Angela Gheorghiu’s album of Romanian Christmas Carols gets tremendous review from The Gramophone magazine

A great review for the Romanian Christmas Carols album “O, ce veste minunata”( Great tidings upon us) that was recently released by the Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu together with Romanian National Radio Orchestra has received one of the best album reviews from the well-known music magazine The Gramophone.

According to the prestigious magazine, Angela Gheorghiu has recorded 16 Romanian carols in new arrangements made especially for her, in which she vividly brings to life the authentic character and flavour of an ancient tradition she intimately knows, profoundly understands and has deeply loved all her life. Moreover, the arrangements and orchestrations have been skilfully conceived as contemporary re-workings of ancient Romanian modes and sonorities, faithfully preserving the earthy, rustic essence of the ethnic originals within subtly woven canopies of modern instrumentation. The three composers commissioned to do this are all Romanian folklore experts: Dan Dediu, Christian Lolea and Constantin Arvinte. Lolea has made an especially haunting version of ‘Coroana de trandafari’, a carol about Mary sitting at a window waving an object that transpires as barbed wire: the crown of thorns that will be placed on Christ’s head before the crucifixion. The original carol arose in two versions, one for a chorus and one for pan pipes. Here both versions are combined and performed for the first time with a solo soprano, and the effect is touchingly affecting, with the modal pan pipes of long ago ingeniously suggested by a solo violin and Angela Gheorghiu’s evocative emotive inflections painting a spiritual landscape with heartrending pathos.

The complete review of the album can be read here. The disc is released on the MediaPro Music label (Cat. No. 0309) and is also available as a download on iTunes.