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
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Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia
Teresa Berganza, Luigi Alva, Hermann Prey, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Opera - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 1972
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 (Remastered)
Sir Geraint Evans, Reri Grist, Teresa Berganza, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1991
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Manuel de Falla: Noches en los jardines de España, El sombrero de tres picos & La vida breve (interludio y danza No. 1)
Clara Haskil, Teresa Berganza, Igor Markevitch, Ernest Ansermet
Symfonieën - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 sep. 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Falla: El Sombrero de Tres Picos; La Vida Breve; El Amor Brujo
Teresa Berganza, Marina de Gabarin, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 27 jul. 2016
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Falla: The Three Cornered Hat
Teresa Berganza, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 9 apr. 1961
24-Bit 176.4 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: La Cenerentola
Luigi Alva, Renato Capecchi, Paolo Montarsolo, Teresa Berganza, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Canciones españolas (Granados, Turina, Guridi, Toldra)
Teresa Berganza, Juan Antonio Alvarez Parejo
Vocale muziek (wereldlijk en religieus) - Released by Claves Records on 1 jan. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pergolesi: Stabat Mater / Scarlatti: 3 Concerti grossi
Solisti dell'orchestra "Scarlatti" Napoli, Ettore Gracis, Mirella Freni, Teresa Berganza
Klassiek - Released by Archiv Produktion on 1 dec. 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Villa-Lobos, Braga & Guastavino: Songs from South America for Mezzo Soprano & Piano
Teresa Berganza, Juan Antonio Alvarez Parejo
Vocale muziek (wereldlijk en religieus) - Released by Claves Records on 1 jan. 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Alcina; Giulio Cesare
Dame Joan Sutherland, Teresa Berganza, Monica Sinclair, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Falla: El Amor Brujo, El Sombrero de Tres Picos by Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Ansermet, Marina De Gabarain, Teresa Berganza
Klassiek - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on 24 mei 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Luna (Canciones, Romanzas Y Danzas)
José Maria Cano, Teresa Berganza, Plácido Domingo, Aïnhoa Arteta, Renée Fleming, London Symphony Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Universal Music Spain S.L. on 21 dec. 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
De Falla: Le Tricorne & Interlude et Danse extraits de "La Vie brève" (Stereo Version)
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, Teresa Berganza
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Il Barbiere di Siviglia - Berganza-Bruscantini-Bartoletti - Teatro Colón 1969 (Live)
Opera - Released by Lantower Records - Producciones Teatro Colón on 14 dec. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Georges Bizet : Carmen
Teresa Berganza, Plácido Domingo, Claudio Abbado
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Falla: El Sombrero de Tres Picos / Debussy: Images
Ernest Ansermet, Teresa Berganza, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Klassiek - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 3 okt. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Hermann Prey, Teresa Berganza, Luigi Alva, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 1972
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Teresa Berganza - 18th-Century Portraits
Klassiek - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 jan. 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Massenet: Don Quichotte
Teresa Berganza, José Van Dam, Orchestre Du Capitole De Toulouse, Michel Plasson
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Teresa Berganza: Essentials
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 13 mrt. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Mélodies
Teresa Berganza, Felicity Lott, Mady Mesplé, Jessye Norman, Gabriel Bacquier, José Van Dam
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo