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From: coloraturafan
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  • None like Diana Damrau.

  • LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! <3

  • Comment removed

  • marvelous technique, artistry, and MUSIC. brilliant.

  • That NOTE! Damn.

  • I wonder how she put out the candle without harming herself? Was there a strip of flame retardent cloth on her hand, or something? If so I hope she focused when ever she did that part because one slip and ouch.

  • where can i find this dvd?

  • The scene looks like Tosca screaming at Scarpia :)

    A great clip, though, such excellent singing - thank you.

  • The scene looks like Tosca screaming at Scarpia :)

    A great clip, though, such excellent singing - thank you.

  • this just blew my f* mind

  • Brilliant

  • She makes me happy every time I listen to her!.. Greatest singer of all time!

  • Senza dubbio la piu grande interprete Mozartiana degli ultimi anni !!!

  • WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

    please tell me where do I go from here?

  • Grandissima !!!

  • diana damrau would kick anyone's ass and live to sing about it....and really well too o.0

  • Diana Damrau's powerful voice is fantastic in this video, but my German isn't too

    good, does anybody know what's going on here? One moment, the girl is giving

    the man a great big smooch, then she holds his hand on the floor, and then she's screaming in his face (typical woman who doesn't know what she wants, maybe?). Women can be very difficult to understand, but I think this guy better

    find somebody else.

  • @burkewhb She goes back and forth between two bits especially; first beseeching the Pasha to spare her (he has threatened torture unless she gives him her love), promising him the blessing of heaven (des Himmels Segen belohne dich, 1:51 eg.), then concluding he won't listen and flying into a rage (doch, du bist entschlossen 3:59 eg.) and proclaiming that no matter what he puts her through, death will set her free in the end (zuletzt befreit mich doch DER TOD).

  • @Sakkura1 Thanks very much. Now the whole scene makes sense.

  • Why does she sing "mogen" instead of "mögen" at 0:26?

  • Wow, ohne Worte!!!

  • whoa, so amazing

  • Wow, her voice is like a cold, refreshing glass of water . She makes it sound easy and then her amazing voice shines through. Diana Damrau makes Mozart 's music come alive.

  • A fiery, passionate, dramatic, STUNNING Konstanze! The second florid passage really made me shiver. That crescendo coupled with the trill was something crazy. And not to mention her spot-on, flawless acting. For a singer not using 'staccato-legato' and other 'special effects' techniques, her coloratura is precise and beautiful. The only people who can say that she failed here, are other dramatic coloraturas whose Konstanze was better not only in their personal (and not so humble) opinions.

  • She just made all other recent Constanzes sound like garbage. I have three recordings of this opera and none beat Damrau's version. She's just amazing.

  • I guess she told him! What a powerful voice. Callas was a little before my time, but

    from what I"ve listened to by Joan Sutherland, I don't think even she would have

    matched Diana Damrau, at least in this role, anyway.

  • Tell you what, you always know you get 1000% at one of her shows, and that says alot.

  • This is the best Martern aller Arten I've ever heard. Eva Mei does it well,

    but not quite to this level of Diana. It's magnificent.

  • I was one of the screaming fans at her performances in Frankfurt, this incredible artist electrified the complete audience!!!

  • Mozart would be so proud

  • @HomoForever Cute. :)

  • Is weird to see this opera in a verist form

  • Amazing!!!

  • hmmhab total lust bilder tauschen und chatn bin so einsam brauche dringend beschäftigung

  • she is very very good.

  • Damrau is one of the best active dramatic sopranos, but I don't like her style. Her dramatic timbre sounds quite unnaturally to me - maybe she is pushing too hardly. Exactly the same applies to her acting. To me it's overacted and excessively hysterical. She reminds me Callas slightly in some aspects... Both are (were) very good, but also very overrated.

  • While I don't care for Diana Damrau's vocals in general (her overly harsh vibrato gets on my nerves), there are many things that I like about her performance and technique. Specifically with this performance, I like the power that she puts behind the sustained C6. I've watched many performances where singers crescendo this note, because they don't have enough breath support to sustain the note at full voice. I also like Ms. Damrau's acting abilities. Too many singers give a flat presentation.

