Elina Garanca’s Carnegie Hall recital

I went to hear Elina Garanca’s New York recital debut on Saturday and I wrote about it for Bachtrack.

Elina Garanča can always be counted on
for a coolly polished performance. Her silvery mezzo is beautiful, even
throughout her range, and impeccably on pitch. She is musically
tasteful, and her sound has grown in recent years. But something often
seems to be missing. While she’s too accomplished to call bland, her
performances rarely show evidence of a beating heart. On Saturday night,
her Carnegie Hall recital debut kept in character, showing an excellent
singer rather than an effective communicator.

You can read the rest here. For all I know Elina Garanca is the nicest, warmest person in the universe, but she still has trouble portraying humanity onstage. This recital was very well-prepared and she really was trying, but the effort was all too obvious.

I’ll be going to Giulio Cesare at the Met at the end of this week.

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2 Comments

  1. I really like the way you describe her : an excellent singer rather than an effective communicator. It fits her singing perfectly to my ears.

  2. I was there too. I have to admit that while I relished her instrument there was "something missing". On the other hand, I really enjoyed the fact that she sang, and didn't pick up a mike and start jabbering with the audience, like some recent divas have done.
    But a beautiful sound none the less and the selections were well suited to her voice, IMO.