Inessa Galante

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Inessa Galante, born as Inese Galante (born 12 March 1954), is a Latvian soprano.

She was born in Riga to a musical family. Her parents were both singers, and she entered the music academy in Riga in 1977. (Apparently there is some difference of opinion about her father being a singer, as according to her, he was not.) She soon began to appear in concerts in Latvia and other eastern-bloc countries, particularly at the Kirov Opera in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Galante made her western debut at the Mannheim Opera in 1992 as Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.

In 1994 she made her recording debut, after 15 years on the operatic stage. This initial recording includes one of her greatest and most popular recordings, Giulio Caccini's Ave Maria.

Galante moved to the Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf in 1996 and also made her British debut. She made her US debut in 1999 at the Newport Music Festival and the Hollywood Bowl. Since then, she has become an international performer of some repute.