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Elīna Garanča

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Elīna Garanča and Andreas Schager  Star in the Acclaimed 2023 Bayreuth Festival Production of Parsifal,  Conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado

Deutsche Grammophon is delighted to announce the latest fruit of its global media partnership with the Bayreuth Festival: Jay Scheib&rsquo;s acclaimed and groundbreaking new production of Parsifal. His staging, which incorporated AR (augmented reality) visuals, was premiered at the Festspielhaus on 25&nbsp;July 2023 and received its international online premiere on DG&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.stage-plus.com/video/vod_concert_APNM8GRFDPHMASJKBSPJCE8">STAGE+</a> platform a day later. Making her Bayreuth debut, DG artist Elīna Garanča starred as Kundry opposite Andreas Schager in the title role. The production was conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado, enjoying his own &ldquo;triumphant debut&rdquo; (BR-KLASSIK) at the Festspielhaus.
For the first time since becoming the Festival&rsquo;s exclusive audiovisual partner in 2015, DG will present both audio and video recordings of the opera. The latter (2 Blu-rays) offers three sound formats, including Dolby Atmos, and comes with a booklet with full details about the work and production. Even without the AR elements that were available to some members of the Bayreuth audience, the filmed version offers viewers a breathtaking audiovisual experience. The audio recording, which includes a second booklet containing the full German libretto and an English translation, will be available digitally and as a 4-CD set. Both versions will be released on 28 June 2024, while the Prelude to Act Three and Kundry&rsquo;s aria &ldquo;Ich sah das Kind an seiner Mutter Brust&rdquo; will be issued as digital taster tracks on 31 May and 14 June respectively.
Wagner&rsquo;s final music drama was written specifically (and originally exclusively) for the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, where it was premiered in July 1882. Drawing on the composer&rsquo;s own love of technical and aesthetic innovation, American director Jay Scheib sets his version of Parsifal in an apocalyptic future. In this world, intensive mining practices have laid waste to the natural environment. The holy water is polluted and toxic, while the quest for the Holy Grail has become a pursuit of the mineral cobalt, an essential part of many electronic devices.
Scheib, who is also a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has used cutting-edge technologies in his work for many years. He broke new ground at Bayreuth, working closely with his long-time collaborator and MIT colleague Joshua Higgason &ndash; designer of the opera&rsquo;s video projections and AR elements. Adding to the visual impact of the staging are Mimi Lien&rsquo;s sets, Meentje Nielsen&rsquo;s costumes, and Rainer Casper&rsquo;s lighting designs.
An exceptional team of performers was assembled for the production, headed by Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, who consistently succeeded in realising his artistic vision in &ldquo;one of the most remarkable Bayreuth debuts of recent years&rdquo; (Die Welt). BR-KLASSIK observed that &ldquo;he accomplishes something from the start that other more famous conductors have repeatedly failed to do, namely getting the orchestra, the soloists and the fantastic chorus to really breathe together&rdquo;. The Neue Z&uuml;rcher Zeitung also paid tribute to Heras-Casado&rsquo;s &ldquo;impressive Bayreuth debut&rdquo;, noting that &ldquo;he absolutely seduces you into listening &ndash; the delicacy of orchestral and dynamic detail he achieves is unparalleled, revealing a stylistic confidence honed through his long experience of historically informed performance practice&rdquo;. The chorus (directed by Eberhard Friedrich), meanwhile, was hailed by The New York Times as &ldquo;poised and powerful&rdquo;.
There were rave reviews too for each and every member of an exceptional cast. Tenor Andreas Schager, stepping in at short notice for an indisposed Joseph Calleja, was praised by the Financial Times for singing the title role with &ldquo;breathtaking strength, refinement and rhetorical force&rdquo;. As Kundry, mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča was &ldquo;dazzling&rdquo; (Opera), &ldquo;the star of the evening&rdquo; (Bachtrack), her voice hailed as &ldquo;luxurious &ndash; lean yet velvety&rdquo; (New York Times). For the FT, bass Georg Zeppenfeld&rsquo;s Gurnemanz was &ldquo;spellbinding, every word shaped with love, his long narrations thrillingly told&rdquo; while bass-baritone Derek Welton&rsquo;s Amfortas &ldquo;[looked] fragile but [sounded] robust, wise, and authoritative&rdquo;. Baritone Jordan Shanahan (Klingsor) was &ldquo;menacing and took full advantage of Bayreuth&rsquo;s acoustics to show it&rdquo; (The New Criterion), and &ldquo;the bronze voice&rdquo; of bass Tobias Kehrer (Titurel) &ldquo;made an impact every time he sang&rdquo; (Forum Op&eacute;ra).
Pablo Heras-Casado returns to Bayreuth to conduct all six performances of Jay Scheib&rsquo;s Parsifal at this year&rsquo;s Festival (27 July &amp; 7, 10, 14, 17, 24 August), which opens on 25&nbsp;July with a new production of Tristan und Isolde. This will be streamed live on <a href="https://www.stage-plus.com/partner/partner_A1GN4T3ECLP5UCG">STAGE+</a>. Directed by Bayreuth debutant Thorleifur &Ouml;rn Arnarsson and conducted by Semyon Bychkov, it stars Andreas Schager and Camilla Nylund. STAGE+ is home to the most comprehensive on-demand Bayreuth Festival collection. Its offerings include classic stagings such as Patrice Ch&eacute;reau&rsquo;s &ldquo;Centenary Ring&rdquo; cycle as well as all new productions of the last decade, documented by DG as part of its partnership with Bayreuth. Subscribers can also enjoy landmark DG and Decca audio recordings, behind-the-scenes films and artist interviews.

