When Night Falls

by Elina Garanca

Overview

Mezzo-soprano El¿na Garan¿a (or, for the diacritically intimidated, Elina Garanca) has amassed a substantial and varied catalog of opera and song, performing in various languages. With this 2024 release, which made classical best-seller lists in the spring of that year, she takes a step forward with what younger people would call a "bespoke program." Many of the pieces are arranged in some way, and the accompaniments are all over the place: with orchestra, piano, oboe and piano, guitar, and chamber ensemble, and there is one number, the "Abendsegen" from Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, where she is overdubbed with herself. Garan¿a's theme is not just night but the evening mood in which one falls into one's inner thoughts as sleep approaches. (The album, believe it or not, was released in conjunction with World Sleep Day, March 15.) Languages include German, Spanish, Estonian, some rather shaky English in Luciano Berio's transcription of "I wonder as I wander," Italian, and, for the first time, Garan¿a's native Latvian in a substantial final section. She pulls all of this together convincingly, as if in a dreamlike progression of thoughts. Garan¿a is in splendid voice right from the opening Wiegenlied, Op. 41, No. 1, of Richard Strauss, heard in its orchestral guise; her opening note seems to hang in the air above the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria. There is a certain star quality to Garan¿a's work here that sets it above comparable releases by younger singers, and those who have not yet encountered this remarkable singer are encouraged to check it out. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	04/12/2024
Label:	Deutsche Grammophon
UPC:	0028948648092
Rank:	92975

Tracks

1. Wiegenlied (Träume, träume, du mein süße Leben) Op. 41 no. 1
2. Hänsel und Gretel~Abendsegen
3. Siete canciones populares españolas~No. 3. Asturiana
4. Cinco canciones negras (Five Black Songs) No. 4. Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito (Cradle Song for a Little Black Child)
5. Folk Songs for mezzo-soprano and seven players~No. 2. I wonder as I wander
6. Folk Songs for mezzo-soprano and seven players~No. 3. Loosin yelav
7. Sogno
8. Nana criolla
9. Canción de cuna
10. Mersedesas dziesma (from Gr¿fs Monte Kristo (The Count of Monte Cristo))
11. Wiegenlied (Guten Abend, gut' Nacht) Op. 49 no. 4
12. Aijaj¿! Acti¿as
13. Pel¿t, velc miedzi¿u
14. ¿¿p¿a dziesma
15. Nacht und Träume D 827B
16. Mazs, laim¿gs z¿ns (Little Happy Boy)~No. 8. Vientu¿ais nami¿¿ (The Lonesome Little House)
17. Aicin¿jums (Invitation) (from Cikla ar Aspazijas v¿rdiem (Cycle with Aspazija's Words))
18. Aij¿, ¿¿¿¿, l¿¿a b¿rni

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Elina Garanca   Primary Artist,Mezzo-Soprano (Vocal)
Albrecht Mayer   Primary Artist,Oboe
Karel Mark Chichon   Conductor
Dorian Wetzel   Viola
Berlin Music Ensemble   Ensemble
Raphael Feuillatre   Guitar
Stephan Moerth   Clarinet
Anna Steinkogler   Harp
Malcolm Martineau   Piano
Zoe Cartier   Cello
Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria   Orchestra
Jose Maria Gallardo del Rey   Guitar
Kristjana Helgadottir   Flute,Piccolo
Raimonds Pauls   Piano

Technical Credits

Latvian Traditional   Composer
Alfreds Kalnins   Composer
Richard Dehmel   Text
Adelheid Wette   Text
Georg Scherer   Text
Gustavs Erenpreiss   Editing,Producer,Recording Producer
William Mann   Text Translation
Aspazija   Text
Antonio M. Miranda Gonzalez   Engineer,Recording
Lars Hoffmann   Production Manager
Malene Hill   A&R
Karlis Jekabsons   Text
John Moraitis   Liner Note Translation
Dorothea Walchshaeusl   Liner Notes
Krisjanis Geidans   Assistant Engineer
Philipp Zeidler   Product Manager
Dorothea Schlegel   Publishing
Rachel-Mariah Rau   Project Coordinator
Guillaume Bleton   Arranger
Cecilija Dinere   Translation,Text Translation
Ivo Taurins   Assistant Engineer
Janis Zalits   Composer
K. Hunnius   Translation,Text Translation
Sophie Schwarze   Assistant Engineer
Gustavs Skilters   Text
Sarah Katharina   Cover Photo,Photography
Victor Eloy Lopez Cerezo   Music Assistant
Kintija Rogers   Text Translation
Jose Luis Ortiz Nuevo   Text
Traditional   Composer
Richard Strauss   Composer
Manuel de Falla   Composer
Franz Schubert   Composer
Johannes Brahms   Composer
John Jacob Niles   Text
Paolo Tosti   Composer
Engelbert Humperdinck   Composer
Avril Bardoni   Text
Luciano Berio   Composer
Andreas Kluge   Executive Producer
Andreas N. Tarkmann   Arranger
Jose Maria Gallardo del Rey   Text,Composer
Robert A. Jordan   Text Translation
Annette Nubbemeyer   Booklet Editor
Raimonds Pauls   Composer
Xavier Montsalvatge   Composer
Matthaus Casimir von Collin   Text
Fred Munzmaier   Design
Susannah Howe   Text Translation
Stephan Flock   Mixing,Editing,Producer,Recording Producer
Ildefonso Pereda Valdes   Text
Ernesto Halffter   Arranger,Orchestration
Maurice Careme   Text
Lorenzo Stecchetti   Text