USA: ROBERTO ALGANA AND ANGELA GHEORGHIU PERFORM "ROMEO AND JULIETTE" AT NEW YORK'S METROPOLITAN OPERA

Record ID: 545564

  • Title: USA: ROBERTO ALGANA AND ANGELA GHEORGHIU PERFORM "ROMEO AND JULIETTE" AT NEW YORK'S METROPOLITAN OPERA
  • Date: 13th March 1998
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 17, 1998) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF METROPOLITAN OPERA ROBERTO ALAGNA AND ANGELA GHEORGHIU RECEIVE PLAQUE AS SOUVENIER TO ROMEO AND JULIETTE RECORDING FROM PRESIDENT OF EMI CLASSICS, RICHARD LYTTLETON AUDIENCE CLAPPING
  • Embargoed: 28th March 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVAE5D0NF0VVSZLSHK6W0UYXVA90
  • Story Text: Comparisons will inevitably be made between the opera world's most exciting tenor-soprano couple and the archetypal star-crossed lovers of Romeo and Juliette.Yet the analogy is in some ways misleading, for while Shakespeare's young hero and heroine are finally victims of fate, Roberto Alagna and his wife Angela Gheorghiu are happily in chkarge of their own destiny, both personal and artistic.
    The couple opened at the Metropolitan Opera in Gounod's Romeo and Juliette and drew favourable reviews from the seasoned opera audience in New York.
    The opera played an imporant role in bringing Alagna where he is today.He performed as Romeo in London, at the RoyalOpera House in November 1994 and confirmed his arrival as a major performer.
    Romantics will consider it more than mere coincidence that Covent Garden in late 1994 also witnessed Gheorghiu's major breakthrough, in La traviata.Juliette's growth in tragic stature in some way mirrors Violetta's, and both roles demand a vocl progression from exuberant coloratura to sustained lyric passion.Gheorghiu's performancec as Juliette opposite Alagna at the New York Met on Monday marked her stage debut in the fole, and the first time the couple will have performed the work together.
    EMI Clasics will release the couple's third project together, following the success of duets from Maonon and Faust and their 1997 release of Puccini's La Rondine.Romeo et Juliette is released to coincide with their performance at the Met.
    In the final analysis, of course, it is the young lovers who hold pride of place in any adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu are not simply a star tenor and soprano.Their vocal abilities, showcased in the many tenor and soprano duets in Guonod's opera, confidence and personal charisma are coupled with a proven sensitivity to score, text, style and dramatic context.In conflict-torn Verona, Romeo and Juliet wer defeated by circumstance, but in the complex worl dof opera, Alagna and Gheorghiu stand to emerge triumphant.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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