Elīna Garanča - When night falls ...

Full of ambivalent sensations, colours and shades, night-time has long been special to Elīna Garanča. &ldquo;For some people, the night can be full of fear and uncertainty. It&rsquo;s a time when you&rsquo;re alone and confronted with yourself,&rdquo; she says. And yet it can also bring peace. &ldquo;The world calms down and falls asleep, and we humans can find calm as well.&rdquo; Garanča&rsquo;s new album,&nbsp;When Night Falls&nbsp;..., released on World Sleep Day (15&nbsp;March 2024), embraces all these nuances, reflecting the night from twilight to the darkness of the early hours, in songs with orchestral, chamber or solo-instrument accompaniment. The mezzo-soprano has chosen her selection of pieces with a view to conjuring &ldquo;that time of day when you withdraw from the world, come home, close the door and focus exclusively on your own life, in a safe environment&rdquo;.
This is the guiding thought behind the dramatic arc of When Night Falls&nbsp;&hellip; The album takes listeners from the rich colours of sunset, a time when the hustle and bustle of the day may still be reverberating, to the intimacy and silence of the night. It opens with three works for voice and orchestra &ndash; Richard Strauss&rsquo;s Wiegenlied (&ldquo;Lullaby&rdquo;: &ldquo;Tr&auml;ume, tr&auml;ume, du mein s&uuml;&szlig;es Leben&rdquo; &ndash; &ldquo;Dream, dream, you sweet life of mine&rdquo;), Falla&rsquo;s Asturiana and the Abendsegen, or &ldquo;Evening Prayer&rdquo;, from Humperdinck&rsquo;s opera H&auml;nsel und Gretel, in which Garanča sings both parts, thanks to overdubbing, which she calls a &ldquo;fascinating experiment&rdquo;. The singer is accompanied in all three by the Orquesta Filarm&oacute;nica de Gran Canaria, conducted by Karel Mark Chichon.
Garanča also performs a number of songs with a chamber ensemble. In two of Berio&rsquo;s Folk Songs she is accompanied by the Berlin Music Ensemble, while for Brahms&rsquo;s Wiegenlied (&ldquo;Guten Abend, gut&rsquo; Nacht&rdquo; &ndash; &ldquo;Good evening, good night&rdquo;) she is joined by oboist Albrecht Mayer and pianist Malcolm Martineau, who accompanies several other pieces as well, including Schubert&rsquo;s Nacht und Tr&auml;ume.
Elsewhere on the album, the guitar provides a beautifully complementary partner to Garanča&rsquo;s vocal line. Recent DG signing Rapha&euml;l Feuill&acirc;tre accompanies her in Tosti&rsquo;s Sogno (&ldquo;Dream&rdquo;), while Jos&eacute; Mar&iacute;a Gallardo del Rey joins her in two lullabies of his own composition (Nana Criolla and Canci&oacute;n de cuna) and in Montsalvatge&rsquo;s Canci&oacute;n de cuna para dormir a un negrito. &ldquo;The guitar has a wonderfully feminine, warm, rounded sound,&rdquo; says Garanča. &ldquo;There are fascinating parallels with the mezzo voice, especially in its vibrant middle registers.&rdquo; The intimate atmosphere created by the interplay between voice and solo instrument provides her with the opportunity to sing &ldquo;completely naturally and directly&rdquo;. &ldquo;These songs touch your heart as if your own mother were singing to you,&rdquo; she adds. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re pure, honest and deeply human.&rdquo;
One very special aspect of When Night Falls&nbsp;&hellip; is that it presents Elīna Garanča&rsquo;s first ever recordings of music from her homeland. &ldquo;My Latvian identity simply had to be part of such an intimate, personal programme,&rdquo; explains the artist. As well as performing Alfrēds Kalniņ&scaron;&rsquo; Aijajā! (&ldquo;Rock-a-bye!&rdquo;) and Şūpļa dziesma (&ldquo;Lullaby&rdquo;), and Jānis Zālīts&rsquo; Pelīt, velc miedziņu (&ldquo;Mousie, bring a dream&rdquo;), she includes the folk song Aijā, žūžū, lāča bērni (&ldquo;Hush-a-bye, hush, little bear cubs&rdquo;), which instantly transports her back to her childhood. &ldquo;I first heard it sung by my grandmother, so whenever I hear the song it&rsquo;s like going back in time to falling asleep in bed at her house. I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s a single person in Latvia who doesn&rsquo;t know this song, and I really wanted to include it here.&rdquo; Just as well known in her native country are the songs of Raimonds Pauls, whom Garanča calls a &ldquo;legend&rdquo; and &ldquo;master of melody&rdquo;. She sings three of his songs on When Night Falls&nbsp;&hellip;, accompanied on the piano by Pauls himself.

