Mozart: Bella mia fiamma, addio... Resta, oh cara, K528

“Lott is bright and lyrical (Exsultate), and tender ('Lungi da te'). She can be a bit colourless, but Glover's orchestra gives brilliantly nuanced support.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2012 ****

“Exsultate, jubilate, fine as recorded sound, crisp in the playing, deliciously clear and clean in the singing, sets off with all the promise of a bright spring morning. The middle movement, "Tu virginum corona", is exceptionally beautiful in adding to its accustomed serenity a more rarely heard sense of compassion, bringing out the references to the grief that calls for consolation. Then with the "Allelujah" the sun is out again, the rhythms dance, the voice shines and rejoices in those difficult semiquavers and the final high C. … A lovely performance of "Ruhe sanft" … the marvellous Mitridate [is] crowned by a quiet high D almost as miraculous as the greater wonder of its composition by the 13-year-old boy.” Gramophone Magazine

“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.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2006 ****

“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.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“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.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006

“An odd collection, in which the fragmentary Sinfonia Concertante shows the makings of a masterpiece. Haydn's Symphony No. 64 is a welcome rarity.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2012 ****

“…her tone is delightfully fresh and personal throughout the range, and she negotiates the coloratura with precision and a sense of musical direction. Throughout, there's an impression of her interpretative intelligence at work, as she makes each item her own. Superior accompaniments from Charles Mackerras and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment...” BBC Music Magazine, November 2009 ****

“With Charles Mackerras and the OAE providing unfailingly stylish accompaniment, there's a bit of everything here...De Niese glitters and charms as Zerlina.” The Guardian, 19th November 2009 ***