Skip to content

Timelines

1965
Angela Gheorghiu is born as Angela Burlacu in Adjud, Romania, on September 7
1980
Enters the George Enescu High School of Art, Bucharest
1981
March: Sings in a concert at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest—“Solveig’s Song,” from Grieg’s Peer Gynt
1984
Enters the Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory in Bucharest
1984
October: Appears on Romanian national television, on Iosif Sava’s Serata Muzicala, singing an aria by Purcell
1985
Appears on Romanian national television, on Luminița Constantinescu’s Vă place opera?, singing “Addio del passato” from Verdi’s La traviata
1985–1990
Appears in a large number of concerts and radio and television programs in Bucharest
1990
June 20: Debut at the Romanian National Opera in Cluj-Napoca, singing Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème (graduation from the music conservatory)
July: Prize winner at the international Belvedere Competition in Vienna
October 27: Appears at the Wexford Festival in the Belvedere prize-winners’ concert
1991
March: Debut at Basel Opera singing Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore
1992
March 3: Sings Zerlina at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in one performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni
May 16: Main debut at the Royal Opera House, singing Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème
October 27: Debut at the Vienna State Opera, singing Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore
1993
March 27: Sings Nanetta in Verdi’s Falstaff at the Vienna State Opera
August 20: Debut at the Salzburg Festival, performing “Spiegarti non poss’io” from Mozart’s Idomeneo
December 4: Debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, singing Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème
1994
Performs in a series of concerts with Plácido Domingo in Romania, Germany, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, the United States, Peru, and Portugal
November 25: Sings Violetta for the first time, in a new production of Verdi’s La traviata at the Royal Opera House
December 8: The BBC televises this new production of La traviata, and for the first time in history alters its broadcast schedule on short notice to air it live
1995
Records her first studio album with Decca Classics, Arias, singing Italian and French opera arias and a Romanian song
1996
Records her first opera in the studio with EMI Classics: Puccini’s La rondine
April 27: Sings at the James Levine twenty-fifth anniversary gala at the Metropolitan Opera
December 1: Sings at the Gold and Silver Gala at the Royal Opera House
1999
Performs at the “Michael Jackson and Friends” concert in Munich to raise funds for children in Kosovo
December: Performs at the reopening of the Royal Opera House
2000
Performs Tosca in a film of Puccini’s opera directed by Benoît Jacquot, presented at the Venice Film Festival in 2001
September 9: Sings at the “Last Night of the Proms” in Hyde Park, London
2001
Receives the titles of Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres, Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres in France and Médaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris
April 29: Performs at the concert honoring the fortieth anniversary of Luciano Pavarotti’s debut onstage, at the Modena Opera House
May 3: Performs at the Royal Festival Hall fiftieth birthday gala, in the presence of HRH Prince Charles
May 23: Performs at the reopening of the Teatro Malibran in Venice
June 1: Receives the Female Artist of the Year Award during the Classical BRIT Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London
2002
Sings Magda in a new production of Puccini’s La rondine at the Royal Opera House
June 1: Performs at the “Proms at the Palace” concert for Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee, held at Buckingham Palace in the presence of the Queen and the Royal Family
June: Performs Juliette in a film of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, directed by Barbara Willis Sweete
September 9: Sings in concert for Pope John Paul II at Castel Gandolfo
2003
September 13: Performs at the “Last Night of the Proms,” Royal Albert Hall
December 11: Performs at the Tenth Nobel Peace Prize Concert held in Oslo, in the presence of the Royal Family of Norway
December 31: Performs at the New Year’s Eve Gala at the Deutsche Oper Berlin
2004
Performs Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust, in a production created especially for her at the Royal Opera House
2005
April 29: Sings at the concert for Queen Beatrix’s Silver Jubilee in front of the palace, in Dam Square, Amsterdam
September 19: Performs act 2 of Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera, in a gala presentation that opens the Met 2005–6 season
October 8: Sings at the opening of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, in the presence of Queen Sofia of Spain
December 31: Performs at the New York Philharmonic New Year’s Eve Gala at Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall)
2006
February: Sings La traviata at the Metropolitan Opera
April 3: First recital at La Scala in Milan (released on CD by EMI Classics)
May 17: Opens the Fifty-Ninth Cannes Film Festival
June 13: Performs Tosca in a new production created for her at the Royal Opera House
December 31: Performs at the New Year’s Eve Gala at the Opéra Garnier in Paris
2007
July: Sings Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata at La Scala
September 4: Performs the role of Fanny in the world premiere of Vladimir Cosma’s Marius et Fanny in Marseille
2008
July: Sings Cio-Cio-San in EMI Classics’ new recording of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly
October 12: Performs at the “Tribute to Pavarotti” concert in Petra, Jordan, in the presence of Queen Rania of Jordan
2009
March 15 Sings at the Metropolitan Opera’s 125th anniversary gala
May 25: Charity concert for the Abruzzo earthquake victims, at the Colosseum in Rome, alongside Andrea Bocelli
December 6: Performs at the Thirty-Second Annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, DC, paying tribute to Grace Bumbry, in an event hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama
2010
Receives the Female Artist of the Year Award during the Classical BRIT Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London, on May 13
Sings the title role in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur at the Royal Opera House, in a new production of the opera created for her—the first production of the opera at the Royal Opera House since 1906
Awarded the Order of the Star of Romania by the President of Romania, the country’s highest civil order
Awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa title from the George Enescu Arts University in Iași, Romania
2011
October 28: Performs at the reopening of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow
December 11: Performs music especially composed for her by Vangelis, at the opening of the Katara Amphitheater in Doha, Qatar, under the patronage of His Highness Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Kalifa al Tan
2012
King Michael I of Romania confers the Nihil Sine Deo royal decoration upon Angela Gheorghiu, for promoting Romanian cultural values abroad
February 16: Opens the Vienna Opera Ball, under the baton of Georges Prêtre
October 31: Performs at the Our Extraordinary World Gala at the Royal Opera House, for the Diamond Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II and in her presence
2014
Awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa title from the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
December 31: Performs at the New Year’s Eve Gala in Baden-Baden, Germany
2015
February 14: Performs at the opening of the Budapest Opera Ball
March 5: Performs Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther for the first time onstage, at the Vienna State Opera
October 2: Receives the European Cultural Award for Music, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the German reunification, Dresden, Germany
2017
Celebrates her 25th anniversary with the Royal Opera House and her 150th performance on Covent Garden’s stage, reprising with great acclaim her production of Adriana Lecouvreur
May 29: Awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa title from the University of Bucharest
September 6: Performs at the Luciano Pavarotti 10th anniversary concert at Arena di Verona, singing together with Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Il Volo and Massimo Ranieri
2018
February 23 – Honored with the Victoire d’Honneur Award in France, at Les Victoires de la Musique Classique
October – Launches her first Autobiography Angela Gheorghiu: A Life For Art, written together with Jon Tolansky, London
December 14 – Awarded the prestigious Premio Puccini in Italy, for her memorable worldwide Puccini interpretations
2019
March 19 – Receives the Global Star Award from John Travolta, at the BraVo Awards, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow
November 15 – Releases her new solo album Plaisir d’amour with Decca Classics, celebrating the 25th anniversary of her first recording on Decca Classics
December 1 – Receives the Onegin Award at the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia