A little while ago A little while ago

On this day in 2008 Elina Garanca made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Rosina.

on January 12, 2023 at 6:00 AM
Something cool Something cool

Elina Garanca was radiantly present at Carnegie Hall Friday night performing a ravishingly somber Rückert-Lieder with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the MET Orchestra.

on June 17, 2019 at 10:00 AM
Bland date Bland date

With a program of Schumann, Wagner, Ravel and de Falla, mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca and pianist Kevin Murphy delivered a underdone performance at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday night.

on October 25, 2018 at 9:00 AM
Strike while the irony is hot Strike while the irony is hot

At last the future plans of America’s Most Beloved Semi-Retired People’s Diva have been revealed!

on April 25, 2017 at 1:36 PM
Today or tomorrow or the day after that Today or tomorrow or the day after that

“Time is a strange thing,” the lady observes, to a young man who cannot begin to understand what she is talking about.

on April 10, 2017 at 9:00 AM
Woman on the verge of a repertoire breakthrough Woman on the verge of a repertoire breakthrough

Revive is a manifesto of sorts, declaring Elina Garanca’s intentions for the new direction in her career.

on February 05, 2017 at 3:35 PM
Der Snuggiekavalier Der Snuggiekavalier

The Met’s cobranding efforts are really beginning to pay off.

on May 20, 2016 at 3:45 PM
Screen queen Screen queen

This season’s Met Donizetti Tudor Trilogy concluded with Roberto Devereux, given its penultimate performance by HD transmission Saturday, April 16. It is good to see these works finally given here; they are too important, too crucial a part of the operatic repertory to have been ignored for as long as they have. 

on April 25, 2016 at 11:00 AM
I want your Essex I want your Essex

During its first-ever Roberto Devereux Thursday evening one felt transported back to the Volpe years: four of the Met’s biggest stars shining in an opulent (if occasionally perverse) but reassuringly non-challenging production paid for by Sybil B. Harrington.

on March 25, 2016 at 1:24 PM
Queen for a D Queen for a D

Friday’s season premiere at the Met of Donizetti’s opera about the doomed Scottish queen proved surprisingly satisfying and a genuine success for Sondra Radvanovsky.

on February 01, 2016 at 10:00 AM
Protestant movement Protestant movement

La Cieca is sure that Meyerbeer fanatics will be delighted to hear that the Royal Opera House Covent Garden is preparing a new staging of Les Huguenots.

on March 20, 2015 at 12:35 AM
Coeurs amoureux Coeurs amoureux

La Cieca hears that the Met’s opening night of the 2018-2019 season will be a new production of Samson et Dalila featuring Bryan Hymel and Elina Garanca.

on August 25, 2014 at 9:40 AM
La place des étoiles La place des étoiles

Starting in less than half an hour, “Le Concert de Paris.”

on July 14, 2014 at 3:06 PM
A multiplicity of mezzos A multiplicity of mezzos

Wonder no more! Says the Met press office, “Elina Garanca has withdrawn from her 2013-14 Met engagements because she is pregnant with her second child, who is due this winter.”

on August 08, 2013 at 12:45 PM
Ces soupçons, ces soupçons Ces soupçons, ces soupçons

La Cieca hears a rumor, currently unconfirmed, that Elina Garanca is pregnant and will cancel her participation in the Met’s new production of Werther this season.

on August 07, 2013 at 2:35 PM
A series of ones and zeroes A series of ones and zeroes

“I’m analytical, not wild,” Ms. Garanca told an interviewer in 2009.

on April 07, 2013 at 7:32 PM
Two pairs of pants Two pairs of pants

“French mezzo-soprano Géraldine Chauvet will make her Met debut as Sesto in this evening’s performance of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, replacing Elina Garanca, who is ill.”

on December 10, 2012 at 10:30 AM
Our retrospection will now be all to the future Our retrospection will now be all to the future

La Cieca predicts you won’t be seeing any puritans at the Met next season, except of course for the ones who slouch around during intermission hissing, “You call that a trill?”

on October 22, 2012 at 2:18 PM
Scent of mystery Scent of mystery

La Cieca has been sniffing around her generally reliable (and fragrant) sources, and she thinks she has pieced together a list of the dozen operas to be featured in the 2013-2014 season of “The Met: Live in HD.”

on October 07, 2012 at 2:17 PM
49 shades of grey 49 shades of grey

A singer who was monochromatic long before she started appearing in “Obsession by Calvin Klein” circa 1986-styled music videos, Elina Garanca 

on July 18, 2012 at 9:48 PM

La Cieca doesn’t know what to say here, which is absolutely okay in this case because the YouTube after the jump makes all, all clear.

on January 19, 2011 at 11:10 PM

The interpretation of Carmen by Latvian mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca has been much debated, many finding her cold and remote, others admiring her subtly smoldering quality.  A new Deutsche Grammophon DVD documenting the Met’s January 16, 2010 performances offers us an opportunity to examine the gypsy in close-up.  This is certainly not the lusty, passionate, mercurial Carmen…

on November 29, 2010 at 10:02 AM

In 1890 Cavalleria rusticana had taken the whole world by storm and in the next decade or so, hordes of composers, willing or unwillingly, jumped on the Verismo bandwagon.  La navarraise (1894) is generally considered Jules Massenet’s homage to the genre, and for a long time the two works were often performed together.   Emma Calvé,…

on October 27, 2010 at 10:11 AM

I tried so hard to like Elina Garanca’s Habanera, an album of songs and arias about gypsies, but it was really difficult. I would’ve been able write this review earlier and quicker if I could just make myself like the album a lot, or even dislike it so that I could rail against the project…

on October 19, 2010 at 11:51 AM