Elīna Garanča

With a remarkable career spanning decades, Elīna Garanča is a mezzo-soprano of international acclaim. Her journey from Riga, Latvia, to the world's most prestigious opera houses has been marked by exceptional artistry and dedication. Garnering critical acclaim and captivating audiences worldwide, she has become a prominent figure in the realm of classical music.

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Among other roles, she is particularly famed for her portrayal as Bizet’s Carmen which she has sung in the majority of leading theatres, such as Wiener Staatsoper, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Berlin State Opera, Arena di Verona, or Metropolitan Opera to critical acclaim; the NY Times named her “the finest Carmen in 25 years...”.

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Recent highlights include her performance of Mahler's Rückert-Lieder at the opening of the Lucerne Festival with conductor Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Following her debut at the Bayreuth Festival in the role of Kundry last year, Elīna Garanča returned this summer to the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, where the Süddeutsche Zeitung described her as “the Kundry of today.”

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In September 2005, Elīna became an exclusive artist with Deutsche Grammophon (DG), and over the course of two decades of collaboration, she has released nine solo albums. Two of them (Romantique and Meditation) won the ECHO Klassik award. With her newest release, When Night Falls (2024), Elīna Garanča reflects on the different facets of night and also builds a bridge between the music of her childhood and a global audience.

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Elīna has been the recipient of numerous national and international awards, greatly cherishing the title of 'Kammersängerin' honoured by the Wiener Staatsoper for her devotion to the House, singing over one hundred and sixty performances of eighteen roles since her debut in the House in 2003. Elīna appears regularly at the Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, ROH Covent Garden, Salzburg Festival, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Bayerisches Staatsoper Munich, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Carnegie Hall New York and Wigmore Hall London and continues to perform in various concerts, festivals and recitals all over the world.