Teodora Gheorghiu is working on the third album. Here are some of her thoughts:
“I’m fully immersed in an exciting recordings session in Prague along the Czech National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Frederic Chaslin. My new album will feature a spectacular program of Belcanto arias, based on a repertoire that was dedicated in the early nineteenth century to the famous soprano Henriette Meric-Lalande, one of the most important names of the genre at that time.
The repertoire selection is related to the most successful roles of this soprano. In 1826, Henriette Meric-Lalande signed for the female role in the premiere of Bellini’s opera “Bianca e Fernando” at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. She also sang for the first time at the Milan Scala the role of Imogene in “Il pirata” (in 1827) and the role of Alaide in “La straniera” (in 1829). In the same year, she signed for the lead role of the premiere of “Zaira” in Parma. Back to La Scala, Henriette Meric-Lalande embodied the main heroine of Donizetti’s “Lucrezia Borgia” in 1833. Arias from these operas are included in my future album “Arias for Henriette Meric-Lalande.”
I enjoy at this recordings session the support of the famous soprano Nelly Miricioiu who’s one of the world’s leading specialists in the Belcanto repertoire.
The musical director of the recordings is Nicolas Bartholomee, and the sound engineer is Clement Rousset. At the end of the ongoing session I will fly to Bucharest for an Extraordinary Concert held at the Bucharest National Opera by Juan Diego Flórez. I have the honor to be the special guest of the famous tenor. The September 7 concert in Bucharest will feature a selection of the Belcanto arias that I’m approaching in the current recordings session.
This is the third album I’m preparing in my career, after “Anna de Amicis” and “Art Nouveau Lieder”. My new album, “Arias for Henriette Meric-Lalande”, is focused on the Belcanto repertoire and includes rare arias of Vincenzo Bellini (from “Bianca e Fernando”, “Il Pirata”, “La Straniera , “Zaira”), Gaetano Donizetti (from “Elvida” and “Lucrezia Borgia”) and Giovanni Pacini (“Carlo in Borgogna”). It’s a great honor to work with one of the greatest opera conductors, Frederic Chaslin. The album will appear this winter at the Aparte Record House.”