  • You're crazy, aren't you? this is how it's supposed to be, it's a DRAMATIC aria, that requires DRAMATIC singing and DRAMATIC acting. This is no petty cliché aria, this has a soul

  • The staging and the singing are two different things. How does Gruberova relate to Damru embracing, caressing and kissing Bassa in this staging. If you criticize, than please make it in a way that has some sense.

  • I think it shows her resolve wavering as she moves between angry defiance and pleading, almost giving in to him. I don't think it really goes against the plot.

  • well then show us what good taste is. I saw this live and I was blown away. Ms Damrau is one of the finest Mozart singers out there.

  • I guess you mean yours.

  • I bow down to this every time I watch it.

  • What does it means " I bow down"?

  • Who is better Dorothy Roschmann or Diana Damrau??

  • Check the Baerenreiter edition of the Mozart verlag at a music conservatory. All of the possible variants are there.

    Also Masterson and Damrau ... like comparing apples and oranges. BOTH are amazing so to all if you can do you would not be so .... full of it!

  • Hey, for those who know this aria out there what are those extra parts added in the big cadenza in the first section. That bit isn't in the music I have, but I love it. Is this a different version of the piece that isn't as common?

  • @LaylahniJade actually this is the full version (Bärenreiter urtext) - but bars 109-120 and 275-290 are often cut

  • @ermsayshello nice, I will have to get the full version then because I really like it ^__^

  • Well...nothing to say...I adore her...She always do this...I mean she sings perfectly:)(sigh)

  • Also, the orchestra can't seem to keep up with her near the end. How humorous!

  • She is just absolutely sublime in this role.

  • Thank you so much Coloraturafan for posting this, i had not yet seen this. Can i ask Coloraturafan if you have ever seen Diana perform live? I am yet to see her, and it seems i will need to travel far if i ever want to as she has no plans to perform in Australia. But, i think if the opertunity comes my way to see her i will spend the entire time crying like a baby, i may pass out from dehydration!

  • just love her! the best Constanze this years in the world. no doubts!

  • @aniaen I saw this live in Frankfurt in early 2005. I will NEVER forget it. Diana is one of the best things that happened to the opera world in the past years. And this performance was stunning.

  • Diana Damrau: ¡Me encantas! Más aún cuando cantas en alemán. Me encantan tus presentaciones: Voz, aprovechamiento de los espacios, actuación, expresión en general.

  • She rocks my world again and again!!!

  • wow,....sis she really burn herself from the candle?!?!

  • In defense of Erin Wall, I have to share that I heard her last night in that same Lyric Opera production in Chicago (3/28/09) and she was outstanding. Gorgeous tone, clean coloratura, musically sensitive, accurate intonation, shimmering top notes and beautifully interpreted. She may have had a bad night a few weeks ago, but she was stunning last night... and I'm very picky about sopranos! Though... judging from all the "Brava!"s that were shouted after her aria(s), I wasn't alone in my opinion.

  • well i always hated damrau, but i liked this - it was at least well played. :)) ok ok, well sung, too, very well. i love this aria. i must mention edda moser-when i heard her, i thought - she doesn't sing it, she lives it! ...

  • I detest the way she attacts coloratura!!!!!!! it's so disjointed and breathy!!!!

  • GosfordAbercrombie, I couldn't disagree more with you!  I don't really like her attack of coloratura all the time either. However, her voice doesn't sound breathy at all. It's got a VERY metallic quality to it, like steel. Are you trying to say that she breaths too hard? Because if that's what you're trying to say, then, I'll agree that he breathing probably isn't sitting where it should, but she doesn't sound breathy.... LOL

  • I don't mean breathy like unsupported and off the voice, I mean like gasps of breath!!!! Like distracting, unnecessary breathing!!!

  • Yeah, sometimes she does breath a little too high, and it can be seen as distracting. Although, sometimes in this performance, I'm wondering how much of it is her technique or her attempt at adding more dramatic effect to the aria. What do you think?

  • This performance wasn't as bad as some others in terms of that!!!! She was relatively controlled in this one but in others she tends to breathe like a woman in labor and I don't think it's meant as a character trait! She tries to pass it off as such, though!!!

