Angela Gheorghiu è una  delle  star  internazionali  più  note  e  amate.

La  vicenda  del  suo  lungo matrimonio  con il tenore  Roberto  Alagna ha

spesso  coinvolto  le  pagine  "rosa"   più  che  la  cronaca  musicale,

sebbene  il legame  con   la  EMI abbia  prodotto  parecchi  cofanetti

operistici  e  concerti  importanti.

Ora, l'interruzione di  questo rapporto, già  nota  da  tempo,  presenta  una

macchia abbastanza  grave, come si evince dalla  notizia  pubblicata  oggi.

La  Gheorghiu accusa   l'ex  marito  di  essere  stata  malmenata.

Don José, insomma, di nome  e di  fatto.

Roberto  Alagna  , dal  canto suo, si  era  già  distinto  per  il  carattere

focoso  e  incline al  manesco.  Durante una  prova  d'assieme  dei

"Pagliacci"  a  Ravenna, giunse  a  mettere  le  mani addosso al  maestro

Riccardo  Muti, reo  di aver  maltrattato la  moglie  oltremodo.

Chi  assistette  alla  rissa  parlò  di  un Muti seriamente  spaventato

dai modi assai  poco  urbani  del  tenore  francese.

Ora  la  faccenda, se  vera,  è  decisamente  più  grave.

Bon ton  vuole  che  una  donna, o primadonna  che  sia, non debba  essere

toccata  nemmeno con un  fiore. Qui  si  è  andati  oltre.

Tuesday, Jul 02 2013 3PM 22°C 6PM 22°C 5-Day Forecast
Revealed: The Posh and Becks of opera divorced because 'he beat her in front of her own family until she could no longer sing'

Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna divorced back in January
The soprano described the violence as the most 'black page' of her life
The revelation will shock fans of opera's long-time golden couple
Miss Gheorghiu says friends warned her to 'be careful' of Mr Alagna
The pair initially split back in 2009 but later got back together

By Steve Nolan

PUBLISHED: 10:09 GMT, 2 July 2013 | UPDATED: 12:31 GMT, 2 July 2013

They were once the golden couple of the opera world, dubbed culture's answer to Posh and Becks.

But it seems that world renowned singer Angela Gheorghiu's marriage to tenor Roberto Alagna may have been far from the dream pairing that fans imagined.

The 47-year-old soprano has claimed in an interview that 50-year-old Alagna would violently assault her in front of both her family and his.

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Speaking out: Opera star Angela Gheorghiu has claimed in an interview that ex husband Roberto Alagna was violent during their 17 year marriage

Speaking out: Opera star Angela Gheorghiu has claimed in an interview that ex husband Roberto Alagna was violent during their 17 year marriage



The revelation, made in The Independent days before Miss Gheorghiu is set to star in Puccini's La Rondine at Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, will stun opera fans.

She told the newspaper: 'There are things in life you accept from your man, but I did not want to continue to live with the idea that your man is violent.'


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Describing Alagna's alleged violent behaviour as 'the most black page' of her life, she added: 'Even if you are the most angry person, to stand and give a clap on your wife, it's impossible - and to do this in front of your father and your brother and they say not a word?

'A person like that will never, ever change.'

In the frank interview, Miss Gheorghiu, who went to Romania to divorce Mr Alagna earlier this year, says that when the pair first got together she was warned to be careful around the French star, but only saw in him what she wanted to see.

She described her life as a cycle of crying and singing and admitted that she got to the stage where the tumultuous relationship was wearing her down to the point where she didn't want to sing anymore.

Miss Gheorghiu and Mr Alagna met when they performed together in La bohème in the early 1990s.

The pair married in 1996 after Miss Gheorghiu divorced her first husband.

The couple collaborated often both on stage and in studio recordings, but Gheorghiu, once named the 74th sexiest woman in the world by FHM magazine, told Le Figaro that the pair had separated in October 2009.
Renowned: Pictured performing at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, Miss Gheorghiu was once voted the 74th sexiest woman in the world by FHM magazine

Renowned: Pictured performing at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, Miss Gheorghiu was once voted the 74th sexiest woman in the world by FHM magazine

Two months later she reportedly declined to appear opposite her estranged husband in a production of Carmen.

But the divorce was called off and in a March 2011 interview, Miss Gheorghiu said that she was back with Mr Alagna.

In 2011 they jointly opened a Greek ampitheatre in Qatar and sang together in two performances of La bohème at the Royal Opera House and sang in a joint concert in Buenos Aires.

But Miss Gheorghiu announced that opera's golden couple had agreed to divorce back in January.

MailOnline contacted Mr Alagna's management who declined to comment.