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,
's native Latvian in a substantial final section. She pulls all of this together convincingly, as if in a dreamlike progression of thoughts.
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
'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