  • Um... did you SEE that staging? Let her take as many breaths as she wants. One of the most difficult arias there is, and she sings it exquisitely in spite of being tossed all over the stage.

  • I agree with Winnjn5 that the staging was very, very intense! Also, keep in mind that this director's interpretation is that Costanze is EXTREMELY UPSET! What happens when anyone who is angry hollers over a period of time? They breathe heavily! Whether it is intentional or not, it is not inappropriate for this performance at all!

    Kudos to Damrau for yet ANOTHER stunning performance as usual.

  • I have always wondered what is meant by the term "metallic" when applied to voice. Is it the same as "brassy" or does it simply mean a substantial voice that is strong like metal?

  • Go Diana!!! Brava!!! Brava!!!!

  • I went to see this opera yesterday, march 2nd, at the lyric opera of chicago. In the role of Konstanze was Erin Wall and she completely failed at singing this extremely beautiful aria. She couldnt hold the C, she had to take a breath in the middle of it. But that wasnt the only time she ran out of breath in the wrong places. Also the high D was a screech. Needless to say, she ruined the entire show.

  • Rigo, I went to see the same 'Abduction' in Chicago and I must agree. Erin Wall couldn't handle the coloratura, she missed an entire phrase, and she took the oddest breaths I've heard. Her lukewarm applause at the end was entirely telling. However, I must say her Marguerite was better. She certainly didn't take as many extreme breaths!

  • was für eine göttin

    damrau forever

  • I'm going t see her next 12th May into ROH.....I cannot count the days.....If She is so good as She looks into all things that I've listened before, I will see probably a miracle & We can tell that we are now in front of XXI Century new Callas.......

  • Oh, God again Diana and again a marvelous piece of work...One can understand the pleasure she has in singing by looking at her lovely face...

  • I am much more impressed with this performance than on in CD released recently.

    Because her acting is superb (as usual), I feel missing something in listening to CD.

    She got perfect combination of singing skills, acting skills and beauty as an opera singer.

  • The best performance I've seen of this. Damn, all she needed to do was smash a chair and it would have been perfect!

  • This staging is untrue to Konstanze.

    How many girls say, Woah. Dude, get your hands off of me!!!!

    and then say, Oh wait, I feel bad, let me refuse you by falling into your arms???

    How does the moment later in the show go over when Belmonte's like, 'So did you cheat?" and she slaps him? Not as strong of a defense now.

  • lol, I love how you analyzed this situation, but I do agree with you that was one long make out scene. She is still the greatest though!

  • thats one hell of a killer song ,.poor sopranos , hate u mozart and love u still

  • I love her so much

  • Es la auténtica heroína de Mozart en nuestros días!!!!

  • Sorry, the English lyrics was for you! I found it at another video.

  • "Tortures of every kind may await me, I laugh at torment and pain. Nothing shall shake me. I would only tremble if I could be unfaithful. Let pity move you, spare me ! May heaven's blessing reward you !... But no plea move you. Steadfastly, you shall see, I bear every torment and affliction. Order then, command, threaten, punish, rage ! Death shall finally free me."
  • I can not live a day without watching/listening to this video!!!!!

  • me too. really lol.

  • Did she actually put her hand on the flame? Ouch...?!

  • this is AWESOME

  • THIs is brilliant..her acting is amazing..great Miss Damrau!!!!

  • Agreed! She's incredible in these kind of arias!

  • A correction: Die Entführung aus dem -SerAil-

  • Pues a una inmensísima cantidad de entendidos y estudiosos del canto y de la Ópera, les encanta su timbre, entre otras cosas. Fíjate tú.

  • ok erm i don't understand a word of that apart from timbre(!) but i'm guessing it's an angry reply...she's not bad at all i was probably feeling a bit grumpy and critical that day - sorry! :-/

  • well, you know now that easy criticism on diana will not go unpunished here ;-)

  • long live mozart

  • The thing that I love about her acting is that it's never ambiguous--you always know exactly what emotion she's projecting. As for her singing, well, nothing more needs to be said: she OWNS, and nothing changes that.

