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April 2006
****
“Elina Garanca is a Latvian mezzo who is equally happy as a Dorabella or a Fiordiligi. The Camerata Salzburg is her accompanist; and that superb Mozartian Louis Langrée makes a diva of every woodwind soloist within that band.”
2010
“Elina Garanca's voice is warm and ample, its quality enriched in the lower register but still full-bodied, pure and resonant on the top B flats. Her legato and fluency are alike well schooled, her intervals exceptionally clean and her feeling for light-and-shade at any rate aware that it exists. Room for developments lies principally in this area: she is not inexpressive but there is more to be made of the emotions and the part words play in their communication. The selection of arias, concert and operatic, makes for a satisfying programme. Much is on the grand scale: injured women cry out against malign fate and determine to confront it. This includes, we note, both the mezzo and soprano leads in Così fan tutte: essentially sung in the same voice (she does not audibly 'turn soprano' for 'Come scoglio') and, one might well conclude, by the same character. The lighter, more intimate tone used in Ch'io mi scordi di te is welcome, and welcome too are some lesser known concert arias, most of all Ah, non lasciarmi, which has a melody almost as lovely as the now-famous 'Ruhe sanft' from Zaide. The longest is the profoundly set Misero me!, where the intricacies of the implied dramatic situation form something of a barrier, but where the sustained powers of the music and the singer impress deeply. Thinking of comparisons, she is richer and warmer than Teresa Berganza, less imaginative and personally involved than Cecilia Bartoli, but also free of mannerisms. With lively accompaniment by the Salzburg Camerata, this is an exceptionally successful debut recital.”
May 2006
“Elina Garanča is a mezzo-soprano from Latvia… Her voice is warm and ample, its quality enriched in the lower register but still full-bodied, pure and resonant on the top B flats. Her legato and fluency are alike well schooled, her intervals exceptionally clean... Thinking of comparisons, I would say she is richer and warmer than Berganza, less imaginative and personally involved in Bartoli, but also free of mannerisms. With lively accompaniment by the Salzburg Camerata, this is an exceptionally successful debut recital.”
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