Elīna Garanča

Scofield: Although this is the first time that you and I have ever spoken, you are such a special person to me, because you have changed the course of my life very profoundly, and you’ve also changed the lives of many people in Hong Kong as well. But great artists can change people’s lives, can’t they?

Garanča: If you say so, I’m very, very touched. In the end, music is something that is supposed to make us better people, and music is something that I think can touch the person in the most secret and most vulnerable places, the ones that we don’t want to share with the tough world, where we are all requested to be always positive, and always strong, and always on the victorious road. I always have looked for communication, that’s why I do have an Instagram page and a Facebook page. But I want to talk to people, I want to hug people, and I want to be the consoler or their help through my voice, and through the music. That I can do definitely much more than artificial pictures on Instagram.

Scofield: I can feel that from you, Elina, and I’ll tell you why your influence has been so great on me and many others in Hong Kong. Because after hearing you sing the role of La Cenerentola by Rossini, I was so deeply touched and I made a commitment there to do what I could to spread the good news about opera to people in Hong Kong. And since then, I set out through work in producing, distributing, educating, and broadcasting to tell the story of the beauty of this art form, and for all my efforts, a big newspaper based in the United States called me “The Opera Evangelist”. And it was all because of you and your performance this has happened to me, and that is the truth.

Garanča: That’s unbelievable, thank you so much!