"Diana Damrau told Opera News earlier this year that she is a lirico leggiero. This is her debut album for EMI/Virgin, she having recorded some lieder albums before this one to great success.
Diana is the rightful successor to the great Austro-German school of singing. I first got impressed by her in Colin Davies' Die Zauberfloete (Covent Garden production), in which she sang and acted an immaculate Queen of the Night.
So she rightly included those two of her earlier calling cards in this album, but I tend to agree with her that she should not be singing this role too often, nor too long (just like the case of Lucia Popp before, another great Queen of the Night). She is to assume the roles in the MET production of this opera as both mother (the Queen), and daughter (Pamina). A real challenge that not too many sopranos could meet.
Listening to her two arias, one immediately recognises an almost unpredecented clarity of expression: she throws off the technical stuff and concentrates solely on the expression, diction included. The Queen of Night never sounded more fearful than on her aria on track 6 in this album.
So I do not quite agree that Ms Damrau is 'another' promising new soprano. To me, she is the 'foremost' young soprano (born in May 1971, same year as Ms Netrebko) for the reason that she demonstrates a degree of artistry that IMHV is more mature than most sopranos of her age group. I think her chief competitor (in her agre group) in bel canto is not Ms Netrebko, but Alexandrina Pandatchanska; but Pandatchanksa is NOT a lirico leggiero and cannot assume roles like Pamina, since she owns a more mature voice.
I have half the mind to down rate this album to 4 stars initially after listening for the first round - the arias chosen seem to be quite unanmimous in terms of style, and cause the listener to tire after going through half of the tracks, and the famous Konstanze aria from Abdcution from Seraglia not included. But after listening to another, and yet another round, I decide to give this a 5 star rating.
The reason simply being that given such superb artistry and talent, I do not think this singer is currently being rated high enough.
Listening to Damrau, I cannot but feel that along the long line of famous divas and singers from the Austro-German school, at long last a true successor - to Auger, to Streich, to Schwarzkopf, to Seefried, to Popp, to Janowitz...
I absolutely look forward to a DVD of her partnering the star belcanto tenor Juan Diego Florez, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Fille du regiment, and many others to come. On the lieder side, certainly a concert in my part of the world!
"
Another promising young soprano
Steven A. Peterson | Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL) | 11/06/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I have recently listened to a number of CDs by promising young sopranos, such as Nicole Cabell, Danielle di Niese, and Kate Royal. Diana Damrau is another promising soprano. If I read the notes properly, this is one of her first CDs. What is especially nice about this CD is the uncommon pieces that she sings. It, thus, provides a nice introduction to a repertoire that we don't often hear, such as Salieri and Righini.
The first cuts that I listened to were the two Queen of the Night pieces from "Die Zauberflute." She handled the treacherous "Der Holle Rache" nicely, taking on the staccato notes pretty well and hitting the high notes on target. Just so, "O zittre nicht." Her voice is somewhat thin (I think), but she sings this piece reasonably well (although there appear to be a handful of rather harsh notes).
Other rarities are prominently featured on this album, making it quite interesting to listen to. The opening cut is Salieri's "Fra i barbari sospetti" from his "Cublai, gran Khan dei Tartari." She shows some nice coloratura skills. Her efforts at a trill are not Sutherland-esque. Nonetheless, her voice appears to me to show quite a bit of agility. She appears a bit cautious in her singing, but this is not a big deal. Again,to my untrained ears, a bit of harshness in her voice toward the end. In another piece from this opera, "D'un insultante orgoglio," she again shows off some nice coloratura skills. An occasional harsh note appears.
From Righini's "Il natal d'Apollo," she sings "Ombra dolente." This is a slow paced and almost haunting aria, nicely sung.
So, she does a nice job on this CD. This is not a perfect work, but she does show considerable promise to my untutored ears.