  • Brilliant, by far the most beautiful and natural coloratura voice I have ever heard, her performance of Queen of the Night at Covent Garden made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Lucia Popp has at last been equalled. AMDG

  • why does she keep picking up on dessay's roles the year after natalie sings them. give her something first please met. brava la damrau

  • So...uhm...is it me or is this version a little bit of what Annie and Daddy Warbucks are going through now that Annie has grown up, or what?!?

    Just an observation...heehee.

  • I was spellbound!

  • grandios!!!!! Ich bin sprachlos........Diese Arie ist so schwer.Schwerer als die Königin der Nacht. Sie ist absolut Klasse!

  • How can one not enjoy this! She is so much fun to listen to and watch! The more I see of her, the more I can't get enough!

    MOLTO BRAVO

  • BRAVISSIMA!!!!!

  • This performance confirms it - Damrau is, and forever will be unmatched.

  • really great

  • great expression, Damrau is a Goddes. ;)

  • i saw her life in munich and she was outstanding. please, no critics about her interpretation. she is only constance.

    she is so true in the role like seldom a

    soprano. and vocal i heard it not better since erika köth.

    she is really going to be a primadonna assoluta.

  • great staging

  • Well the part may not be "for her". But Damrau isn't just "showing off". She is talented, and the acting and musicality she implements is far beyond what many opera singers could ever dream of. Of course, in the 21st century we are going to be doing things to music much differently then they did back when it was composed, but there is no need to insult the singers' interpretation, just because she makes the character "her own".

  • It's not a question of interpretation of the music. It's about literally rewriting Mozart just for the sake of making it even more vocally challenging. You can do that in a concert performance, but not in an opera performance, I think. And of course I acknowledge that Damrau is one of the most talented sopranos of our age - who doesn't - but the aria on itself is difficult enough to prove that you're one of the best. (sorry for my crappy English, i'm not a native speaker ^^ )

  • When people take too much liberty with music it can be disappointing, but whether it is a concert performance, or opera, musicians will always embellish classical music and change it to make it their own. They did it back when it was written, and will continue to do it. I am sure Damrau is not trying to make the song "harder" to sing just for the sake of "showing off". Her interpretation is just a little more technically challenging than most sopranos'.

  • Ehm...Mozart rewrite this song so. Hear at Dessays "Mozart Heroes", she sang it like Damrau.

  • can someone post the lyrics in both languages english and german.

  • too deep breaths ruins the tune :(

  • She is just a good actor, the breathing is to show her emotions better, I prefer the heavier breathing than the usual stone-like, acting-retarded singers who usually sing opera. It's nice to see some emotion in an opera singer's body, not just in the music. Damrau using her breathing to her advantage a lot, of you haven't checked it out, watch her sing Queen of the Night's Aria 2 on here. I have yet to see someone sing it with more musicality and personality.(her extreme breathing is a plus)

  • Did they rewrite Mozart? Are there also new phrase markings that the ohter singers didn't know about? Just didn't feel like Mozart. More like Broadway...

  • Yes, Mozart rewrite this song.

  • yes it seems there were were additions hmmm

  • I was underwhelmed cause I expected a great deal more volume from the performance in general. My seats were pretty good- side parterre, so I don't think it can be an acoustic issue. I enjoyed her performance but expected to be more "wowed" and overtaken by the sound. The only exposure I've had to this opera comes from the small snippets in Amadeus and a recording I have by Saint Martin in the Fields, so I was hoping for the same crispness from Damrau that I heard from the other two.

  • How much longer will she be performing at the Met?

  • I thought her performance at the met yesterday was a mixed bag- very nicely acted; she was fiery and defiant as Constanze should be. Her singing was, I felt, a bit underwhelming.

  • It sure overwhelmed me. I was sitting there in the front row, dazzled and moved by her performance. So much depth and beauty, in a voice that seems technically peerless. I think she's the most exciting soprano out there today. (Would love to see her hook up again with Juan Diego Florez.)

  • how on earth were you underwhelmed by he latest run at the met?! it was pretty flawless

  • I went last night, I was sitting in the Orchestra row S.

    She was SUPERBE, vocally and interpretatively.

  • I saw her at the Met last night as well:) She was absolutely glorious, especially during this aria.

    The production was obviously better than this one too, but she does seem more exuberant here...

