Recital Elīna Garanča

Elīna Garanča was born in Riga and studied at the Latvian Academy of Music. She won the Mirjam Helin Singing Competition in 1999 and was a finalist in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2001. After engagements in Meiningen and Frankfurt, she quickly established herself as one of the leading mezzo-sopranos internationally with performances at renowned opera and concert houses. She has appeared, among others, at the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Baden-Baden Festival House, the Bavarian and Berlin State Operas, as well as at the Opéra national de Paris. In 2003, she became a member of the Vienna State Opera ensemble, where she was awarded the title of Austrian Kammersängerin in 2013. Her numerous awards include several Echo prizes and multiple recognitions as Singer of the Year. A highlight of her career was her 2009 debut at the Royal Opera House in London as Carmen and performances in the same role in a new production at the Metropolitan Opera, which was broadcast in over 1000 cinemas worldwide. She has also performed Carmen at La Scala in Milan, the Vienna State Opera, and the Zurich Opera House. Recently, she appeared as Dalila (Samson et Dalila) at the Met in New York and the Berlin State Opera, as Marguerite (La Damnation de Faust) at the Met and the Salzburg Festival, as Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana) at the Royal Opera House London and the Vienna State Opera, as well as Kundry (Parsifal) at the Vienna State Opera. On the concert stage, she sang in Mahler’s 3rd Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic in 2020, as well as in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem in Florence and at La Scala in Milan. In 2021, she gave a solo evening featuring Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder at the Salzburg Festival and the Lucerne Festival.

Matthias Schulz, born in 1977 in Bavaria, studied piano at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and economics at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. He has a long-standing relationship with the Salzburg Festival, where he was appointed project manager, concert and media officer, and in 2009 head of concert planning. In this position, he was responsible for co-designing the programs as well as coordinating and interlinking all festival productions. A particular focus was on contemporary music theater. In 2012, Matthias Schulz became Artistic Director and Commercial Managing Director of the Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg. In addition to programming the festival and concert series, his responsibilities as CFO and HR director included fundraising, marketing, press relations, and media productions. From 2017 to 2024, he was Artistic Director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin. Alongside expanding the core repertoire, including numerous world premieres, Matthias Schulz established successful formats for early music and experimental music theater. He placed strong emphasis on fostering young talent and increased the accessibility of the house through innovative opera formats and by attracting new audiences. He oversaw the transition from Daniel Barenboim to the appointment of Christian Thielemann as General Music Director. Since August 2025, Matthias Schulz has been Artistic Director of the Zurich Opera House. As a pianist, chamber musician, and accompanist, he has collaborated closely with artists such as Elīna Garanča and Michael Volle. He is a board member of various festivals, a jury member of international competitions, and a member of the boards of trustees of the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Liz Mohn Foundation.