Angela Gheorghiu (Romanian pronunciation: (listen); née Burlacu; born 7 September 1965) is a Romanian soprano.
Since her professional debut in 1990, she has performed in leading roles of several operas at New York's Metropolitan Opera, London's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States. She has a substantial discography primarily with EMI Classics and Decca and is especially known for her performances in the operas of Puccini.
Angela Burlacu was born in Adjud, to a seamstress mother and train driver father. Along with her sister Elena Dan, she sang opera music from an early age. At age 14, she began to study singing at the National University of Music Bucharest, primarily under Mia Barbu. Her graduation in 1990 followed the overthrow of Nicolae Ceaușescu the previous year, enabling her to seek an international career immediately. Her professional opera debut took place at the Cluj-Napoca Romanian National Opera as Mimì in La bohème in 1990, the same year she won third prize in the Belvedere International Competition.