Teresa Berganza
Witty, impertinent, effervescent, passionate: these are adjectives often applied to the personality of the great Spanish mezzo. Teresa Berganza loves life, people and above all - composers. "Mozart is my Messiah", she says, "I want people to think of me as a mystic: I'm not called Teresa for nothing!" But Mozart and Rossini were her main masters. First, she learned style and emotion, and then technique and speed.
Presented at Aix-en-Provence in 1957 in a memorable Cosi Fan Tutte alongside Teresa Stich-Randall and Luigi Alva under the direction of Hans Rosbaud, her career got off to a flying start. The following year she was at La Scala and then at Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, Chicago, Buenos Aires, Paris. She was acclaimed everywhere, for her fresh voice that was so at ease on stage alongside the greatest of the greats, even if she was somewhat looked down upon in London or Vienna, as if she had come from a country of savages. After all, rationing had only just ended in Franco's poor and isolated Spain.
One role followed another, Rosina in the Barber of Seville; Cherubino in the Marriage of Figaro; Octavia in The Coronation of Poppaea, Ruggiero in Alcina. She began to make records. In 1961, she met Ernest Ansermet to record Manuela de Falla's Three-Cornered Hat that he had put on with the Russian Ballet. She befriended the young Claudio Abbado as his career took off. Together, they would share great moments, on stage and on disc. Together they would create famous records whose success has never faded. The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola (Rossini) in 1972, Carmen (Bizet) in 1977, followed by a memorable production for the Edinburgh festival. This role, which she would sing for the first time when she recorded it, would get under her skin and drive her to distraction, to the point that she would forget all other music. But if Carmen is an absolute vocal reference point, it is also because Berganza has stripped her of all cheap "Hispanic" affectations: she is a noble and proud woman. "Mérimée and Bizet wanted to pay homage to my country with class and dignity", she said.
It was with this same dignity that Teresa Berganza also sang several zarzuelas, that Madrid operetta which is too-often derided outside of its home country, whereas, according to Teresa Berganza, many are worth a thousand Donizetti operas. Barbieri, Chueca, Chapi, Bretón, Giménez, Vives and Torroba are the great composers of zarzuelas.
Teresa Berganza has left us an abundant discography which is still available on the best labels. She was also very engaged in the Spanish repertoire, of which she recorded a lot with her husband the pianist Felix Lavilla. Teresa Berganza has given up the studio, diverting her customary passion to teaching. In 2013 she agreed to undertake a book put together by Olivier Bellamy: Un Monde habité par le chant. In it, she tells the story of her life with sincerity and human warmth.
© FH / Qobuz
Artisti simili
-
Spanish & Italian Songs
Teresa Berganza, Felix Lavilla
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 19 ott 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Carmen
Classica - Pubblicato da Deutsche Grammophon (DG) il 1 gen 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: La Cenerentola
Luigi Alva, Renato Capecchi, Paolo Montarsolo, Teresa Berganza, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Classica - Pubblicato da Deutsche Grammophon (DG) il 1 gen 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berganza chante Rossini (Stereo Version)
Teresa Berganza, London Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Gibson
Classica - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Manuel de Falla: El Sombrero de Tres Picos [The Three Cornered Hat] (1961)
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, Teresa Berganza
Classica - Pubblicato da Classical Moments il 1 gen 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monteverdi / Vivaldi / Haydn / Rossini: Cantatas
Classica - Pubblicato da Claves Records il 1 gen 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Arias of the 18th Century (Mono Version)
Teresa Berganza, Royal Opera House Orchestra, Alexander Gibson
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Teresa Berganza
Classica - Pubblicato da Butterfly Music il 1 gen 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Baroque Concert, Antonio Vivaldi, Magnificat Gloria
Teresa Berganza, Lucia Valentina-Terrani, Riccardo Mutti, New Philharmonia Orchestra
Classica - Pubblicato da LucasRecords il 12 ott 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: La Cenerentola
Teresa Berganza, Sesto Bruscantini, Mario Rossi, Orchestra di Napoli della Rai
Opera - Pubblicato da G.O.P. il 18 mar 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Récital (Mono Version)
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann & Mussorgsky: Songs
Teresa Berganza, Ricardo Requejo
Musica vocale (sacra e profana) - Pubblicato da Claves Records il 1 gen 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spanish and Basque Songs (Stereo Version)
Classica - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Alcina
Dame Joan Sutherland, Teresa Berganza, Monica Sinclair
Opera - Pubblicato da Past Classics il 1 gen 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Luna (Canciones, Romanzas Y Danzas)
José Maria Cano, Teresa Berganza, Plácido Domingo, Aïnhoa Arteta, Renée Fleming, London Symphony Orchestra
Classica - Pubblicato da Universal Music Spain S.L. il 21 dic 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Teresa Berganza: Recital de Canciones
Operetta - Pubblicato da Meta - Vocación Musical il 1 gen 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spanish and Basque Folk Songs
World music - Pubblicato da Isis il 1 gen 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Clásicos Inolvidables Vol. 31, Zarzuela
English Chamber Orchestra, José Carreras, Teresa Berganza
Operetta - Pubblicato da ADAGIO il 12 ago 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Teresa Berganza: An Evening of Song (Schwetzinger Festspiele Edition, 1985)
Teresa Berganza, Juan Antonio Alvarez Parejo
Musica vocale (sacra e profana) - Pubblicato da SWR Classic il 25 mag 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini - L'Italiana in Algeri
Teresa Berganza, Mario Petri, Nino Sanzogno, Orchestra di Milano della Rai
Opera - Pubblicato da G.O.P. il 1 gen 1964
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Falla: Asturiana (Single)
Teresa Berganza, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, Álvaro Cassuto
Classica - Pubblicato da First Hand Records il 17 mag 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo