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
Artistas semelhantes
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Antonio Vivaldi: Musique sacrée
Teresa Berganza, English Chamber Orchestra, Antoni Ros Marbà
Sacred Vocal Music - Lançado por Ensayo em 1 de jan. de 1975
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Bizet: Carmen
Classical - Lançado por Deutsche Grammophon (DG) em 1 de jan. de 1978
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Les jeunes années
Opera Extracts - Lançado por Les Indispensables de Diapason em 29 de nov. de 2018
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Una voce poco fa - A Portrait of Teresa Berganza
Classical - Lançado por Decca Music Group Ltd. em 1 de jan. de 2004
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The Art of Teresa Berganza
Classical - Lançado por UME - Global Clearing House em 29 de ago. de 2020
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Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain; 3-Cornered Hat; La Vida Breve
Alicia de Larrocha, Teresa Berganza, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Sergiu Comissiona, Ernest Ansermet
Classical - Lançado por Decca Music Group Ltd. em 1 de jan. de 1988
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Le Tricorne - 7 Chansons Populaires
Teresa Berganza, Jesús López-Cobos, Juan Antonio Alvarez Parejo
Classical - Lançado por Claves Records em 12 de mar. de 1984
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Teresa Berganza - Canciones Españolas
Teresa Berganza, Narciso Yepes
Classical - Lançado por Deutsche Grammophon (DG) em 1 de jan. de 1974
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Brava Berganza ! Rossini & Songs
Secular Vocal Music - Lançado por Decca em 1 de jan. de 1959
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Rossini : L'Italiana in Algeri
Teresa Berganza, Luigi Alva, Rolando Panerai, Fernando Corena, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin , Silvio Varviso
Full Operas - Lançado por Decca Music Group Ltd. em 1 de jan. de 1964
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Purcell: Dido & Aeneas, Z. 626
Teresa Berganza, Per-Arne Wahlgren, Ensemble Instrumental de Lausanne, Michel Corboz
Classical - Lançado por Warner Classics em 1 de jan. de 1987
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Various: Canciones españolas
Teresa Berganza, Narciso Yepes, Felix Lavilla
Classical - Lançado por Deutsche Grammophon (DG) em 1 de jan. de 1992
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Sor: 12 Seguidillas; Andantino / Soler: 7 Canzonette; 2 Arias from Una cosa rara
Teresa Berganza, José Miquel Moreno
Classical - Lançado por Decca Music Group Ltd. em 8 de jan. de 1984
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Zarzuela Castiza
Classical - Lançado por Ensayo em 1 de jan. de 1977
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Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Heather Harper, Teresa Berganza, English Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim
Classical - Lançado por Warner Classics em 1 de jan. de 1977
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Spanish & Italian Songs
Teresa Berganza, Felix Lavilla
Classical - Lançado por Decca Music Group Ltd. em 19 de out. de 1962
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Bizet: Carmen
Classical - Lançado por Deutsche Grammophon (DG) em 1 de jan. de 1978
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Rossini: La Cenerentola
Luigi Alva, Renato Capecchi, Paolo Montarsolo, Teresa Berganza, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Classical - Lançado por Deutsche Grammophon (DG) em 1 de jan. de 1972
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Monteverdi / Vivaldi / Haydn / Rossini: Cantatas
Classical - Lançado por Claves Records em 1 de jan. de 1990
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Baroque Concert, Antonio Vivaldi, Magnificat Gloria
Teresa Berganza, Lucia Valentina-Terrani, Riccardo Mutti, New Philharmonia Orchestra
Classical - Lançado por LucasRecords em 12 de out. de 2003
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: La Cenerentola
Teresa Berganza, Sesto Bruscantini, Mario Rossi, Orchestra di Napoli della Rai
Opera - Lançado por G.O.P. em 18 de mar. de 2017
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo