Diana Damrau: Arie di bravura

MARBECKS STAFF PICK - BEST RECORDINGS 2008

"Diana Damrau, perhaps the leading coloratura soprano in the world right now […] her instrument is sizeable, sensuous, and penetrating. She sang wondrously, sinuously, exhibiting her uncanny technical control. What's more, she's a fine actress - one who knows that the voice does much of the acting."
- The New York Sun

"Diana Damrau's vivid stage presence proves she can make a dramatic impact on disc, too. So many coloratura sopranos over the decades have achieved stratospheric vocal gymnastics at the expense of colour and vocal personality but Diana Damrau is a thrilling exception. Diamond-etched high runs are blended with a womanly, soulful middle register. And she is an impassioned vocal actress, as committed to the Salieri arias in this fabulous selection as to the Mozarts."
Gramophone Magazine: Editor's Choice - March 2008

This recital of virtuoso arias by Mozart, Salieri and their contemporary Righini marks Diana Damrau's debut as an exclusive Virgin Classics artist.

The German coloratura soprano has risen rapidly to fame over the last few years. In 2005, when she made her debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera, as Strauss's Zerbinetta, Opera magazine said 'she sounded phenomenal (...) She found no ascent too high, no embellishment too complex, no test too long.'

She has since become a great favourite at the Met, with the house's magazine Opera News stating in 2007 that 'Damrau's instrument does indeed make the singing sound effortless, but hers is an athletic, even rather gutsy sound (...) She's expressive throughout a wide dynamic range, [with] pinpoint precision on notes above the staff (including astounding Queen of the Night Fs) and volume that reaches easily to the farthest row.'

As she says: 'The Queen of the Night has brought me many debuts and follow-up engagements at important opera houses. I could not imagine my repertoire without Mozart and his music holds endless possibilities for my voice (...) For me as a singer and actress, Mozart is the benchmark. His music demands absolute precision, concentration, alertness and care.'

The Queen of the Night's two arias are by far the best-known items in this recital. All the other arias are to a greater or lesser degree rarities. Damrau was one of the singers chosen by Riccardo Muti for Salieri's Europa riconosciuta, which reopened La Scala after renovation in 2004. 'I love Salieri,' she explains. 'He was an important man and a musical authority in Vienna, a teacher - of Mozart and Beethoven among others - and an heir to Gluck as a successful opera composer. And like Mozart he was a dramatist in music. Europa Riconosciuta is masterly in its construction and builds up step by step. It's a thriller! In Cublai he showed his skill for comedy. Some of his works are really unjustly forgotten.'