Angela Gheorghiu Essentials

Any soprano bold enough to take on the repertoire associated with Maria Callas—and to call the resulting album an homage, no less—clearly has the ambition necessary to be a modern diva. Gheorghiu has more than pluck, too: With her lustrous tone, she is able to handle exposed passages in showpiece Italian arias with impressive grace, and her acting abilities put her in the same ballpark as la Callas. In addition to mastering the core operatic repertoire, this Romanian soprano has branched out into songs by composers such as Dvořák and Schubert.