| Soprano Angela Gheorghiu interrupts performance when her colleague starts singing an encore | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 08:34 pm EDT 09/12/24 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 08:18 pm EDT 09/12/24 | |
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| Apparently she's done this type of thing before. Look, granted opera has become more attuned to the dramatic aspects of things in recent years, and "Tosca" in particular, has a great plot which doesn't need to interrupted. But opera also has a tradition, especially for the divas and divos, of encoring performances, especially in Italian opera. This took place in Korea, not Italy, but according to the article the majority of the audience was really upset with what she did. In Italy, home of Puccini's opera, there is a tradition of doing encores when the audience response has been overwhelming. I know that Beverly Sills when she ran NY City Opera used to not allow encores. However, I remember being at I believe their company's premiere performance of Puccini's "La Rondine"; a concerted musical number sung by the entire chorus and principals brought such a big response that the the conductor, an Italian who knew from tradition what to do, allowed the entire number to be done again. Word of this (and the overall excellent production) helped to restore this wonderful opera to being done more often again. It was actually quite magical to experience, as the number itself was full of joy, too. But for Gheorghiu to address the conductor, the orchestra (and then the audience!) is just not her prerogative. It's even worse than Patti LuPone screaming at the photographer at "Gypsy" because in this present case Gheorghiu has taken away the tenor's event, an event that the audience WANTED. How'd she like it if the conductor cut "Vissi d'arte", her big 2nd act aria? (They'd never do it -- her aria and the tenor's 1st act and 3rd act arias are among opera's best known hit songs). As someone who has performed in this opera and lots of others, this just rubs me the wrong way. I think it's rather a huge compliment for the audience to be so moved for them to want an encore. Plus the aria is relatively short -- it's not like they are asking a Zerbinetta in "Ariadne auf Naxos" to encore "Groessmactige Prinzessen", which is like "Glitter and Be Gay" but even harder and higher and twice as long, for G-ds sake! Btw, she's not one of the greatest opera singers of all time, as quoted in that article. Yes, she can be quite good -- but still, she's got a huge ego, is very capable of jealousy based on her performing history, and probably miffed that they didn't ask her to encore her own aria. Yes, this is just an old-fashioned kind of diva, but usually on stage those types just try to sing louder, hold notes longer than the tenor, or find ways to upstage people, and only when off-stage to resorts to the rants and screams, the stereotypical diva behavior that really manifests like an entitled harridan. Here, she really pulled some crap and put it all out there in front of the audience. And, they didn't like it. Not one bit. |
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| Link | Soprano Angela Gheorghiu faces backlash after interrupting 'Tosca' in SeoulPosted : 2024-09-09 16:21Updated : 2024-09-12 07:38 |
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