Puccini: Sola, perduta, abandonnata (from Manon Lescaut)

Renée Fleming sings opera arias by Puccini and his contemporaries. Celebrating the composers of the Verismo style.

Favourite Puccini arias from La Bohème, Turandot, Manon Lescaut, Il Trittico etc.

Rarely heard arias by other Verismo composers.

World Premiere recording of the original manuscript version of the aria from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut.

Star tenor Jonas Kaufmann joins Renée Fleming for an irresistible melody from Act II of Puccini’s La Rondine.

Armenian soprano Karine Babajanyan has made an international impact as Cio-Cio San in numerous Madama Butterfly productions and is one of today's outstanding performers of Puccini’s divas.

“Karine Babajanyan succeeds not only acting wise but also gives us a musically complex portrayal of the title heroin...” the press wrote about her debut at the Opera House Graz as Cio-Cio-San, a role she has since performed at the New National Theatre Tokyo, the Hamburg State Opera, the Opera House Frankfurt, the State Theatres of Saarbrucken and Wiesbaden, and at the Stuttgart State Opera.

Karine Babajanyan began her musical education with piano lessons at the age of seven and continued with singing and choir direction studies at the Erivan City Conservatory, graduating with distinction. After participating in master classes in Italy the young artist returned to her native country. Here, she received her first engagement at the Armenian National Opera.

The versatile artist is hailed by both the press and the public for her “…warm-timbred, youthful dramatic voice…” in all the important roles of her repertoire e.g. the Contessa in ‘Le nozze di Figaro’, Fiordiligi in ‘Cosi fan tutte’, Mimi in ‘La Bohéme’, Leonora in ‘Il Trovatore’, just to name a few.

In 2007 the attractive soprano made her widely noticed debut as Tosca at the Bregenz Festival in Austria – seen by cinema-goers worldwide in the opera scene in the James Bond film ‘Quantum Of Solace’.

Further guest performances took Karine to the Aalto Theatre in Essen, the Mannheim National Theatre, to Bern, Basle, Oslo, Dorset and Mexico, where she keeps celebrating triumphs in roles such as Tatjana (Eugen Onegin), Norma, Leonora (La forza del destino), Maria (Mazeppa)‚ Maddalena (Andrea Chénier) and the press comments “not only is her voice true, powerful and beautiful, but she has that natural presence with which only few are blessed”.

“There was great excitement at the British debut of Armenian soprano Karine Babajanyan in the title role, and she fully satisfied the anticipation. She has attracted rave reviews in Germany, Switzerland and Israel, and local audiences were indeed fortunate to see this remarkable singer so early in her career. Not only is her voice true, powerful and beautiful, but she has that natural presence with which only few are blessed, and her performance was magnetic” Blackmore Vale Magazine on Karine Babajanyan’s UK debut in Norma with Dorset Opera

This CD features soprano Amarilli Nizza singing Puccini’s most memorable arias.

The talented Milanese singer outlines Puccini’s heroines with her typical passion and emotional engagement.

Limited edition luxury digipack

1CD + 1DVD in a 6-panel digipack, 36pp booklet with colour photographs and packaging design throughout plus full sung texts and interview-based note in English, German and French.

EMI Classics celebrates the artistry of Angela Gheorghiu and the 150th anniversary of Puccin’s birth with the release of an all-Puccini compilation drawn from five of the charismatic soprano’s earlier recordings. Featured are some of the most popular arias of all time from La bohème, La rondine, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, Manon Lescaut and Tosca.

“Angela Gheorghiu delivers some of her finest singing,” wrote BBC Music Magazine about an earlier Puccini disc, the source of several arias in the current compilation. “[She is] one of today’s greatest voices. An instantly recognisable one too, thanks to her vibrant tone and communicative relish of text.” The Evening Standard added, “Gheorghiu is a consummate artist, who brings both superb control and emotional intensity to these performances.”

Angela Gheorghiu’s voice and stage presence have established her as a unique international opera superstar. Born in a small Romanian town, she was destined from early childhood to become a singer and later graduated from the Bucharest Music Academy. In 1992, she made her international debuts at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, at the Wiener-Staatsoper as Adina in L'elisir d'amore and at the Metropolitan Opera as Mimi in La bohème.

