Inese Galante
Soprano, born in Riga

Inese Galante’s beautiful tone of voice, nuanced dynamics and timbre are known all over the world. She has performed for the royal families in the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands, and worked with incredible conductors such as Yehudi Menuhin, Pierre Giorgio Morandi, Myung-Whun Chung and Valery Gergiev, as well as many others.

Inese Galante was born into a musical family and studied in Rīga at the J. Mediņš music school with instructor Rashele Sulova. After high school she initially entered Medical School, but simultaneously also started studying at the Latvian Academy of Music in Professor Ludmila Brauna’s vocal class.

Inese Galante became a soloist at the Latvian National Opera while still a student (her first role was in Smetana’s Bartered Bride), but she considers her first real role to be Violetta in Verdi’s Traviata, staged by the Academy of Music. In 1991 she moved to Germany and became the Manheim Opera and Deutsche Oper am Rhein soloist.

Inese Galante has performed at numerous prestigious opera houses and concert halls all over the world. She started the 2009/2010 season at the Stockholm Royal Opera, singing the part of Liza in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, then in Hamburg and Munich where she took part in a production of Verdi’s Requiem. Her voice could be heard in The Queen of Spades again, as well as in Verdi’s Masked Ball in Helsinki, Puccini’s Manon Lescot in Italy. She has performed at prestigious opera festivals, such as the Newport Opera festival (four times), the Schlesswig Holstein Festival and Hollywood Bowl festival.

Her voice has been loved by audiences at the Champs Elysees Theater, the Montpellier and Saint-Denis festivals, the Barbican Centre and Kensington Palace, as well as the Royal Glasgow Opera Theatre and Royal Albert Hall in London. She has also performed as far away as Reykjavik, Seoul, Buenos Aires, USA and in Israel. She is also a frequent soloist for UNICEF and at various other charitable events.

Galante’s recorded albums have taken the top places in charts in the UK, Australia, Korea and elsewhere. Her CD The Tchaikovsky Experience recorded with the Covent Garden orchestra and conductor Neeme Jarvi was deemed by critics to be the best in over 20 years. Whereas Arias from Verdi’s late operas was deemed by Classic CD as comparable to Maria Callas’ achievement. Galante has on occasion been named as one of the successors to the legendary singer.

Her CD “Debut” received Gold and Platinum discs. In turn Arietta was named by the BBC as the best album within the classical music nomination.
Currently Inese Galante is a self-employed, the world is her oyster. Every year, despite her busy schedule, Inese Galante comes to Rīga. She was the founder of the “Summertime- Inessa Galante and friends” festival, which has now become a tradition, and is its patroness. This festival, held at the end of the summer in Jūrmala, at the Dzintari concert hall, brings together opera and jazz musicians, orchestras and vocal groups from all over the world. Any performance by Galante is a notable event on the Latvian cultural calendar, and tickets always sell out in advance. “I want to take you into my world,” - says the singer to her audience, and does.

Discography
  • "Songs of Amber" - Songs of Women's Folk Chorus Dzintars (solo Inessa Galante)
  • "Inese Galante. Soprano" - Latvian National Symphony Orchestra Conductor Aleksandrs Vilumanis (Gold and Platinum CD). Released as "Debut"
  • "Heroines" – Gounod, Cilea, Puccini
  • "Vēlreiz" ("again, encore") - Albinoni arias
  • Maks Goldins Eighteen Jewish Folk Songs & Rachmaninoff - Romantic Songs
  • "Encore" - Johann Strauss, Weber (compilation)
  • "Musica Sacra" – From Riga Cathedral. Paula Licite Ave Maria etc. cond. Juris Klavins (compilation of live recordings 1989–1996) -
  • "The Tchaikovsky Experience" – Sergei Leiferkus, Marina Shaguch, Alexander Fedin. Covent Garden Orchestra conducted by Neeme Järvi, BMG
  • "Latvian Sacral Music" - solisti Inessa Galante, Dita Kalniņa (soprano), Ingus Pētersons (tenor), Aivars Kalējs (organ), Dita Krenberga (flute), cond. Kaspars Putniņš
  • "La Traviata" – Verdi. (2 CD's Live recorded. Latvian National Opera. 1989)
  • "Arietta" – Baroque Arias, London Musici. Conducted by M. Stephenson (Best recording of the year 2000 –as reviewed by BBC, FM classics.)
  • "Russian Recital" – at the Wigmore Hall. Roger Vignoles (piano). (BBC live recording)
  • "ABC (Adagio in C minor)" – Albinoni. Conducted by Alexander Vilumanis, "Soprano arias" – Bach J.S., „Amarilli mia bella“ – Caccini. Conducted by Mark Stephenson (conductor)
  • "The Galante Choice"
  • "Galante forever ..."
  • "Mass in C major ,Exultate, jubilate Ergo interest" – Mozart. Czechoslovakian Chamber Philharmonic. Conducted by D. Bostock
  • "Verdi Galante. Arias from Verdi’s late works" – Latvian National Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by Terje Mikkelsen Campion
  • "Confesso" - Inessa Galante & Henk van Twillert (baritone saxophone)
  • "Requiem" - Mozart. conducted by Andres Mustonen
  • "Stabat Mater" - Pergolesi. Stradella - Pieta Signore. Vivaldi Stabat mater. Inessa Galante, Sergejs Jēgers (alto) chamber ensemble conducted by Andris Veismanis
  • “Ave Maria” Inessa Galante. Organ: Aivars Kalejs in Riga Cathedral - Release December
  • "LA GALANTE THE SOUL OF RIGA" (2 CD's) Inessa Galante. Organ: Aivars Kalejs and Mattias Wager. Release Dom Riga

Awards
  • The Latvian Grand Music Award
  • The Three- Star Order
  • Dyagilev award
  • Dante Aligier Society in Latvia, "The Grand Prize" for an outstanding contribution to the promotion of cultural relations between Italy and Latvia
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