Elīna Garanča

Elīna Garanča (born 16 September 1976) is a Latvian mezzo-soprano. She began to study singing in her hometown of Riga in 1996 and continued her studies in Vienna and in the United States. By 1999 she had won first place in a significant competition in Finland and had begun a career in Europe. Worldwide engagements followed her 2003 Salzburg Festival appearances.

Elīna Garanča
Garanča in 2012
Born (1976-09-16) 16 September 1976
Riga, Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic
OccupationOpera singer
Years active1998–present
Spouse(s)Karel Mark Chichon
Websiteelinagaranca.com

Early life and education

Elīna Garanča was born in the Latvian city of Riga into a musical family: her father was a choral director, and her mother Anita was a lieder singer,[1][2][3] a professor at the Latvian Academy of Music, an associate professor at the Latvian Academy of Culture, a vocal music teacher at the Latvian National Opera, and also a private voice tutor.[4][5]

Career in opera

She entered the Latvian Academy of Music in 1996 to study singing with Sergej Martinov. She continued her studies in Vienna with Irina Gavrilovici and in the United States with Virginia Zeani. Garanča began her professional career at the Meiningen Court Theatre, Meiningen, Germany in 1998,[6] and later worked at the Frankfurt Opera. In 1999, she won the Mirjam Helin Singing Competition in Helsinki, Finland.[7]

Garanča's international breakthrough came in 2003 at the Salzburger Festspiele when she sang Annio in a production of Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Major engagements followed quickly, such as Charlotte in Werther, Dorabella in Così fan tutte at the Vienna State Opera (2004) and Dorabella in a Paris production directed by Patrice Chéreau (2005). In 2006, she returned to La clemenza di Tito, this time singing the part of Sesto. On 12 January 2008 Garanča made her company and house debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, in the role of Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.[8] Of her debut, Bernard Holland wrote in The New York Times: "Ms. Garanca is the real thing ... Modern singing techniques adapt with difficulty to Rossini's early-19th-century emphasis on speed, lightness and athletic articulation, and Ms. Garanca was the only one onstage sounding completely comfortable. The lyric passages sang out; the episodes of racecourse delivery were fully in hand".[9] Garanča sang the leading role of Georges Bizet's Carmen in the 2010 and 2015 productions of the Metropolitan Opera. In the opening concert of the 2011 Rheingau Musik Festival in the Eberbach Abbey she performed Alban Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder with the hr-Sinfonieorchester, conducted by Paavo Järvi.[10]

In May 2018 Garanča made her stage role debut as Dalila in Camille Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila at Wiener Staatsoper conducted by Marco Armiliato.[11][12] In 2018, she appeared in the Metropolitan Opera's performance of that opera.[13]

Awards and honours

Repertoire

Garanca's repertoire includes:[5][26]

Year (debut) Composer Opera Role(s) Location
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart La clemenza di Tito Annio
Pietro Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana Lola
Pietro Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana Santuzza
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Le nozze di Figaro Cherubino
Richard Strauss Der Rosenkavalier Octavian
Jules Massenet Werther Charlotte
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Così fan tutte Dorabella
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart La clemenza di Tito Sesto
Gioachino Rossini The Barber of Seville Rosina
Gioachino Rossini La Cenerentola Angelina
2010 Georges Bizet Carmen Carmen Metropolitan Opera
Vincenzo Bellini I Capuleti e i Montecchi Romeo
2011 Gaetano Donizetti Anna Bolena Giovanna Seymour Wiener Staatsoper
2016 Gaetano Donizetti Roberto Devereux Sara Metropolitan Opera
Gaetano Donizetti La favorite Léonor de Guzman
Hector Berlioz Les Troyens Didon
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Don Giovanni Donna Elvira
Jules Massenet La Navarraise Anita
Johann Strauss Die Fledermaus Orlofsky
Jacques Offenbach Contes d'Hoffmann Nicklausse
Vincenzo Bellini Norma Adalgisa
Giuseppe Verdi Don Carlos Eboli
Giuseppe Verdi Falstaff Meg Page
Hector Berlioz La damnation de Faust Marguerite
Gaetano Donizetti Anna Bolena Giovanna Seymour (Jane Seymour)
2018 Camille Saint-Saëns Samson et Dalila Dalila Vienna State Opera

Recordings

Her recordings include the Grammy Award winning Bajazet conducted by Fabio Biondi, in which she sang the role of Andronicus. In 2005, Garanča signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.