  • Saw her sing this at the met tonight, and she blew the roof off the place! Outstanding. BRAVA

  • Holy sh*t! Is there anything Damrau CAN'T sing best?

  • everything she sing is the best!

  • Am Ende you come to see the greatest!!!!!!!

  • Your English is very poor and not understandable. Could you please get some help before posting poor grammar?

  • Am Ende is not english... It's German.....

    and it means "finally you come to see the greatest"

  • I know - have you read your other comments? You are so JUDGEMENTAL!

  • This is the truth!!!!!!

  • Listen to your beloved Valerie Masterson and SHUT UP!!!!

  • @maggeo78 Whats wrong with valerie masterson? I like her in gilbert and sullivan...

    Of course, she is no elsie morrison but...

  • Miss Damrau rocks! BRAVA!!!

  • Such a good actress! Her big and agile voice is what this role needs and seldom gets. There are not too many good Konstanzes on record and/or video, and she is one of the best.

  • I love her voice. It has a German sound, some decent weight, and good clarity in the coloratura passages. I think that Dessay's and Serra's voices are too refined and silvery and the Moser's is a little bit to rough and bronzy. Damrau has the ideal balance between the two IMO (Maybe steel). I'd love to hear her do a Liebestod. She would probably sing it about as well as Voigt (although Nilsson and Norman will always be the best in book for that excerpt).

  • but, right, Edda Moser was unique!

  • Yes, I agree with you.

  • She is a revelation. I have to see her live soon...

  • Now she is singing it in New York!

  • As much as I like Diana, I prefer Edda Moser's version...

    Sorry, Diana...

  • interesting, there's a coloratura passage in this aria I never heard before... is that an ad lib passage composed by Mozart, or did they "invent" that especially for her?

  • I've never heard this aria without it...

  • I think that it might be an ad lib by Mozart. However, I am not entirely sure.

  • It's a passage that Mozart had in, and was removed. The trend these days has been to put it back in. I think it's superfluous personally. It doesn't really intigrate well into the already masterpiece of an aria.

  • but nowadays certain operas have nothing but theatre...that is one problem that I usually find in Teatro Real in Madrid. I missed great voices! I saw Diana Damrau in Ariadne auf naxos, and she was almost the unique good voice of the representation

  • very nice... i also like Eva Mei very much

    I've seen Mei live in Florence and she's really brilliant

  • Shame she breathes after that long g, before she starts the coloratura-passage! But She can sing so well, so why not???

  • don't forget opera is not concert - it's theatre

  • This aria clearly wasn't written for Damrau...

  • Brilliant idea to have James Carville play Daddy Warbucks!

    She is a true phenomenon. I didn't think I would ever live to see and hear anyone who could sing and act this music like this. She is a revelation. I've got to hear her live.

  • I like the idea of this modern staging. Also, the director has Constanze actually kissing Selim!

  • Diana never sings 'nonsense'. The diction is immaculate. So much drama!

    Unlike the other 'top' soprano who tucks a microphone 'between her tits'.

  • Please..I'm curious to know who you're talking about...I have one person in mind??

  • Anya N I am referring to, who candidly 'confessed' on the web diary that she tucks a microphone between her tits when performing.

  • I'm not a Netrebko fan at all...but I think you misinterpreted the comment. I mean, sometimes one must take things lightly and with humor.

  • I wish I knew who you were talking about.

  • Sorry...nevermind. I know who you're tlaking about. But I think you misinterpreted what she said.

  • Who tucks the microphone between her titties? I wanna know...it isn't Dessay is it? I don't think that's who u mean...cuz she has a lot of volume even in a huge house like the Met...tell me who u mean!

  • I was one of the lucky ones who saw this live in Frankfurt, she was absolutely captivating, she drove all of us mad with awe! What an amazing singing actress!!!

  • Starting at about 2:10, it is significantly different than the standard version... for about 10 bars. It differs at other parts, too. Mozart frequently adapted music to suit singers' abilities and preferences.

  • Diana spielt Costanza's Rolle mit ganzer Seele.Ihre Stimme vielleicht ist nicht die beste,als coloratura,aber die Aria entwickelt sich zwichen 2 und 3 Octaven.Stark Stimme!

  • I want her in Frankfurt again!!!!!