It was a special evening for me at the Royal Festival Hall because I heard Giuse alfin il momento (Le Nozze di Figaro), Tu che le vanita (Don Calro), Suzel bon di (L'amico Fritz) and O nume tutelar (La Vestale) for the first time live. My favorite? Hard to say. I live every second, each note enters my head and buzzes through the body. I enjoy everything with such a pleasure that sometimes the arias seem too short. But if I were to sum up, there were two moments when I forgot to breathe, during O nume tutelar and later on during O mio babbino caro. They were so intense, so emotional, with long, beautiful phrases. Still dreaming about those moments... The reaction of the audience was similar to mine. I noticed the complete silence. No one moved or turned pages or talked anymore. And all the energy received from the stage returned at the end of the aria in loud, endless applauses. There were four encores, standing ovations and cheers and I would have liked everything to start all over again. It did, in my head, the entire night. At the signing session after the concert there was a loooong queue. It lasted for more than one hour, lots of enthusiastic fans willing to say something nice, to have the program signed and a photo taken with Angela. Speaking of the program, it was one of the nicest I saw so far, as you can see in the photos below.
Program Mozart - Le Nozze di Figaro - Ouverture Mozart - Le Nozze di Figaro - Giunse alfin il momento..Deh, vieni, non tardar (Angela Gheorghiu) Verdi - La Traviata - Parigi, o cara (Angela Gheorghiu, Teodor Ilincai) Puccini - Tosca - Lucevan le stelle (Teodor Ilincai) Mascagni - Cavaleria rustivana - Intermezzo Verdi - Don Carlo - Tu che le vanita (Angela Gheorghiu) Gounod - Romeo et Juliete - Va! je t'ai perdonne... Nuit d'hymenee (Angela Gheorghiu, Teodor Ilintai)
Bizet - L'Arlesienne Suite No 2 - Farandole Mascagni - L'Amico Fritz - Suzel, bon di (Angela Gheorghiu, Teodor Ilincai) Massenet - Cherubin - Aubade: Vive amour (Angela Gheorghiu) Puccini - Turandot - Nessun dorma (Teodor Ilincai) Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin - Polonaise Spontini - La Vestale - O nume tutelar (Angela Gheorghiu) Puccini - La Boheme - O soave fanciulla (Angela Gheorghiu, Teodor Ilincai)
Encores Tosti - A vucchella (Angela Gheorghiu) Puccini - Gianni Schicchi - O mio babbino caro (Angela Gheorghiu) Be my love (Teodor Ilincai) Non ti scordar di me (Angela Gheorghiu, Teodor Ilincai) Lara - Granada (Angela Gheorghiu, Teodor Ilincai)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Tiberiu Soare, conductor
You'll excuse me now. I'll go back to my fluffy white cloud. I got down only to tell you these few words. Oh, yes. Photos coming soon!
