Angela Gheorghiu

Blessed with a voice of wonderful temperament and colour, Gheorghiu is a fine exponent of the music of Verdi, Puccini and the verismo composers. Born in Romania, where she studied, she was able to pursue an international career as soon as she graduated with the fall of the Ceaușescu regime. She made major debuts at Covent Garden, Vienna and The Met in 1992 and 1993, but it was as Violetta in a new production by Richard Eyre and conducted by Sir Georg Solti at the Royal Opera in London (and which the BBC cleared the schedules at the last minute to broadcast) that she became a true star. She focused on the core Italian and French repertoires, recording extensively and often with her then husband, the tenor Roberto Alagna. Among the roles she has made her own are Puccini's Mimì (La bohème), Tosca and Magda (La rondine, a work she played an important part in reviving), Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur and Charlotte in Massenet's Werther.