Customer Reviews

Elina Garanca - Aria Cantilena

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Elina Garanca displays a lush, rich mezzo voice in this CD. She also shows strong coloratura technique and handles the bel canto repertoire with aplomb. The liner notes have her mentioning that some have suggested that she might try the soprano repertoire; however, her mezzo portfolio is superb, and I hope that she stays there.

A few representative cuts from this CD.

Chapi, "Al pensar en el dueno de mis amores" (from "The Daughters of Zebedeo"). The first cut on this CD immediately introduces the listener to her rich mezzo soprano voice. This is an animated piece, and she handles it with great agility in her singing. As the pace picks up more toward the end, she picks up her pace, too. Well sung.

Offenbach, "Vois sous l'archet fremmisant" (from "The Tales of Hoffmann"). This is a more poignant song, and slower paced. Garanca plays Hoffmann's younger friend (a male) and sings of love. A poignant piece sung poignantly. She shows good range from lower to higher notes in her singing, and finishes with a nicely executed high note.

Rossini, "Nacqui all'affanno e al pianto" (from "La Cenerentola"). Very nice agile singing here! She displays nice coloratura technique. In the closing portion, she does very well indeed, concluding with a nice high note. Her voice does not quite soar over the ensemble toward the end, but--overall--a very nicely done work. Much fun to listen to!

Rossini, "Per lui che adoro" (from "L'Italiana in Algeri"). Another well sung work, once more illustrating her rich voice and once more showing off excellent technique.

All in all, a most enjoyable CD. She joins a number of excellent mezzo sopranos in the current era (including Vivica Genaux, Magdalena Kozena, and so on), and holds her own in comparison with them.

...The girl....the voice...the production....EVERYTHING... I bought this after being well impressed with Elina on You Tube, and I was absolutely blown away. This is one of the finest releases by a relatively new singer in a long time. Yes, I know this is not her first record, and she's past 30, but she's just now hitting her stride....

Some cuts are better known than others...the recitative and aria "non piu mesta", from Rossini's "La Cenerentola" is, for me, the highlight. The "Werther" selection is fabulous, and the "Der Rosenkavalier" excerpt is worth the price of the whole thing.

Elina has a pure, clean, voice, with a strong, even, register...high notes a soprano could envy, and if not the strongest bottom register, still one that never breaks. I realize my self-admitted weakness for gorgeous blondes with low voices; allow for it, but grab this recording, and prepare to fall in love.

I bought this and listened through it once and thought it was just "okay." However, after listening more I think I was out of my mind not to realize the first second I heard this voice that it was something special. I am familiar with all the pieces on the disc and can say her versions stand up with the best. I would highly suggest getting this disc.

One of the best short releases from Deutsche Grammophon. Although the pieces are all excerpts it does an excellent job of using familiar works to display the mezzos depth. The renditions of "Las hijas del Zebedeo" and Der Rosenkavalier excerpt are simply outstanding.

Garanca is an excellent mezzo, and she sings this program very well. However, I don't enjoy the selections on this CD as much as I have enjoyed some of her operatic selections.

This is simply a fabulous CD recorded by a fabulous mezzo. Order this now and spend hours listening to refined singing and musicianship.

My first extensive exposure to her voice..a recording well worth hearing. I usually feel D-G comes up short with recordings, but this one is clean and honors the artist. Well worth repeat listening.

These days, operatic world is not short of good mezzo-sopranos: Joyce Didonato, Vivica Genaux, Magdalena Kozena, not to mention the veterans like Anne Sofie von Otter, Susan Graham...
Of all these, one really stands out, and she is Elina Garanca.
I have been listening to her for some years by now, starting in 2007 her Baden Baden Concert release.
I go back to this 2006 'debut' album of hers, plus some operatic recordings on DVD around 2005.
Yes - she convinces me that she is a REAL vocal talent. Not only does she sing well - pitch perfect, rhythm alert, phrasings well formed, with innate musciality and even linguistic talent - she demonstrates that despite her relatively young age and good looks, she is not a narcistic artist, but some one who is genuinely immersed in the music (and drama)that she performs.
Some critics allege that her voice is 'cold'. I think that is an attribute of her timbre: purity. Another possibility lies in her youth. Elina is but about only 35 years old this year, and taking this into account, she is not one jot disappointing in her characterisations.
It is highly interesting to note in the booklet here that Elina Garanca first came to the notice of the operatic world when she debuted in the role of Giovanna Seymour in 'Anna Bolena' in place of Agnes Baltsa.
Garanca's coloratura is truly fascinating. Her affinity with the baroque as well as bel canto style is amazing, on top of the repertoire in this album, which comprise basically more 'modern' stuff and Franco-Iberian tastes. She is also an outstanding Mozartian.
Such versatility denotes nothing less than a truly outstanding talent.

Wonderful that such a superb new artist should appear suddenly out of a most unexpected land, Latvia. A delight to listen to whatever she sings.