Royal Festival Hall - Angela and more

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November 10th 2009 - Angela Gheorghiu
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The program for the concet on November 10th is announced on the web site of Royal Festival Hall.
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Leonard Bernstein: Candide - Overture
Giuseppe Verdi: Parigi, o cara (La Traviata)
Jules Massenet: Pleurez, pleurez mes yeux (Le Cid)
Charles Gounod: Salut! Demeure chaste et pure (Faust)
Georges Bizet: Intermezzo from L'arlesienne Suite No.2
Georges Bizet: Farandole from L'arlesienne Suite No.2
Charles Gounod: Va! Je t'ai pardonne (Romeo et Juliette)
Gaetano Donizetti: Caro elisir (L'elisir d'amore)
Interval
Pietro Mascagni: Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana
Pietro Mascagni: Cherry duet (L'amico Fritz)
Francesco Cilea: Lamento di Federico (L'Arlesiana)
Giuseppe Verdi: Quando le sere al placido (Luisa Miller)
Giuseppe Verdi: Overture, La forza del destino
Giuseppe Verdi: Pace, pace mio Dio! (La Forza del destino)
Giacomo Puccini: O soave fanciulla (La Boheme)
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Philharmonia Orchestra
Ion Marin conductor
Angela Gheorghiu soprano
Marius Manea tenor
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There is an ARTICLE (read it here) written by Rupert Christiansen and published on telegraph.co.uk. Among other things related to Angela's personal and professional life, he says She returns to London again – fingers crossed – on November 10 for a concert of arias at the Royal Festival Hall, postponed from last month when she was suffering from “serious influenza”. A glance at the website indicates plenty of seats available: could her fans be getting fed up with her antics?.
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Two things here. "Fingers crossed" and "antics". Everytime I buy a ticket to see her I keep up in mind that she might not come. This happened several times to me and it's better to be prepared. I feel sorry that this "wanting to listen to her live" tends to become a lottery, a matter of luck or bad luck. You know that "The Boy who Cried "Wolf". It's almost the same. At some point people start waiting till last minute to buy tickets to be sure that the concert will take place. I'll keep my fingers crossed too for the future performances.
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Regarding the "antics", I guess Mr Christiansen refers to the fact that there are the same arias over and over again. And he's somehow right. Not only almost the same arias, but the same tenor. This is just part of the reason why I returned my ticket. The main reason was that it's impossible to travel to London during the week. The previous date was fine, but... Maybe that's why there are so many seats available. On the other hand some variation in the program would be fine with everybody. One correction though. FANS will never get fed up with these songs. For me it's more a matter of affording to travel.
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If anybody goes to the concert, please tell me how it was. Think that on that day I'll be very, very sad not being able to jump a plane and come to London.
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If you happen to be in London on those precise dates, don't hesitate to go see Bryn Terfel, Anna Netrebko&Dimitri Hvorostovsky and Roberto Alagna. All these concerts are part of International Voices 2009/2010:
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November 11th - Bryn Terfel
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Sinfonia Cymru
Gareth Jones conductor
Bryn Terfel baritone
London Welsh Chorale
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January 18th - Anna Netrebko and Dimitri Hvorostovsky
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Philharmonia Orchestra
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Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky perform favourite songs from the French, Italian and Russian operatic repertoire.
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February 9th - Roberto Alagna
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Raised on the musical heritage of his Sicilian parents, world-renowned tenor Roberto Alagna returns to his roots, accompanied by a group of hand-picked instrumentalists. They perform an irresistible programme of Sicily's traditional tarantellas, waltzes and lullabies with heartfelt authenticity, including Sicilian favourites ‘Abballati’, ‘Sicilia Bedda’, ‘Ciuri, Ciuri’ and ‘Parla più piano’, the love theme of legendary Coppola film trilogy The Godfather.
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The previous time I was in London I found this street. It's very close to Russell Square. It's short and there are several coffee shops there. I immediately thought of Roberto and his album.
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