It was at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1994, when she sang her much acclaimed La traviata, that the BBC cleared its schedules to broadcast the opera. At one rehearsal the conductor Sir Georg Solti said: “I was in tears. I had to go out. The girl is wonderful. She can do everything.” Since then Ms Gheorghiu has been in constant demand in opera houses and concert halls around the world.

In 1996, she married the French-Italian tenor Roberto Alagna backstage at the Metropolitan Opera between performances of La bohème in a ceremony conducted by the Mayor of New York. Alagna and Gheorghiu have gone on to perform together in many operas including Roméo et Juliette, L’élisir d’amore, Faust, La rondine, Il tritico, Tosca, Manon and Werther.

In 1998, Ms. Gheorghiu signed an exclusive recording agreement with EMI Classics. In the ten years since then, she has recorded an album of duets and arias with Roberto Alagna and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Puccini’s La rondine with the London Symphony Orchestra, Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette with the Orchestra Capitol du Toulouse and an album of Verdi duets with Roberto Alagna and the Berliner Philharmoniker. Other EMI recordings include Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi from Il trittico, Massenet’s Werther with the London Symphony Orchestra, Massenet’s Manon with l’Orchestre Symphonique de la Monnaie, Bruxelles, Verdi’s Il trovatore with the London Symphony Orchestra and Bizet’s Carmen with l’Orchestre National du Capitol de Toulouse.

In December 2000 Ms Gheorghiu interpreted the title role in the film of Tosca, directed by Benoit Jacqot and released in cinemas around the world to popular and critical acclaim. Opera News (U.S.) wrote, “She is one of the most sensuous Toscas imaginable… Angela Gheorghiu’s passion and beauty are ideal for Tosca, as if the best qualities of Callas’ and Tebaldi’s portrayals had come together.” Ms. Gheorghiu’s subsequent recital album, Casta Diva, was followed by a live recording of her concert with the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Verdi Requiem with the Berliner Philharmoniker and a 2001 recital at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, all released both on CD and DVD. Additional recordings include a Puccini arias recital, a concert for Queen Beatrix’s Silver Jubilee in Amsterdam and a recital at the Teatro alla Scala.

All Ms. Gheorghiu’s CDs have received widespread critical acclaim and have won many prizes, among them Gramophone Awards, Diapason d’Or Awards, Choc du Monde de la Musique in France, the Cecilia Prize in Belgium, Deutsche Schallplattenkritik-Preis and the Echo Award in Germany, the Italian Musica e dischi Foreign Lyric Production Award and the Critics’ Award in the United States. In 2001, at the Classical Brit Awards, Ms. Gheorghiu was named ‘Female Artist of the Year.’

“She has earned her place as one of the best sopranos of her generation and it has been said that her voice is ‘…perhaps the most instantly recognizable and interesting soprano voice of our time… a liquid instrument of great beauty…’. Puccini himself might well have been in agreement. “ Gramophone

“Angela Gheorghiu never sounds better than when singing Puccini…” The Guardian

“Angela Gheorghiu delivers some of her finest singing… one of today’s greatest voices. An instantly recognisable one too, thanks to her vibrant tone and communicative relish of text… too many jewels to list” *****Star review BBC Music Magazine, April 2005

“Gheorghiu is a consummate artist, who brings both superb control and emotional intensity to these performances.” The Evening Standard, March 2005

“This is a considerable addition to this artist’s discography… everything she achieves here is technically assured, thought through and emotionally rewarding… a deeply satisfying traversal of the Puccini canon, well supported by the Milan orchestra and Anton Coppola.” Gramophone, March 2005

“Gheorghiu here shows why she’s the soprano of the moment.” The Observer, “Classical CD of the week”, March 2005

“She is one of the most sensuous Toscas imaginable…Angela Gheorghiu’s passion and beauty are ideal for Tosca, as if the best qualities of Callas’ and Tebaldi’s portrayals had come together” Opera News