Elīna Garanča Makes Role Debut as Tosca in Athens

Elīna Garanča will sing the title role in Puccini's "Tosca" at the Greek National Opera, the company has announced. The performances on Jan. 24 and 28 mark her role debut and her first collaboration with the Greek National Opera.

Pier Giorgio Morandi conducts the production by Nikos S. Petropoulos. Charles Castronovo sings Cavaradossi, and Dimitri Platanias portrays Scarpia.

The debut carries unusual weight for the Latvian mezzo-soprano, one of the most prominent artists of her generation, and she framed it in strikingly personal terms. "It seems that in my life, even the wildest dreams sometimes come true," Garanča said in a statement.

"Tosca has been one of my favourite operas for as long as I can remember, and Maria Callas, with her extraordinary artistry, has always been the ultimate example for me of what is possible in this role," she continued. "Yet, as a mezzo-soprano, I never imagined that Tosca would one day be part of my own path."

The role of Floria Tosca, a soprano part central to the Italian repertory since the opera's 1900 premiere, has rarely been within reach for mezzos. Garanča has built her career on roles such as Carmen, Octavian and Eboli, and her move into Tosca signals a deliberate expansion of her repertoire in a direction long considered closed to her voice type.

The connection runs deeper than professional ambition, she suggested. "As I have grown older, I have realised that if we do not reach out for our dreams, they will probably not come looking for us," she said. "Perhaps it is no coincidence that our home is called Villa Tosca."

That detail — Garanča and her family named their residence after the opera — points to how long the work has occupied her imagination. "This opera has been such a personal part of my life that bringing Tosca into my repertoire feels like much more than simply taking on a new role," she said. "It feels like finally daring to open a door to one of my deepest and most passionate dreams that I have carried quietly within me for a very, very long time."

The Athens dates also carry symbolic resonance given her stated admiration for Callas, the Greek-born soprano whose Tosca remains a benchmark of the role. Performing it at the Greek National Opera places Garanča's debut in direct dialogue with that legacy.

Castronovo brings an established track record in the Italian repertory to Cavaradossi, while Platanias, a Greek baritone closely associated with Scarpia, anchors the villain's role. Morandi, long connected with Italian opera houses, leads from the pit.

The two January performances will show whether Garanča's long-held ambition translates into a role she can carry forward on the world's major stages.