"
A Triumphant Debut Album
Farrell Guarnaccio | 01/21/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Damrau is really amazing on this recording. She sings four arias by Mozart, seven by Salieri, and two by Righini. The program is extremely demanding, but Damrau flies through the technical challenges of the arias with astonishing ease. Perhaps a young Gruberova or young Dessay could have rivaled Damrau's magnificent performance, but it is hard to imagine any current soprano singing the arias as well as Damrau did.
Le Cercle de l'Harmonie, a period instrument ensemble, accompanies Damrau. They have apparently tuned to the pitch of Mozart's era, which is about a quarter tone lower than standard concert pitch. Nowdays, orchestras are supposed to tune the A above middle C to 440 Hz. However, there was no standardized pitch in Mozart's day, and orchestras generally tuned lower than they do today. Over the years, concert pitch was raised in order to achieve a more brilliant sound.
Damrau displays exceptional tonal control and astounding flexibility, as well as considerable emotional connection to the arias. Her runs, scales, turns, and divisions are executed almost perfectly, and her trill is secure (albeit not as impressive as Joan Sutherland's trill, although probably no modern singer could match Sutherland's magnificent trill). In the extremely difficult Salieri arias (which are possibly even harder than Mozart's concert arias), Damrau sings with great abandon and precision during the fiendish coloratura passages. Salieri's arias frequently soar up to the F and F-sharp above high C. (Damrau even interpolates a high G during the cadenza for "Ah, lo sento".) There is a touch of shrillness during some of the highest passages, but it is hard to imagine any soprano not becoming a little shrill when dealing with such taxing tessituras. The vast majority of the time, Damrau's upper register remains solid and crystalline. During "Se spiegar potessi appiento", a few sixteenth notes became a little muddled toward the end of a long melisma, but that is a very minor deficiency in light of the plethora of precise coloratura fireworks that Damrau sings throughout the disc.
The Queen of the Night's two famous arias from Mozart's The Magic Flute are included on the program. Damrau is an ideal Queen, truly one of the best I have ever heard. It's a shame that Damrau is dropping the Queen of the Night from her repertoire, as she seems as if she was born to sing that role. She sings with great power and authority. In her hands, the coloratura is not just a mere display of vocal virtuosity, but a means of characterizing the Queen's hellish rage. Damrau's fioriture actually sounds fiery, like the ferocious warblings you would expect to hear from a furious, irrational woman.
In the second aria, Damrau handles the five-note turns (each comprised of a grace note followed by four sixteenth notes) better than most sopranos. Sometimes, all five notes sound elegant and clearly articulated, although at other times the fourth and fifth notes of the figuration could have benefited from more tonal distinction, which also would have helped make some of the figurations sound smoother, more elegant, and less bumpy. Also, the grace note of the final figure wasn't articulated clearly. Her triplets, which are possibly the hardest passage of the aria, are quite impressive. In the first aria, Damrau actually sings the words "auf e-" toward the end of the long coloratura passage. Mozart has those words written into the score, but most sopranos continue singing "ah" throughout the entire passage, rather than singing the text that Mozart wrote toward the end of the coloratura section.
Damrau also sings "Parto, m'affretto", one of Guinia's arias from Mozart's Lucio Silla. The role of Guinia was composed for Anna de Amicis, who must have been a virtuosa extraordinaire, as Guinia is hands down the most difficult of the Mozart heroine roles. Her aria "Ah, se il crudel periglio" (which isn't included on the disc) contains perhaps the most difficult florid passages ever written. The soprano must sing sixteenth note after sixteenth note, like a skilled trumpet player. Because "Ah, se il crudel periglio" is the most virtuosic aria from Lucio Silla, it is the one that normally receives the most attention. However, truth be told, I actually like "Parto, m'affretto" better. I find "Parto, m'affretto" to be more dramatic, emotionally moving, and musically interesting and innovative.
"Parto, m'affretto" is also a very difficult aria, although not as demanding as "Ah, se il crudel periglio". "Parto, m'affretto" contains rapid staccati and treacherous triplets, much like the Queen of the Night. Damrau does an admirable job with all those technical challenges and sings the aria with great emotional depth and vulnerability.