Elīna Garanča Shines at the Salzburg Festival

Artists and audiences alike felt a deep sense of loss when the pandemic put a sudden end to live performances last year. The ability to enjoy digital concerts online was some consolation, but as nothing can quite match the magic of direct contact between performer and audience, the few live concerts that were able to go ahead during this period were particularly meaningful. Set for release by Deutsche Grammophon on 3 December, Live from Salzburg documents two such remarkable events, featuring mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča&rsquo;s appearances at the Salzburg Festival in the summers of 2020 and 2021 with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Christian Thielemann. These are concerts of historic significance, in part because they defied the crisis facing live performance worldwide, but first and foremost because they provided music-making of such exceptional intensity.
On each occasion, the programme included not only a symphony but a set of orchestral songs, and it is the latter that can be heard here. The album opens with Wagner&rsquo;s Wesendonck-Lieder, whose expressive intimacy and poetry speak for themselves. This melancholy, emotional song cycle reflects the composer&rsquo;s forbidden love for the writer of his chosen texts: Mathilde Wesendonck. Elīna Garanča gives an impassioned performance of Felix Mottl&rsquo;s orchestral arrangements of these &ldquo;Five Poems for Female Voice and Piano&rdquo;.
The Wesendonck-Lieder are followed on the album by Mahler&rsquo;s R&uuml;ckert Lieder, five songs composed at different times as independent works rather than as a cycle. They are notable for the fine lyricism of R&uuml;ckert&rsquo;s texts, which Mahler interpreted musically as intimate character pieces, creating a set of evocative, atmospheric portraits.
Extraordinary levels of organisation were required to stage both of these Salzburg concerts. In 2020, there was considerable doubt as to whether the festival would be able to take place at all. Ultimately, the organisers made the decision to go ahead, but to present fewer concerts for restricted audiences, and with rigorous Covid security measures in place. Every audience member had to wear a mask and be in possession of a personalised ticket, and the venues implemented socially-distanced seating plans, reflecting the unprecedented reality of that first coronavirus summer. A year later, the pandemic was still very much present and the idea of staging cultural activities as in pre-Covid times remained out of reach. At Salzburg, masks were still mandatory, and visitors had to prove they had been tested or vaccinated, or had recovered from the virus (in line with Austria&rsquo;s &ldquo;3G&rdquo; rule), but full capacity was possible. Understandably, this led to an atmosphere of heightened expectation, as strikingly captured on this album.
The exceptional circumstances also inspired performances of even more brilliance than usual from the artists. Elīna Garanča, for whom song is the &ldquo;most intimate of musical forms&rdquo;, interpreted both the Wagner and the Mahler with uncompromising commitment and intensely focused emotion. As if putting the music beneath a microscope, she got to the very heart of each text and captivated all present with with her perfect articulation and vocal elegance. The Wiener Philharmoniker, meanwhile, convinced as a symphony orchestra with chamber music sensibilities, bringing moments of both delicate shimmer and thrilling dynamism to the scores. Christian Thielemann, with whom Garanča has worked on a number of occasions and who succeeded in maintaining an impressive balance between soloist and orchestra, was creative and emphatic on the podium, as much a master of the grand gesture as he is of filigree detail.
Live from Salzburg, therefore, is a moving document not only of live music at a very particular moment in time, but of two superb artistic performances.&nbsp;

Musical Moments - Elīna Garanča / Beethoven

Die Musical Moments Serie der DG feiert Beethovens runden Geburtstag mit Beethovens Lied "Z&auml;rtliche Liebe", das erstmals in einer Interpretation von Elīna Garanča erscheint.

&nbsp;&ldquo;Musical moments&rdquo; can be moments of memories or reflection, a retrospect of the past or an anticipation of the future, that are enriched by hearing or thinking of a special piece of music in that same moment. Further artists in the series include Daniel Barenboim, Yuja Wang, Nadine Sierra, Avi Avital and Albrecht Mayer just to name a few.
This week, the whole world is coming together in celebrating Ludwig van Beethoven. For the special occasion of the 250th anniversary of this eternal genius, here is his beloved song Z&auml;rtliche Liebe, intriguingly sung by Elīna Garanča, one of the most acclaimed mezzo-sopranos in the world.

Elīna Garanča announces her first solo album on DG: Schumann & Brahms Lieder

Nach etlichen Alben mit Opernrepertoire ver&ouml;ffentlicht die lettische Mezzosopranistin im November ihr erstes Solo-Recital-Album bei Deutsche Grammophon. Ein erstes Lied von Schumann bietet einen ersten Einblick in das Album, das ab sofort vorbestellt werden kann.

