Diana Damrau - COLORaturA

Diana Damrau - COLORaturA

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. It's impossible to know whether Diana Damrau was born great, but on the evidence of her latest Virgin Classics disc of Mozart concert and opera arias, she has — without question — achieved greatness; surely few contemporary lyric coloraturas could handle this program, which ranges from the sprightly to the sublime, with Damrau's firm technical command, unaffected mastery of characterization and beauty of tone ... More, please. Thus was the response of the magazine of New Yorks Metropolitan Opera Guild, Opera News, to German soprano Diana Damraus last Virgin Classics recital, Donna. In less effusive, though no less positive mode, the BBC Music Magazines critic stated that I cant remember when I last enjoyed a Mozart recital of this kind so much. Among the accolades for Damraus first Virgin Classics recital, Arie di bravura by Salieri, Mozart and Righini was the highly prestiigious Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.

After two Virgin Classics recitals of 18th-century repertoire, this new collection moves forward to the 19th and 20th centuries, with repertoire ranging from Nicolai and Rossini to Stravinsky and Bernstein, from comedy to tragedy and covering four languages: German, Italian, French and English. It includes Zerbinettas marathon coloaratura aria from Ariadne auf Naxos, one of the operas which spearheaded Damraus international career


Damraus status as an interpreter rather than as a mere virtuoso was further confirmed in the Guardians review of a song recital she gave at Londons Wigmore Hall in November 2008: The German soprano Diana Damrau has become a cult figure of late. It is easy to see why. She is very much a diva, with all the intimations of greatness and excess the word implies. Her artistry is phenomenal yet paradoxical: you could perhaps describe her as the Meryl Streep of classical music, since she achieves a sense of total immersion in her material without ever quite letting you forget the powers of technique, intelligence and calculation that inform her singing.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Diana
• Damrau
• COLORaturA

[assimilation]

Hearing her speak you would not imagine that sound could come out of her when she sings.

[33blueberries]

Look, emiclassics, let's not go overboard in our descriptions, eh?

[cutie6734]

Breathtaking brava!!!!

[assimilation]

@bibi5027 It's not necessarily how deep her voice sounds but how rough it sounds. She's got quite a gravely sounding speaking voice but an exceptionally smooth singing voice, perhaps she simply had a bit of a cold on the day of the interview, or has crap technique when it comes to speaking :D

[bibi5027]

@assimilation Its not weird to me I am coloratura too,but my speaking voice is pretty much low,so that its not weird for me

[girlbrutality666]

WOWWW... IT'S VERY GOOD...!!! the legato that makes the variations in volume of notes ... it is really great !!!...

[goblinonacloud]

@assimilation I was a coloratura myself with a contralto speaking voice. No one could believe it. LOL

[dopepenguin88]

@wendy321 Romeo et Juliet

[wendy321]

oh no! from which opera did this aria come from? :S it sounds so familiar!

[popertop]

@choirfreak26 glad to see I have more ridiculous expression to look forward to in the professional world :D

[seattle813]

Really lovely singer -- too bad about the plodding tempo for Juliet's Waltz.