Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alanya
A burning fatal beauty with a shock of resin hair is SHE and a refined romantic prince from an old tapestry - HE. Inaccessibility itself is SHE and complete openness is HE. They are so different from each other externally and internally and therefore, probably, so harmonious in their merger. A lyric tenor of spring purity with dark dramatic colors rolling in like clouds - OH and a soprano-assoluta, stretching from dark contralto abyss to the heavenly coloratura heights - SHE. This is how ice and fire, heat and cold, day and night are intertwined in nature. Some find that in her voice all the best that Callas, Tebaldi and Sutherland once possessed, and in the tenor of Alanya, for someone, the memories of a whole generation of tenors from di Stefano and Bergonzi to Pavarotti and Kraus were projected.
Verdi - La Traviata - Brindisi - Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna
Married couples in the profession are a fairly common phenomenon, especially in cinema and theater. There are many of them in the world of opera. But it is quite rare among them to find stellar unions, when both artists are equally famous in themselves. Suffice it to recall at least Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Julia Varadi, Nikola Rossi-Lemeni and Virginia Dzeani, our Tamara Milashkina-Vladimir Atlantov, Irina Arkhipova-Vladislav Piavko or Tamara Sinyavskaya-Muslim Magomayev. Today opera has entered the era of recording and video, and the most popular "sweet couple" of this era is undoubtedly the family duo of Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu. Ordinary people who are not interested in opera may not know such old nightingales as, for example, Joan Sutherland or Alfredo Kraus, but Alanya and Georgiou know everything thanks to well-developed marketing and PR. Their hugs and kisses are an integral part of any music showcase. These singers are everywhere and everywhere, from New York to Paris - in the loudest opera premieres around the world, in advertisements, in movies, on TV, in CD stores. The popularity made their voices recognizable, which in themselves, perhaps, are not as valuable in themselves as, say, those of the same Sutherland and Kraus. The opera films Romeo and Juliet and Tosca (premiered at the Venice Film Festival in October 2001) have put them on a par with Hollywood movie stars. The opera purists are indignant when they talk about the fall in tastes, while the audience is delighted. Backbiting has awarded Alanya and Georgiu with the reputation of great brawlers, which have not been since the time of Maria Callas, who bravely broke contracts and fought for her professional honor. Yes, they often quarreled on a large scale with directors, conductors and colleagues, which sometimes led to the cancellation of performances. For example, it costs them nothing to break off good relations with Riccardo Muti and slam the door of La Scala when they are not satisfied with the approach to the production of Pagliacci. With the light hand of the famous director Jonathan Miller, with whom they had a particularly acute misunderstanding, they are called opera Bonnie and Clyde. To which they react with a grin - it's a great honor to be like the heroes of a famous action movie, and if their CD with movie songs ever comes out, they will definitely be photographed for the cover in Bonnie and Clyde's leather suits. They feel the utmost responsibility for everything they do in the profession. And they never compromise. There are only three or four conductors with whom Alanya and Georgiu can work peacefully - and among them in the first place of honor is the Anglo-American of Italian descent Antonio Pappano, the new musical director of Covent Garden. In their interviews, Alanya and Gheorghiu do not hide the fact that if an artist does not have a scandalous train, then there is no great success and that the slander of colleagues is a kind of payment for success. But in fact, this is not so much scandalousness as a kind of professional cleanliness and adherence to principles. As soon as our heroes cross the threshold of this or that theater, an invisible string of tension hangs inside. Everyone knows: if this couple has arrived, no one will be able to descend, and neither the make-up artist nor the illuminator can fully work. Professionals who know how to do their job so well and are demanding about themselves can afford to demand the same from others. Finally, they are stars, generously gifted by God, and at least for this reason they deserve the privilege of being capricious and capricious. That is why it is difficult to be with them, and that is why (unlike the infamous opera bitch Kathleen Battle) they are welcome guests again and again. Alanya was born in 1963 in France in Clichy, north of Paris, in a family of Sicilian emigrants, and the purebred Romanian Georgiou was born two years later in the provincial town of Ajud in the East of Transylvania, where, according to legend, Count Dracula lived (it is no coincidence that among her behind the scenes nicknames - "Draculetta"). The start of their operatic career was overwhelming. Alanya did not have a professional education and before joining the opera he sang in a cabaret repertoire from Hawa Nagila to parodies and Neapolitanism. Angela was an exemplary student and gnawed at the granite of vocal wisdom at the Bucharest Conservatory. After winning prestigious competitions, both, on equal terms with the still acting Pavarotti and Caballe, entered the host of celestials as the direct heirs of their glory, but for the time being their paths did not intersect - both in life and on stage they had other partners. Roberto was quite happy with Florence Lanceen, who gave him a daughter, Ornella. Angela was married to a certain Romanian, about whom she and history are equally silent. With Alanya, they crossed at first fleetingly in 1992 - as young, but already stellar debutants of Covent Garden, but really met in 1994 and also in London at the very tragic moment when his wife died of a brain cancer. but he was forced to sing under a Romeo contract at the Royal Opera. Roberto was in despair, life lost all meaning for him, but Angela managed to become his closest friend, bringing him back to life and giving him a new love. They married, however, only two years later - they were crowned by the mayor of New York in a short interval between rehearsals of La Bohème, the play in which they made their debut at the Metropolitan. The newlyweds bought a house in Switzerland. Nominally, their family now has two children, since Angela adopted her niece Yana, who was left an early orphan (Gheorghiu's sister Elena was killed during political unrest in Romania). Alanya's daughter, who is soon 12, usually lives in Paris with her grandparents, since her father and foster mother are always on the road. All theaters began to invite them only together, fortunately, in almost every opera of the golden fund, be it Verdi, Gounod or Puccini, the main roles are intended for the tenor and soprano. The artists' love in life doubles this feeling on stage, for which they are willing to pay double fees. The audience is so accustomed to seeing them together that it already starts to get scared when Angela or Roberto occasionally appear on stage with other partners. Today it is the most beautiful and romantic, the most fashionable, but also the most expensive opera duet. Their participation gives a special chic to any high society or state event, be it a concert at the Vatican or Buckingham Palace. Alanya and Georgiu started their recording careers separately. The emergence of Alanya on the sonic horizons was akin to a volcanic eruption. Back in 1993, Sony came out with a sensational "La Traviata" outraged in the press, but specifically for Roberto, "Rigoletto" in 1995; both discs were recorded live at La Scala performances under the direction of Muti, and no matter how criticized they were, it was thanks to these two CDs that the world learned about the birth of a new great tenor. Romeo and Juliet turn into Tosca and Cavaradossi before our eyes. Now the whole vastness of the operatic universe is open before them.
At the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the audience booed the famous tenor Roberto Alagna while performing an aria in the opera Aida.
As a result, Alanya left the stage, and the audience for several minutes shouted: “Shame on you!”.
After this incident, Alanya's understudy, Antonello Palombi, took the stage. He had to perform the aria in jeans and a T-shirt because he could not change into a stage costume. After the completion of the opera, the audience applauded him for nine minutes.
According to experts, most likely, the reason for the dissatisfaction was Alanya's statements about too great “demands” from the viewers of La Scala.
Italian public opinion was agitated by a scandal that happened the night before at the famous Milan theater la Scala: tenor Roberto Alagna, who played the role of Radames in the opera Aida, was booed by part of the audience and refused to continue singing. Then his understudy Antonello Palombi was urgently brought to the stage, who continued to sing, ignoring some of the audience, who, as if nothing had happened, continued to express dissatisfaction with his predecessor.
Alanya was booed over his statement in the press that audiences generally do not understand opera, according to the Italian newspaper la Repubblica. One of the opera blogs published an English translation of an interview with Roberto Alagna, which he allegedly gave to a certain journalist after he left the stage, but had not yet left the theater:
“The audience just didn't understand, that's why I left.
I am very unhappy, angry, overwhelmed: I sang all over the world, but standing in front of the audience that was in the hall today, I felt like I was in a different world. Real listeners - listeners with fire and blood - have not been to La Scala today. I sang beautifully, bravissimo to me. It is a pity for those who did not understand this.
I will never return to La Scala: this is not a theater, this is a Roman arena. Professionals are being manipulated here.
I sing with my heart, I sing with my own blood. But critics have never noted my work on phrasing, voice timbre, emotionality.
About Zefirelli and Shaya? I feel good, but it didn’t bring any results.
I turned down an invitation to sing "Manon Lescaut" in 2008. And my wife will think about rejecting the invitation to sing La Traviata here in 2007. "
According to eyewitnesses, before finally leaving the stage, Roberto Alagna shook his fist in the direction of the box from which the whistles began.