Elīna Garanča announces her first solo recital album on DG. The upcoming album is another milestone in the career of the Latvian mezzo, who has been one of the world&rsquo;s best-known singers for more than 20 years, enthralling audiences in both opera house and concert hall with her colourful and agile voice, technical brilliance and exceptional charisma. She is accompanied by Scottish pianist Malcolm Martineau, a sensitive and experienced musician who has long been her trusted partner in exploring these emotional soundworlds. This programme opens with Schumann&rsquo;s song cycle Frauenliebe und -Leben op. 42. composed in 1840, which offers a chronological narrative of the different stages in the life of a woman. As a complement to Schumann, Garanča has chosen a selection of Lieder by Brahms, basing her choice of material on the desire to juxtapose songs expressing very different states of mind.
For Elīna Garanča, the Lied is the most intimate of musical forms. Whereas in opera, for example, one singer may be directly reacting to another, performing Lieder is about the expression of one person&rsquo;s innermost feelings: &ldquo;There are no limits to longing and imagination in Lieder.&rdquo; The Latvian mezzo has now recorded her first solo recital album devoted exclusively to this genre, choosing works that she has been performing live on stage for many years with the aim of documenting her personal interpretations of some classics of the German song repertoire.
Garanča sees the cycle as resembling a never-ending journey that can be undertaken at any age, and which you see from a fresh perspective and with greater intensity as you acquire each new experience in your own life. A criticism often levelled at the texts is that they portray women in an overly traditional light. Garanča, however, thinks this is not a work about oppression or self-sacrifice, but rather &ndash; in a positive sense &ndash; about &ldquo;wanting to surrender yourself lovingly&rdquo;.
Complementing Schumann is a selection of Lieder by Brahms &ndash; including Liebestreu op.3 no.1, Geheimnis op.71 no.3, Heimweh&nbsp;II op.63 no.8 and Von ewiger Liebe op.43 no.1. When it comes to Brahms&rsquo;s Lieder Garanča particularly appreciates his harmonic writing, which is so rich that she often thinks in orchestral terms when interpreting them. The composer&rsquo;s down-to-earth idiom is also close to her heart: &ldquo;Brahms always touches me. He is genuine, earnest and sincere.&rdquo;
In recent years Garanča has begun turning to the heavier dramatic repertoire, making her debuts as Santuzza in the verista opera Cavalleria rusticana and as Princess Eboli in Verdi&rsquo;s Don Carlos. Verdi&rsquo;s Amneris (Aida) and Wagner&rsquo;s Kundry (Parsifal) are on the schedule for 2021. As she embarks on this new operatic chapter, she is keen to showcase a very different facet of her art with these recordings of Schumann and Brahms. &ldquo;I love contrasts,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;I want to demonstrate that I can still whisper and be tender and soft and intimate; that three notes on the piano and an intricate melody can mean the world.&rdquo;
The album will be released on November 6, 2020 on DG. Listen to the first pre-release track, Schumann&rsquo;s Frauenliebe und -leben Op. 42: III. Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben, here. 
&nbsp;

