Elina Garanča
May 2021
The Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča is gifted with one of the richest voices of the time. Garanča (born 1976) had her first successes as a Mozartian (2003 at the Salzburger Festspielen) singing Annio’s rôle at La clemenza di Tito. She has performed on prestigious stages around the world, most notably as Carmen at the MET where the New York Times named her “best Carmen for the past 25 years”. An extraordinary trajectory based on a powerful base, stylistic accuracy and surprising performing capacity.
Her privileged voice has reached the first 20 years of its career and she recently finished the release of her new album, the first that she dedicates entirely to the Lied, with works by Schumann and Brahms.
Her tone is smooth, her singing contained (magnificent pianissimi) and she reaches the high notes with ease. She seems to have no weaknesses in any of her registers, in addition she knows how to communicate and bring to life her characters, knowing how to give impressive lyricism in her phrasing.
Now, in a moment of personal and vocal maturity, she has decided to release this album which appears to be her first incursion into the German Lied genre with a combination of German Romantic works: a Robert Schumann cycle (chronicling the various stages on a woman’s love journey, from the first contact with her future partner, all the way from the birth of the first child to the death of the companion) and Johannes Brahms (“Lieder von Zorn und Bitterkeit, von Naivität und Sehnsucht, von tiefer Zärtlichkeit und schwebendem Glück”). The Scottish pianist Malcolm Martineau accompanies her on the piano.
Her unusual mutable capability is admirable, providing her opulent timbre and adapting to the Liederistic style with spotless pronunciation. If the Schumann cycle narrates the sentimental evolution of a woman, Brahms’ works follow the same dramatic line: from the innocence of the first love, to the mature passion of a moving final Von ewiger Liebe. Interestingly, Garanča seems to feel more comfortable with the Brahms tragic overtones which seem to suit the singer’s qualities better than the Schumannian lyricism. Apart from some metallic intonations in the high register, Garanča’s voice is unassailable. And so is her style.
This disc shows off Ms Garanča’s magnificent voice to perfection and demonstrates that not only does she shine in Bel Canto operatic roles but is well capable of transferring delicacy and expression to the distant register of Lieder.
– David Smith
