Diana Damrau

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Diana Damrau (born May 31, 1971 in Günzburg an der Donau, Germany) is a coloratura soprano, of the operatic stage who has cited that the operatic fire was ignited in her when at a young age she watched the Franco Zeffirelli film version of Verdi's La Traviata, starring Placido Domingo and Theresa Stratas.¹

She began her studies with Carmen Hanganu at the Musikhochschule Würzburg then worked in Salzburg with Hanna Ludwig. Her first operatic engagements were in Würzburg and subsequently the Nationaltheater Mannheim at OperFrankfurt. Since then, she has sung throughout Europe at venues including the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera New York, Covent Garden and the Salzburg Festival. She was invited to sing the title role in Salieri's 'Europa Riconosciuta' at the re-opening of La Scala, Milan in 2003, under the baton of Riccardo Muti.

Mozart's Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte) has been Damrau's most frequently performed role to-date, having been engaged to perform it at houses including Covent Garden, the Salzburg Festival, the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera and the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich. Other coloratura roles in her repertoire include Konstanze, Blondchen, Zerbinetta, Rosina, Gilda, Norina, Europa, Olympia and Oscar. She possesses a wide vocal range having publicly sung from Ab below Middle C², up to Ab above the Soprano High C.³

As well as opera, Damrau is a regular on the concert podium having performed Lieder repertoire at Vienna's Musikverein, the Kissinger Summer Festival, the Schubertiade, Schwarzenberg and both the Munich and Salzburg Festivals.

She appears on cds of Mozart's 'Zaide', Mahler's 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn', and Schumann’s 'Myrten' among others and can be seen on dvds of Mozart's 'Die Zauberflöte' and 'Die Entführung aus dem Serail'. Damrau has signed an exclusive contract with EMI. Her first recording of Mozart, Righini and Salieri arias is scheduled for release in early 2008. Virgin Classics president Alain Lanceron sees Damrau as having “...risen in stature to become one of the small circle of singers who define the modern history of opera performance”.

Up and coming plans in 2007 include the role of Aithra in 'Die Ägyptische Helena' by Richard Strauss at the Metropolitan Opera, New York and Susanna in Mozart's 'Le Nozze di Figaro' at the Salzburg Festival. Next season will see her make operatic history by assuming both the role of Pamina and that of the Queen of the Night in the same run, but different performances of Mozart's 'Die Zauberflöte' at the Metropolitan Opera. She will also sing Lieder Recitals at Carnegie Hall, New York and La Scala, Milan.

In a recent interview in Opera News (March 2007) Damrau has signalled that like Slovakian coloratura soprano Edita Gruberova, as her voice develops, she would like to delve further into the Bel Canto repertoire and perform the roles of Violetta Valery, Lucia, Amina, Marie in 'La Fille du Régiment' and Donizetti's Tudor Queens. Both Damrau and Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez have revealed they have been scheduled to perform together in several operas in the USA and Europe over the next few years including Verdi's 'Rigoletto' in Germany and Donizetti's 'La Fille du Régiment' in San Francisco.⁴

[edit] Key Performances

• La Scala: Europa Riconosciuta (Europa), Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna)

• The Metropolitan Opera: Ariadne auf Naxos (Zerbinetta), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina), Die Ägyptische Helena (Aithra)

• Covent Garden: Die Zauberflöte (Queen of the Night), Arabella (Fiakermilli), Ariadne auf Naxos (Zerbinetta), 1984 (Gym Instructor / Drunken Woman)

• Vienna State Opera: Die Fledermaus (Adele), Rigoletto (Gilda), Ariadne auf Naxos (Zerbinetta), Der Riese vom Steinfeld by Cerha (Small Woman), Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), 'Die Entführung aus dem Serail' (Konstanze).

• Salzburg Festival: 'Die Entführung aus dem Serail' (Blondchen / Konstanze), Ascanio in Alba (Fauno), Die Zauberflöte (Queen of the Night),

• Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich: Die Zauberflöte (Queen of the Night), 'Die Entführung aus dem Serail' (Konstanze), Arabella (Zdenka), Ariadne auf Naxos (Zerbinetta), Rigoletto (Gilda), Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Der Rosenkavalier (Sophie)

¹ in an interview on WNYC, New York October 2005 during her run as Zerbinetta in R Strauss' 'Ariande auf Naxos' at the Metropolitan Opera

² in the Metropolitan Opera production of Rossini's 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia', November 2006 during Rosina's aria 'Una voce poco fa'

³ in Strauss' 'Frühlingsstimmenwalzer', sung at the Schwarzenberg Schubertiade 2003

⁴ in a joint interview on WNYC, New York November 2006 during their run in Rossini's 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia' at the Metropolitan Opera