Elīna Garanča

Elina Garanca is a mezzo soprano opera singer from Latvia described in the Daily Telegraph newspaper as "a rare and exotic creature" whose performances are "a throwback to another musical age when style was grand and voices were plush". Statuesque and imposing, she has won acclaim for her singing in concert and on a series of well-received recordings and video releases. In 2016-17, she appeared at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Paris Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Born into a musical family in Riga, then part of the Soviet Union, she studied with her father, a choral conductor, and her mother, a singer, and then in her home city, Vienna and the United States. She established herself quickly as a major presence in world opera with prizes and performances and sang with the Meiningen Opera and the Frankfurt Opera. Her recording debut came in 2001 and she broke through in 2003 when she sang in a production of Mozart's 'La Clemenza di Tito' at the Salzburger Festspiele. Her 2005 release, 'Vivaldi: Bajazet' won her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Opera Recording.

'Bel Canto' (2009) with Filarmonica Del Teatro Comunale Di Bologna went to number 23 on the Billboard Classical Albums Chart, 'Habanera' with Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Della Rai reached number ten, 'Meditation' with the Latvian Radio Choir and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonic peaked at number 12 and 'Revive' with Orquestra de La Comunitat Valeneiana hit number 17. In January 2018, she made a three-city concert tour of Mexico and then headed to perform 'Carmen' at Bayerische Staatsoper.