Singer Elina Garancha: biography, professional activity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

A wonderful mezzo-soprano, Latvian singer Elina Garanca won the hearts of her listeners with her unique timbre, high-quality technique and soulful performance of classical pieces. Collaborating on opera stages with world-famous symphony orchestras, Elina Garancha, whose photos show the sensual performance of even complex parts, is not satisfied with the successes achieved and continues to work actively.

How did she reach such professional heights? What is the key to a singer's success? Let's talk about it in the article.

A talent developed from childhood

The singer was born in the capital of Latvia, Riga, on September 16, 1976. As a child, Elina was surrounded by music, because both her parents are musicians. Her father is a choir director, and her mother is a well-known vocal teacher at the Latvian National Opera, a professor at the Latvian Academy of Music, and an associate professor at the Latvian Academy of Culture. In 1996Elina Garancha began to study vocals with Sergey Martynov at the Latvian Academy of Music. She continued her studies in Vienna, where since 1998 Irina Gavrilovich studied with her, after that - in the United States with Virginia Zeani. Such training allowed Elina to gain experience in the art of opera and improve her vocal skills. It was during her studies that the singer felt a special craving for the repertoire of the bel cante. It happened after she sang the part of Jane Seymour from the opera Anna Boleyn by Gaetano Donizetti.

First victories

Elina Garancha, whose biography originates in Latvia, made her debut as a professional opera singer not in her native country, but in the German city of Meiningen. There, at the State Theater of Southern Thuringia, she performed the role of Octavian from the opera "Der Rosenkavalier". In 1999, Elina won the Miriam Helin Vocal Competition in Helsinki.

Just a year later, she received the main prize in the national competition of performers in Latvia, after which she worked with the troupe at the Frankfurt Opera. There, Elina Garancha continued to build her dizzying musical career, playing the roles of Hansel in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, Rosina in The Barber of Seville and the Second Lady in The Magic Flute.

Language barrier

It's no secret that victory in this or that competition can be obtained only at the cost of huge efforts, and Elina Garancha is no exception. Since 1999, she began to live in Germany, and one way or another, she had to learn from scratcha completely unfamiliar language, because without it it would be impossible to issue a visa and tax return. Once the singer admitted that not only colleagues and books, but also TV helped her to learn German. Since the singer was busy participating in performances in the evenings, the morning German TV shows helped her learn a new language.

Global recognition

In 2001, Elina Garancha became a finalist in the international competition among opera singers BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, after which her first solo album was released. At the Salzburg Festival in 2003, Garancia sang the part of Annio in a production of Mozart's Le Mercy Titus directed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. These achievements opened the door for the 27-year-old singer to the Vienna State Opera, which later became her main place of work.

Here, over the next few years, Elina sang the parts of Dorabella in the opera Everyone Does It So and Charlotte in Werther. Then French opera lovers were able to hear her at the Champs Elysees, where Elina Garancha performed the role of Angelina in Rossini's Cinderella and the role of Octavian in the Paris Opera.

In 2007, the singer made her debut as Dorabella at the Royal Theater in London "Covent Garden" and at the Berlin State Opera. In 2008, Elina Garancha performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and at the Bavarian Opera in Munich.

Home Country Performances

Elina rarely had to perform in her homeland, but in 2007 Latvians saw her for the first time at the Latvian National Opera, whereshe sang the part of Carmen. On December 17, 2015, the singer will perform there again, but with a solo concert, which will be dedicated to the memory of her recently deceased mother. Anita Garancha, the singer's mother, has helped many talents become high-level opera singers and perform in prestigious theaters. This special evening will be conducted by Elina's husband, Karel Mark Chichon, Principal Conductor of the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

To date, the Latvian singer has conquered the stages of leading opera houses around the world. Critics note that Elina has a very professional and easy voice, which allows her to gracefully perform the most complex repertoire. The audience is also not indifferent to the beautiful appearance that Elina Garancha possesses. Elina's height and weight provide her with a beautiful figure, which is undoubtedly quite important for an opera singer with a worldwide reputation. By the way, she often goes out together with the Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko, a charismatic brunette, the owner of a lyric soprano. Although they are often called rivals, the Latvian blonde and the Russian brunette perform quite successfully on the same stage. In addition, they have already recorded Bellini's Capuleti e Montecchi.

Music growth today

Elina Garancha has already performed three roles of Carmen: in London, New York and in her native Riga. The singer shared that for her the main thing in this role is sensuality and the embodiment of absolute femininity. And thanks to collaborations with the world's leading record labels such as Deutcshe Grammophon, EMI Classic,Virgin Classics, Elina Garancha has released six solo albums, three of which have won the ECHO Klassik award. Antonio Vivaldi's opera Bayazet, where the singer performed the part of Andronicus, was awarded the Grammy music award. In 2006, for her contribution to the development of European culture, Elina was awarded the European Culture Prize in the Musical Art nomination.

At the moment, the opera singer no longer sings Rosina, but works in a new direction. For example, she plans to play the roles of Amneris from Verdi's Aida and Elizabeth from Donizetti's opera Mary Stuart. However, the singer's life is not only work: a year ago, Elina became a mother for the second time, and now she and her husband are raising two daughters.