Latvian Elina Garanca is one of the finest lyric mezzo sopranos now before the public. Blessed with a rich velvet voice, Garanca is steadily increasing her range of roles, with her Carmen and Jane Seymour in Donizetti's Anna Bolena especially distinctive. On this disc she sings arias from (mostly French) 19th-century operas that are less frequently performed in theatres today. While Garanca seems more comfortable in the Italian rather than French repertoire, her interpretation of Dalila's great aria of seduction from the Saint Saens opera is a highlight. The lesser known arias – such as St Joan's aria, as she takes up arms from Tchaikovsky's lesser known The Maid of Orleans – are particularly welcome.
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