It's really a wonderful opportunity to hear so much music from the golden age of florid writing. In addition, hearing two of Mozart's contemporaries is always interesting, just for the sake of comparing and contrasting their musical styles. Nevertheless, hearing Salieri's music only serves to illustrate that certain neglected composers are neglected for a reason.
Salieri's music just doesn't have the ability to sustain your interest. All of the high notes and wild vocal acrobatics (which are perhaps even harder than the technical challenges of Mozart's concert arias) are initially exciting, but the thrill is very short-lived. Once the initial shock of hearing such hair-raising sequences wears off, everything starts to sound repetitious, and you realize that the music hardly has anything to offer other than shallow virtuosity. Mozart's arias are much more dramatic, innovative, and musically interesting. That is why Mozart's arias hold much greater replay value than Salieri's. You can listen to many performances of Mozart and shouldn't grow tired of it, but Salieri is a composer that you will probably only want to hear once in a while.
Arie di bravura is a must-have for anyone who appreciates the high soprano voice. The recording is a triumphant debut album for Damrau and a rare opportunity to hear some obscure, but extremely demanding, arias, as well as some familiar and great ones by Mozart.
"
Soprano of Wonder
M. E. Cole | New Zealand | 01/11/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Here at last is a solo performance by Diana Damrau surely one of the quietest of the modern Divas.She has made her name in German Lieder and as the epitome of the Queen of the Night in the Magic Flute.Here she enhances the music of Mozart with rare and beautiful songs from his biggest threat Salieri.I had never heard his music but here is the best place to listen to the richness of his works.Damrau is at her stunning best with her voice effortlessly touching and lighting each note with a sense of crystal clear magic.We are even given her Queens songs to remind us that this is no first time soprano but a well established singer and a dynamic woman who gives us on this recording a timeless display of the music of Mozarts contempories.A feast for the ear and soul something to listen to and dream to."
Righini is enough reason to give the collection 5 stars
Dexter Tay | 08/31/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"While the focus of this album, in the words of the singer herself, is to revive her personal favourite composer for the voice, Salieri; the real reason why I found this album to be a treasure has to be the discovery of a first-rate classical composer of opera by the name of Vincenzo Righini.
It is nothing short of a curious anomaly and a regretful shame in the history of opera why Righini was forgotten and unheard of in our day; as I hear the aria "Ove son? Qual'aure io spiro" from the opera Il natal d'Apollo, I could virtually envision the heavens opening and gleams of wondrous light pervading the clouds and illuminating the earth.
On first listening one might assume it to be a late aria written by Mozart - but the truth is that even Mozart himself had seldom scaled such heights of expression that is only matched in similar vein by his trio "Soave sia il vento" (similar in its undulating strings and melancholic winds) - not matched by even his most famous arias for solo voice.
It is not far-fetched to presume that the aria was written in the early 1800s from its autumnal melancholy and prescient romanticism - when it was actually written as early as in 1789 (Mozart had yet to start on his last opera while Haydn was just beginning to). While stylistically it evolved from the operatic tradition and language of Gluck (with its pristine Neo-Classicism), the harmony unmistakenably looks ahead to early-Romanticism. It is not presumptuous to presume that it was an aria Mozart would have admired himself had he heard it in his lifetime.
Another aria "Ombra dolente" included from the same opera has an unmistakably Cherubinian flavour to it and it is probably even safe to presume that Cherubini had known this opera in his repertoire as he was working on his Medea.
It is a shame that only two tracks are available from Righini - the Mozarts are so often recorded while the Salieri, in my opinion, offers nothing more than an inundating coloratura mish-mash of vocal gymnastics despite the well-intentioned efforts (an effort previously also undertaken by Cecelia Bartoli) to revive this previously maligned composer.
Waiting earnestly for an opera company to do this wonderful opera by Righini. If only Damrau could take the lead?
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1