Elīna Garanča sings Brahms and Schumann on DG Stage

&ldquo;For me, the Lied is the natural state where we accompany, observe and recognize ourselves. We are there with our personal feelings, left to ourselves without the direct contact with others (&hellip;) There are no limits to longing and imagination in Lieder. Time and again, as singers we have endless possibilities for conveying something quite intimately.&rdquo; (Elīna Garanča) &nbsp; On Saturday, 19 September at 8PM CET Elīna Garanča, one of today&rsquo;s most eminent singers, will perform Schumann&rsquo;s Frauenliebe und Leben song cycle as well as a selection of Brahms Lieder &ndash; together with the acclaimed pianist Malcolm Martineau. The concert is the basis of her next album, set for release on November 6. The CD is available for pre-order in the DG Store. &nbsp;
---
The Latvian mezzo has now recorded her first solo recital album for devoted exclusively to this genre, choosing works that she has been performing live on stage for many years with the aim of documenting her personal interpretations of some classics of the German song repertoire. 
The programme opens with Schumann&rsquo;s song cycle Frauenliebe und Leben op. 42. Composed in 1840, it offers a chronological narrative of the different stages in the life of a woman. Garanča sees the cycle as resembling a never-ending journey that can be undertaken at any age, and which you see from a fresh perspective and with greater intensity as you acquire each new experience in your own life. A criticism often levelled at the texts is that they portray women in an overly traditional light. Garanča, however, thinks this is not a work about oppression or self-sacrifice, but rather &ndash; in a positive sense &ndash; about &ldquo;wanting to surrender yourself lovingly&rdquo;.&nbsp;
To complement the Schumann, she has chosen a selection of Lieder by Brahms &ndash; including Liebestreu op.3 no.1, Geheimnis op.71 no.3, Heimweh&nbsp;II op.63 no.8 and Von ewiger Liebe op.43 no.1 &ndash; basing her choice of material on the desire to juxtapose songs expressing very different states of mind. When it comes to Brahms&rsquo;s Lieder Garanča particularly appreciates his harmonic writing, which is so rich that she often thinks in orchestral terms when interpreting them. The composer&rsquo;s down-to-earth idiom is also close to her heart: &ldquo;Brahms always touches me. He is genuine, earnest and sincere.&rdquo;
Garanča is accompanied on this album by Scottish pianist Malcolm Martineau, a sensitive and experienced musician who has long been her trusted partner in exploring these emotional soundworlds. The pair have often performed this repertoire together in recital, and teamed up once again to make this recording in Berlin in July 2020.&nbsp;
The album is yet another milestone in the career of Elīna Garanča, who has been one of the world&rsquo;s best-known singers for more than 20 years, enthralling audiences in both opera house and concert hall with her colourful and agile voice, technical brilliance and exceptional charisma. In recent years she has begun turning to the heavier dramatic repertoire, making her debuts as Santuzza in the verista opera Cavalleria rusticana and as Princess Eboli in Verdi&rsquo;s Don Carlos. Verdi&rsquo;s Amneris (Aida) and Wagner&rsquo;s Kundry (Parsifal) are on the schedule for 2021. As she embarks on this new operatic chapter, she is keen to showcase a very different facet of her art with these recordings of Schumann and Brahms. &ldquo;I love contrasts,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;I want to demonstrate that I can still whisper and be tender and soft and intimate; that three notes on the piano and an intricate melody can mean the world.&rdquo;

