Elīna Garanča (mezzo-soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)

Schumann: Frauenliebe und -leben, Op. 42
Brahms: Gesänge, Op. 3, I. Liebestreu
Brahms: Lieder und Gesänge, Op. 63, VIII. Heimweh II
Brahms: Lieder (5), Op. 107, V. Mädchenlied
Brahms: Gesänge, Op. 3, III. Liebe und Frühling II
Brahms: Gesänge Op. 72, III. O kühler Wald & IV. Verzagen
Brahms: Lieder, Op. 94, IV. Sapphische Ode
Brahms: Lieder, Op. 47, IV. O liebliche Wangen
Brahms: Gesänge, Op. 71, III. Geheimnis
Brahms: Lieder, Op. 96, II. Wir wandelten
Brahms: Gesänge, Op. 72, I. Alte Liebe
Brahms: Gesänge, Op. 43, II. Die Mainacht & I. Von ewiger Liebe

This album is both a debut and a proof of musical pedigree. After numerous orchestral albums, for the first time Elīna Garanča devotes an entire disc to Lieder in a phase in which the Latvian mezzo soprano triumphs on stage with heavyweight Verdi and verismo arias while essentially on the verge of her first Wagner role

For her first solo recital album, the mezzo soprano has chosen two composers Schumann and Brahms whose works have been with her for many years

The heart of this album is Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben op. 42, a musical setting about devotion to love

In addition to the Schumann cycle, on this record she also dedicates herself to a selection of Brahms songs that express very different emotions and moods. Whether in Liebestreu op. 3 no. 1, Geheimnis op. 71 no. 3 Heimweh II op. 63 no. 8 or Von ewiger Liebe op. 43 no. 1

With pianist Malcolm Martineau as a highly sensitive and experienced accompanist of many years