Meanwhile, Teatro alla Scala CEO and Artistic Director, Stéphane Lissner, took to the stage just before Act 3 and addressed the audience, but did not say a word about Roberto Alagna himself:
“I would like to express our regret over what happened during the first act. La Scala thanks Antonello Palombi, who graciously entered the stage, which made it possible not to interrupt the performance of the opera. La Scala also thanks you for your understanding. ”
Iatlian newspapers today are full of speculations about what happened, as well as memories of similar incidents. Indeed, there have been quite a few of those in the history of opera.
The most popular stories in today's context are the stories of how the tenor Luciano Pavarotti in 1992 was booed during the performance of the opera “Don Carlos”, and with the soprano Katya Ricarelli the same thing happened even earlier, in 1989, when she sang “Louise Miller ”.
The legend of world opera, soprano Maria Callas in the late fifties of the last century left the opera house of Rome immediately after the first act of Bellini's "Norma" due to the fact that the audience booed her. Another opera diva, Joan Sutherland, left Venice the day before the premiere of La Somnambula because the conductor Nello Santi would not let her perform the cadence she wanted.
By the way, continuing the theme of conflicts between singers and conductors, one can recall the scandal between Nelly Melba and Arturo Toscanini at the Metropolitan Opera. The singer was late for the rehearsal, and for this Toscanini began to shout at her. But the prima donna was not taken aback and screamed back that she had every right to be late, because she, by the way, was a star. All this happened during the rehearsals of "Aida", and these two stars later had an affair.
Thus, in the historical sense, Roberto Alagna got into a good company. True, not all the great singers in history, like him, risked, among other things, making popular music: in February 2007, Alanya is going to sing at the famous festival of Italian music in San Remo.
Roberto Alagna belongs to the great sons of France. He was born on June 7, 1963 in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois. This suburb has always had a high crime and unemployment rate. But young Alanya never got involved with bad companies and always planned to earn a living by honest work. His parents were from Sicily, and the boy inherited their bright, searing, southern Italian appearance, comparing favorably with his French peers.
As a schoolboy, Roberto fell in love with cinema and music. Therefore, it is not surprising that he often watched musicals, enjoying the singing of movie stars. The boy especially liked films with Mario Lanza, an American tenor and actor. Young viewers could spend hours watching New Orleans' Darling and The Great Caruso. He imitated an idol in a childish way, imagining that he was standing on a huge stage or participating in the filming of a musical tape. Then Alanya did not yet know that his fantasies, which seemed naive to adults, would come true.
Don't be afraid to dream
At the age of 10, the "Sicilian Frenchman" began to study music and singing, attending lessons with teachers. After watching films from Lanz, he decided to achieve, if not comparable success and fame, then at least try his hand at real opera. Having conceived of becoming a professional classical singer, Roberto did not abandon his hobby for light music, listening to fashionable European and American bands of various directions.
From a young age, diligently and persistently doing what he loved, Alanya did not immediately believe in his abilities and remarkable talent. He really wanted to perform at the opera. However, he perfectly understood that he could join the ranks of the unemployed if his voice was not strong and beautiful enough for the stage. First of all, he needed to learn how to make money, and only then indulge in dreams. Therefore, Roberto, while still a teenager, got a job as a pizza delivery boy. He also traveled from the suburbs to Paris, moonlighting in bars. He had money, but his soul lay only for the opera.
Praise from Pavarotti
Finally, in 1987, the young man went to the opera school in Paris. He was 24 then. The beginner tenor was diligently studying, giving all of himself to his beloved work. Less than a year after admission, Alanya went to Philadelphia, where the Luciano Pavarotti competition was held. At the competition, he took first place, but the main thing is that the greatest opera singer drew attention to him! The master not only noted the Frenchman, but predicted for him the fate of the best tenor in his art. Nothing could be more valuable than the praise from Signor Luciano himself.
In the same year, Roberto's first performance took place. This landmark event took place in the United Kingdom. In one of the British theaters, Alanya sang the part of Alfred in the legendary opera La Traviata. The Frenchman was greeted very warmly. The debut was appreciated by the audience, critics and colleagues, who well received the young newcomer. The singer performed the same role at La Scala and subsequently performed with her at the main theatrical venues of the world - the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden and the Vienna Opera.
In the footsteps of Lanz
It so happened that Roberto's career was largely built in the same way as his idol Mario Lanza - not only performing on stage, but also playing in films. However, almost all of Alanya's films are TV versions of performances with his participation. The greatest recognition in 2001 was won by the film-opera "Tosca", which had a resounding success at the box office and was subsequently released on DVD.