Love in Southern Climes

In the dog-day heat, feelings can seem more intense than usual, and certain songs take on a particularly seductive quality. Latvian mezzo Elīna Garanča&rsquo;s new Deutsche Grammophon album, Sol y Vida (Sun and Life), captures summer&rsquo;s uniquely sensual atmosphere to perfection. In her first recording of entirely non-core-classical repertoire, Garanča has put together an exceptionally colourful programme, centred around the themes of love and living life to the full. From tango and Latin American folk songs to Italian love lyrics, it paints a vivid picture of her journey to the south, the common thread that runs throughout being the emotional and melodic impact made by every piece. The album is <a href="https://dg.lnk.to/solyvida">out now</a>.

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Title

Andreas Schager · Elīna Garanča Georg Zeppenfeld · Derek Welton Jordan Shanahan · Tobias Kehrer Bayreuther Festspielchor Bayreuther Festspielorchester Pablo Heras-Casado

WAGNER Parsifal (Bayreuther Festspiele 2023)

Wagner: Parsifal

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Acclaimed by the New York Times as &ldquo;superbly sung, and conducted with muscular solidity", we are delighted to release the Bayreuth Festival&rsquo;s 2023 production of Parsifal in both audio and audio-visual formats. The production features the conductor Pablo Heras-Casado and singers Andreas Schager, Elīna Garanča, Georg Zeppenfeld and Derek Welton.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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Wagner composed Parsifal especially for Bayreuth&rsquo;s Festspielhaus, wishing for it to be performed nowhere else. Stage Director Jay Scheib takes the composer at his word in his staging, referring to a letter Wagner wrote to King Ludwig II in which he described the opera as a &ldquo;farewell to the world&rdquo;, a work that faces up to the question of how hope can exist when life has long since ceased to be possible&hellip;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
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The 4-CD set contains two booklets: one contains information about the work, the staging in Bayreuth 2023 and photos of the production, the other contains the complete German libretto with English translation.&nbsp;
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The Blu-ray Video offers 3 sound formats, including Dolby Atmos, as well as a booklet with photos and information about the work and this production.&nbsp;
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The production is also available on our video streaming service STAGE+ in 4K Ultra HD quality.&nbsp;
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Elīna Garanča - News | Deutsche Grammophon

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