Other audio recordings include:

DVD recordings include:

Personal life

Garanča is married to the conductor Karel Mark Chichon, and they have two daughters.[28]

References
  1. Gurewitsch, Matthew (28 June 2009). "A Mezzo Kicks Up Her Heels in High Style". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  2. Loomis, George (10 January 2008). "Opera's Switch Hitter". The New York Sun. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  3. "Elina Garanca – Biography". Deutsche Grammophon. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  4. Kuusisaari, Harri (22 July 2009). "Latvian blonde is eager to alter her image". The Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition. Finnish Cultural Foundation. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012.
  5. "Anita Garanča's website". Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  6. Theurich, Werner (3 April 2007). "Sopranistin Elina Garanca: Coole Diva, kesser Charme". spiegel.de (in German). Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  7. "Laureates and Jury 1999". The Mirjam Helin Competition. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  8. "Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia". BBC. 26 January 2008. Archived from the original on 29 January 2008. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  9. Holland, Bernard (14 January 2008). "Barreling Through Rossini With a Noises Off Rhythm". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 December 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2008.
  10. Klaus Ackermann (27 June 2011). "Magische Momente" (in German). op-online.de. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  11. Ritterband, Charles E. (12 May 2018). "Samson, Dalila und eine Badewanne – grandios gescheiterte Neuinszenierung in Wien" [Samson, Dalila and a bathtub - a terrific failed new production in Vienna]. Klassik begeistert (in German).
  12. Pullinger, Mark (13 May 2018). "Softly awakes my cold, cold heart: a tepid Samson et Dalila in Vienna". Bachtrack.
  13. "Samson et Dalila". 20 October 2018.
  14. Veikko Ylikojola. "Where are they now? Previous winners". Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  15. "Latvia: Elina Garanca". BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. 1 July 2001. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  16. Aaron Green. "48th Annual Grammy Awards: Classical Music". About.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  17. "Alle Preisträger" (in German). Die Europäische Kulturstiftung Pro Europa. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  18. "Opera star Elina Garanca wins award for "Romantique"". The Baltic Course. 27 August 2013. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  19. "Magazine "Musical America" names Elīna Garanča Vocalist of the Year". Bestriga. 16 November 2009. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  20. "Elīna Garanča gewinnt MIDEM Classical Award" (in German). KlassiKAkzente. 25 November 2009. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  21. "Verleihung des Titels "Österreichische Kammersängerin" an Elina Garanca" (in German). KlassiKAkzente. 23 May 2013. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  22. "Solo Recording of the Year/Voice (Duets/opera arias)". Echo Klassik. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  23. "Echo Klassik – Preisträger 2015" (in German). Echo Klassik. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015.
  24. "Par "Gada rīdzinieku" kļuvusi operdziedātāja Elīna Garanča" [Elina Garanča, the opera singer, has become the "Rigans of the Year"] (in Latvian). LA.lv. 18 November 2018.
  25. eng.lsm.lv (29 November 2019). "Latvian Excellence Award in Culture goes to Garanča, Laudere, Lancmanis". Latvian Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  26. "Elina Garanca". Wiener Staatsoper. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  27. Christiansen, Rupert (26 September 2012). "Elina Garanca: We mezzos get to have such fun". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016. Christiansen states "on the showing she makes in her new album, Romantique, I would go further and claim that in her repertory, there has been no one to touch her since the Olga Borodina of 20 years ago."
  28. "Elina Garanča: a singer is like a sportsman". LRT. 20 May 2015. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.

Bibliography
  • Wirklich wichtig sind die Schuhe ("The shoes are really important"), Ecowin Verlag GmbH 2013, ISBN 978-3711000453; Garanča's first autobiography.
  • Zwischen den Welten: Mein Weg auf die großen Opernbühnen (Between the Worlds: My way to the great opera stages), Ecowin Verlag GmbH 2019, ISBN 978-3711002334; Garanča's second autobiography.
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