Angela Gheorghiu

Gheorghiu made her international debut in 1992 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Mimì La bohème, debuting later that year at the Vienna State Opera as Adina L’elisir d’amore and with the Metropolitan Opera in 1993 as Mimì. It was at the Royal Opera House that she first sang her much acclaimed Violetta La Traviata, when for the first and last time in television and operatic history the BBC cleared out its schedules to broadcast the opera live. She marked 30 years of performing with the Royal Opera House in February 2022 with a much acclaimed portrayal of the title role Tosca. Since her Royal Opera debut she has appeared at the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls, her repertory including, among others, Mimì La bohème, Violetta La traviata, Juliette Roméo et Juliette, Nedda Pagliacci, Adina, Amelia Simon Boccanegra, Tosca, Magda La rondine, Marguerite Faust, Micaëla Carmen, Liù Turandot, Charlotte Werther and the title role Adriana Lecouvreur.

Gheorghiu has recorded extensively for EMI Classics/Warner Classics and Decca, and has received numerous international artistic honours, including La Médaille Vermeille de la Ville de Paris, the awards of Chevalier and Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Nihil Sine Deo decoration from King Michael I of Romania, the European Cultural Award for Music, the Victoire d'Honneur Award, multiple Gramophone awards and twice the Female Artist of the Year award at the Classical BRIT Awards. She played the title role in Benoît Jacquot’s film Tosca, which was enthusiastically received by the international press, and attended its launch at the Venice Film Festival in 2001. She also sang Juliette in a film of Roméo et Juliette.

Gheorghiu performed at the reopening gala of the Royal Opera House (1999) and of the Teatro Malibran in Venice (2001). She sang at the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee celebrations, on the grounds of Buckingham Palace (2002) and at the Royal Opera House (2012). She also sang for Pope John Paul II at Castel Gandolfo in 2002 and at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 2003. In 2005, she sang at the opening of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia in the presence of Queen Sofia of Spain, and at the Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands Silver Jubilee Gala in Amsterdam. In 2007, she performed the role of Fanny in the world premiere of Vladimir Cosma Marius et Fanny in Marseille. In 2011 she sang at the reopening of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, and at the grand opening of the Katara Amphitheater in Doha, Qatar, where she performed music especially composed for her by the legendary Greek composer Vangelis. She headlined the Last Night of the Proms on three different occasions, at the Royal Albert Hall (2003) and in Hyde Park (2000, 2006).

In October 2018, in London, Gheorghiu launched her first autobiography – Angela Gheorghiu: A Life for Art, written together with Jon Tolansky, and in February 2021, she performed in aid of New York's Metropolitan Opera (Met) musicians, deprived of their pay because of virus-related cancellations of their shows, the proceeds of which benefitted over 150 Met musicians in need.