Inese Galante (born 12 March 1954) is a Latviansoprano opera singer.[1] Galante is known for a great beauty of tone, nuanced pianissimos and sensitive command of dynamics and colour. Her performance of Vladimir Vavilov's Ave Maria (often attributed to Giulio Caccini), from her "Debut" album (1995) attracted worldwide interest in the piece.
Galante was born in Riga to a musical family. She entered the Latvian Academy of Music in Riga in 1977. While still a student at the Academy, she became a soloist of the Latvian National Opera. Parallel to her work in Riga she was engaged in opera productions at other theatres, particularly at the Kirov Opera (Mariinsky theatre) in Saint Petersburg, Russia where she had a fruitful collaboration with conductor Valery Gergiev.
The first major operatic role of Galante was Violetta in Verdi's La traviata at her graduation exam at the Music Academy. Since that time Galante has performed this role more than 100 times on various stages of the world. Among Galante's other roles are:
In addition to performing in operas Galante frequently sings in concerts in Verdi's Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, in the works of Bruckner, Poulenc, Schubert, Brahms and other composers. In 2008 Galante performed Richard Strauss's The Four Last Songs for soprano and orchestra which was at the same time premiere of this work in Russia.
Galante is patroness of the international music festival Summertime. She has been awarded The Order of the Three Stars by the President of the Latvian Republic.
Galante's album "Debut" was awarded Gold (1999) and Platinum (2001) disc in the Netherlands after its sales exceeded 200,000; the disc Arietta was recognized by BBC to be the best in the nomination of classical music (2000). The disc of opera arias by Tchaikovsky (BMG, the Royal Opera orchestra, conductor Neeme Järvi) was considered to be exceptionally brilliant, marking out the scene of Tatyana's letter as the best interpretation of recent 20 years. The disc Arias from Verdi's late operas got the Gramophone editor choice (October, 2003). Classic CD described her Cavatina of Norma as "...a Norma to rival that of Callas...". She is described as one of the most notable followers of the legendary singer. Her concerts are recorded by Classic FM and BBC.
Mendelssohn, Three motets for female voice and organ. Woman's Folk Сhorus "Amber" (Sieviešu tautas koris "Dzintars") Conductor Imants Cepītis, Aivars Kalējs Riga Cathedral organ, solistes Inessa Galante, Antra Bigača, Olga Žarikova, Ingūna Lazdiņa. Melodiya 1987
Jewish folk songs - Inessa Galante & Jānis Sproģis & The Latvian SSR Chorus (Recorded live at the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory June 9, 1987) Melodiya 1989
Spiritual music ("Gariga muzika") music of Jāzeps Vītols. Melodiya, Latvia 1991
Сhorus "Versija" - Ziemas svētkos / "Šai svētā naktī". Ritonis, Latvia, 1991
"Songs of Amber" - Songs of Women's Folk Chorus Dzintars (solo Inessa Galante) - 1983-Remastered 1990
"Inese Galante. Soprano" - Latvian National Symphony Orchestra Conductor Aleksandrs Vilumanis 1995 (Gold and Platinum CD). Released as "Debut" on Campion.
"Heroines" – Gounod, Cilea, Puccini - Campion Records 1995