In 2006, there was a major scandal when the audience at La Scala booed the artist right during the performance of an aria in Verdi's opera Aida. On that day, Alanya left the theater stage, simply waving his hand, and an understudy came out to sing instead. However, over the years of creativity, the tenor managed to collect many awards. He was even awarded the Order of Merit of the French Republic. The singer's two albums - "Roberto Alagna Chante Luis Mariano" and "Sicilien" - went platinum. In the homeland of the tenor, they have sold over 100 thousand copies.
In addition, Roberto Alagna actively participates in all kinds of international status concerts. In particular, his performance took place at an event in support of children in Kosovo, at a concert in honor of the anniversary of the British Queen Elizabeth II and at the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Personal life
The tenor's first marriage ended tragically. In 1994, his wife died of a brain tumor. The widower has a daughter (she was born two years before the death of her mother). The artist's second wife was soprano Angela Gheorghiu. The couple led not only a joint personal, but also a creative life. They recorded records with duets and played in various opera performances, and a joint album was released, which was a great success. It was Angela who became Roberto's partner in the Tosca tape and in several other projects.
Roberto Alagna was born in a small eastern suburb of Paris - the town of Clichy-sous-Bois. His family immigrated from Sicily and lived in the Italian area. The street on which Roberto spent his childhood was filled with Sicilian and Neapolitan singing, so the boy grew up surrounded by music and strong male folk vocals. Members of his family also did not shy away from performing their favorite songs in public. From early childhood, movie and opera stars became the idols of the future great tenor, and he saw himself in the form of a singer on the opera stage.
But Alanya did not receive a regular secondary musical education, and from adolescence he was engaged in various part-time jobs in the city. The owner of the restaurant, in which Roberto carried out various errands, provided him with the opportunity to sing for visitors, since he himself was musical and saw the young man's undoubted talent for singing. The owner introduced him to the Cuban-born double bass player Rapha? L Ruiz, who was also impressed by the young Roberto's singing. Ruiz was a professional in his field, he taught the young man the basics of classical vocals and musical literacy. And although Alanya had to sing in a cabaret, his adherence to operatic art, reinforced, among other things, by the influence of R. Ruiz, did not dry out for a day.
Later, Alanya met Gabriel Dussurget, the director, and pianist Elizabeth Cooper, who helped him enter the opera school in Paris (he was then twenty-five years old).
Already in his second year, he went to America for a competition and took first place there. He notes the young singer himself, invites him to audition, and then determines the role of Alfred in "". With this part, Alanya made his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival (Great Britain), and then soloed at La Scala under the leadership of the legendary Riccardo Muti. And after that moment, the singer no longer performs anywhere, except for the most famous opera stages in the world: Opera de Bastille, La Scala, Vienna Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, etc.
The great tenor from Clichy-sous-Bois sings mainly Italian and French opera (a rare exception, for example, is his performance of G. Berlioz's opera Te Deum in Latin). Critics note his unique, memorable timbre, youthful voice, excellent diction, especially in the French versions. All this glorified Roberto as an inimitable performer of the roles of Romeo ("" C. Gounod), Duke of Mantua (""), Edgardo ("").
For thirty years of his career R. Alanya has performed more than fifty parts, practically the entire classical tenor opera repertoire.
Duets with his second and third spouses, Angela Gheorghiu and Alexandra Kurzhak, play a special page in the singer's creative life. Together they not only performed, played in the opera, but also recorded successful albums.
Among other things, R. Alanya became famous as a great popularizer of opera among the broad masses of the population. In 2001, he starred in the highly successful film opera "". On Bastille Day in 2005, he sang the Marseillaise in opera from the rostrum. In 2007 and 2008 productions with his participation were broadcast live on public television in France, then several million people became spectators. In 2009, he took part in a concert at the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2010 he sang at the Michael Jackson and Friends concert, in 2011 he took part in a charity event for children from Kosovo, in 2016 he honored the English Queen on her 90th birthday.
Musical albums with concert and opera recordings of the singer are sold in millions of copies and have repeatedly become platinum. Roberto Alagna is the owner of significant awards, prizes and orders, including the Grammy Prize, Laurence Olivier Prize, and the Order of the Republic of France for Merit.
Music Seasons
Roberto Alagna(born June 7, 1963, Clichy-sous-Bois, France) - French singer of Italian descent (tenor).
early years
Roberto Alagna was born in Clichy-sous-Bois in France to a Sicilian family. After watching some films with Mario Lanza, I decided to test myself in opera. He studied music from the age of 10, without stopping his passion for light music. There is an assumption [whose?] That Roberto discovered his talents not at a young age - as a teenager, he worked almost as a pizza delivery boy, working part-time in bars in Paris. He entered the Paris Opera School in 1987.
In 1988, the young tenor won a leadership position at the Luciano Pavarotti Competition in Philadelphia. It was then that Pavarotti noted Roberto, prejudging him the fate of the best tenor in his field.
Career
The first performance took place in 1988 in Great Britain, where Roberto sang the part of Alfred in the opera La Traviata. La Scala met the debut of the young tenor with the same role. With the role of Rudolph Alanya has appeared on the best stages in the world: at Covent Garden, at the Vienna Opera, at the Metropolitan Opera, at La Scala. One of the main places in the singer's career is cinema. The film-opera "Tosca", which appeared in 2001 and had a tremendous success, became the first film for a tenor.
For the short years of his work he has collected many awards and even the State Order of the French Republic "For Merit". Albums "Roberto Alagna Chante Luis Mariano" and "Sicilien" have been certified platinum in France and have sold over 100,000 copies.
Roberto also takes an active part in international events: a concert on the occasion of the Nobel Peace Prize, a concert "Michael Jackson and Friends", a concert in support of children in Kosovo and a concert in honor of the anniversary of the Queen of England.
Selected discography
- 1995 - Opera Arias (Roberto Alagna)
- 1996 - Gianni Schicchi
- 1997 - Serenades
- 2000 - Christmas album
- 2001 - French Arias
- 2001 - Hector Berlioz - Te Deum Op. 22
- 2002 - Bel Canto
- 2003 - Nessun Dorma
- 2003 - La Boheme (2 CD)
- 2005 - C'est Magnifique
- 2005 - Mexico
- 2006 - Verdi Arias (1998)
- 2006 - Chants Sacres
- 2006 - Airs De Berlioz
- 2006 - Ben-Hur - Plus Grand Que La Legende
- 2007 - Cyrano De Bergerac (2 CD)
- 2007 - Credo
- 2007 - Viva L'Opera! (2 CD)
- 2008 - Le Dernier Jour D'un Condamne (2 CD)
- 2008 - The Sicilian
- 2009 - Portrait
- 2009 - L'amico Fritz (2 CD)
- 2009 - Le Jongleur De Notre Dame (2 CD)
- 2009 - Sicilien Live (2 CD)
- 2010 - Les Stars Du Classique
- 2010 - C'est Magnifique (Hommage A Luis Mariano) (2 CD)
- 2011 - Mes Plus Grands Roles A L'Opera (3 CD)
- 2011 - Fiesque (2 CD)
- 2011 - Pasion
Personal life
Florence Lansien - Roberto's first wife died of a brain tumor in 1994. He is survived by his only daughter, Ornella, who was born in 1992. Alanya's second wife is soprano Angela Gheorghiu, whom he married in 1996. Together they recorded duets, played in various opera productions and released the album Duets & Arias, which peaked at # 42 on the UK Albums Chart. They played in the opera films Tosca (2001), an adaptation of the eponymous opera by Puccini by French director Benoit Jacot, Romeo and Juliet (2002), an adaptation of the eponymous opera by Gounod directed by Barbara Willis Sweet. In October 2009, Roberto informed the newspaper Le Figaro of his divorce from Angela.
In March 2011, Georgiou and Alanya announced the renewal of cooperation. Currently (2014) he is married to Polish opera singer-soprano Aleksandra Kurzak. We jointly recorded the disc "Roberto Alanya: My Life is an Opera". Daughters from this marriage are 6 months old.
Scandal at La Scala
In 2006, there was a scandal involving Alanya in La Scala. During the performance of Radames' aria, the audience booed the tenor, and he left the stage with a wave of his hand. Then Antonello Palombi, who did not have time to change, was brought to the stage, who continued to sing in jeans and a T-shirt, not paying attention to the angry spectators. Most likely, the reason for the dissatisfaction was the recent words of Alanya about too large "demands" of the viewers of La Scala. Roberto explained to the journalists what had happened: "I sang all over the world, but in front of today's audience I felt as if I was in another world."
