Grida natura, e desta!

Dear Friends,

Although I had no time to breathe these last days, I kept my promise and here I am with something more from the beautiful adventure called “Tokyo”, still fresh in my memory and soul. 

As you know, the wonderful Angela Gheroghiu invited me to sing with her on 11th and 16th of October.

There were two magical Gala Concerts, both of them sold out. Our voices blended just perfect, on every single duet we sung, beautifully accompanied by the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, under maestro conductor Ion Marin.

I guess, you have already seen „Vieni fra queste braccia”, the splendid duet from Vincenzo Bellini's „I Puritani”.

And there were more… “Parigi o cara” form Verdi’s “La Traviata”, for example, or “C'est le Dieu de la jeunesse” from Leo Delibes’s “Lakme”. 

But today, I present you the demanding aria of Prince Adelberto, from the second act of Rossini's “Adelaide di Borgogna” – “Grida natura, e desta!”.

This aria represented a challenge for me as it is a challenge for any tenor who approaches it. Because a high tessitura and a warm but still strong coloratura voice is needed.

This is a sort of madness aria - “aria di pazzia" – usually composed just for sopranos. But for “Adelaide di Borgogna”, Rossini changed the rule and gave this challenge to a tenor.

Adelberto remains alone in the chambers of the palace after having a fight with his mother Eurice.

She tried to convince him to give Adelaide back to Ottone, otherwise his father, Berengario, will die - being captured by him.

This is the moment when Adelberto must make up his mind: save his father or loose forever the beloved Adelaide.

And all he has in mind is that all the people around him and even the Universe it’s self are against him: “Nemici o gli uomini, Nemico h'o il cielo".

I hope you have enjoyed my performance from Suntory Hall, Tokyo, and I promise to be back with more.

Now…I have to run or I’ll be late for “Don Pasquale” rehearsal at Zurich Opernhouse.

Yes…I’m already in Zurich

The end of a wonderful dream... looking forward for the next one!

I just can’t believe it’s over…but it is!

As I already said, the two concerts in Tokyo with the wonderful Angela Gheorghiu and maestro Ion Marin, and the whole Japan experience, made me feel that my last 14 years of hard work fully worth.

And I can’t express the happyness and gratitude I feel... Two sold out concerts, great audience, standing ovations, more than a thousand people asking for autographs...it’s been unbelievable!

I think there is no greater satisfaction and fulfillment for an artist than the appreciation he/she receives from the public.

And today, as you can see in the video below, Angela and I, along with maestro Ion Marin and the Japan Philarmonic Orchestra, we felt the love and appreciation of the public all the way...

This was just a little part of the concert, „Vieni fra queste braccia”, the splendid duetto from Vincenzo Bellini's „I Puritani”. More photos and videos are on the way...

Thank You so much Angela, for inviting me to sing with you!

Thank you to all those who came at Suntory Hall today to see the concert and thank you Tokyo for having me!

This was a beautiful dream came true!

Now, it’s time for me to move on to the next dream: after a few days in Romania with my parents and friends, I’ll fly to Zurich.

I’ll be „Ernesto” in Donizetti's „Don Pasquale”, at Zurich Opernhaus, under maestro Nello Santi. It’s a debu and that means a lot of hard work.

Well? See you at the premiere?

The day before THE Concert...

This was probably the longest day of my life, waiting for tomorrow, to be near the wonderful Angela Gheorghiu on stage again.

And, since I had some time off after the today reherseal, I kept the promise I made a few days ago and took the time to post “a little something” from the Tuesday concert…

A little something that shows what you’ll be missing tomorrow…

So…time to rest now! The wake-up call will be at 5a.m.

Good night, world!

 

A wonderful day from a wonderful life

I was thinking this morning, while I was drinking coffee and admiring the beautiful Tokyo from the 14th floor of my hotel, how lucky I am...

I have a wonderful family that supported me and stood by me for better or worse...

God gave me talent and voice...and since I discovered I can sing I did nothing but work. Hard and sustained work...

And today, more than ever, I felt that the effort was fully worth.

I'm in Tokyo, singing with the wonderful Angela Gheorghiu and maestro Ion Marin, in front of an extraordinary audiences...

For some time now, someone keeps telling me that..."Somebody Up There Loves Me". Today, I trully believe that too...

I would like to say "thank you!". But I find those words too small to express how much gratitude I have in my heart for my parents, for all those who believed in me and supported me and, more recently, for Angela Gheorghiu, from which I learnd so much about this job of ours, professional opera singers. And not only ...

I learned that we should never forget where we started, we should never forget to remain human, normal and natural people.

And I learned that, from time to time, it’s better to forget about work and try to relax and have some fun. And that’s what we did today

We took a beautiful walk on the streets of Tokyo,

we bought some souvenirs

and ate a sensational dinner in a splendid traditional Russian restaurant .

Tomorrow ... rehearsal and Sunday ... The Big Concert!!! I just can’t wait...
Till then...Good night everyone, wherever you are...

A superb day in wonderful Japan

My dear friends,

Here I am, trying to find the right words to describe the beautiful day I had...

As you already know, Angela Gheorghiu and I have some days off between the concerts (the next one is scheduled Sunday)...

So today, at noon, the wonderful Angela had great ideea... to go out for a walk with our beloved friends, conductor Ion Marin, Florentina Bucos and Mioara Manea.

I thought...”just great! This time I’ll finally see the city, becouse my first stay in Tokyo was too short and I didn't got the chance …”

But maestro Ion Marin took us to an extraordinary place, NEAR...Tokyo :-)

 We visited the great Buddha Kamakura wich is the principle deity of Kotoku-in temple and it's considered a national treasure being constructed in 1252.

Just try to imagine the size of Buddha behind us knowing that only its weight is 121 tones (simply amazing!).

 

 And of course, as you can see, we had a lot of fun, ending the day in a splendid restaurant located in center Tokyo, eating shrimps prepared right in front of us.

We had a wonderful journey today, which made the wait for the next concert, on Sunday, to be bearable...

If you’re here, in Tokyo, Angela Gheorghiu, Bogdan Mihai (myself) and maestro Ion Marin would be pleased to have you in the audience at Suntory Hall, Sunday from 14.30...

If you’re anywhere else in the world, stay tuned! Videos and photos from the concert are coming soon... J

Welcome to Mihai Bogdan's Official Blog

Dear friends, welcome on my Official Blog. Here I will share with you parts of my artistic life.

As you all know, I'm in Japan right now, with our great romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu for a series of concerts at Suntory Hall, Tokyo with the Japan Philarmonic Orchestra, under conductor Ion Marin.

This is a snapshot from the first concert on 11.10.2011

In Concert, with the great romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu