everything about my personality and my artistry. I would not like being portrayed in a way that is far from reality.

AG: I am looking forward to 2024, continuing to perform around the world. I am not blasé or jaded, I am living everything like for the first time and get excited about everything even if I've seen it for a thousand times.

AG: I like everything about what I do, of where I go, of the audiences I meet. The greatest satisfaction is seeing the audience emotional after my performances, and of meeting them, sometimes after they have waited for a long time, sometimes even in the cold, just to give me an honest compliment. I believe there's nothing more gratifying.

I find relaxation in movies (I am a real cinema lover), in books and in being with my family. 

AG: It would probably be Puccini's Manon Lescaut or Giordano's Fedora, which I only recorded. I searched for different opportunities, but there always was something that did not work, whether a dull, ridiculous production or an unsuitable cast. For Fedora I keep hearing that the title would not sell, which is wrong, because the leading artists are the ones that sell, not the director, not anybody else.