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Product Description
CD Description
“This is a performance of transcendent art” proclaimed Opera News on hearing Diana Damrau’s interpretation of Strauss’ Zerbinetta on her last Virgin Classics album, Coloraturas. In this collection of Strauss songs, recorded in the composer’s hometown, she is joined by the Munich Philharmonic and Christian Thielemann, the leading German conductor of his generation.
Soprano Diana Damrau, described by The Sunday Times as “the most dazzling star to have emerged from Germany in recent years” was born in Bavaria. The region’s capital, Munich, was the birthplace of Richard Strauss, and in March 2009 a programme of the composer’s songs was presented at the city’s Gasteig Philharmonie, with Damrau accompanied by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under its Chief Conductor, Christian Thielemann.
“Strauss loved female voices,” says Damrau, “and he explores some extreme possibilities in these many-layered songs, each with its different point of view. Sensitivity to the words is vital to telling the story of each song, to capturing the rapid changes of mood and all the colours.”
Strauss’ operatic roles for lyric-coloratura soprano, notably Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Aithra (Die Aegyptische Helena) and Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) have played an important role in Damrau’s career.
On the new CD, favourites such as "Ständchen", "Wiegenlied", "Allerseelen", "Cäcilie" and "Zueignung" feature alongside more rarely heard numbers, and six tracks recorded under studio conditions now complement the sixteen songs captured live.
Soprano Diana Damrau, described by The Sunday Times as “the most dazzling star to have emerged from Germany in recent years” was born in Bavaria. The region’s capital, Munich, was the birthplace of Richard Strauss, and in March 2009 a programme of the composer’s songs was presented at the city’s Gasteig Philharmonie, with Damrau accompanied by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under its Chief Conductor, Christian Thielemann.
“Strauss loved female voices,” says Damrau, “and he explores some extreme possibilities in these many-layered songs, each with its different point of view. Sensitivity to the words is vital to telling the story of each song, to capturing the rapid changes of mood and all the colours.”
Strauss’ operatic roles for lyric-coloratura soprano, notably Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Aithra (Die Aegyptische Helena) and Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) have played an important role in Damrau’s career.
On the new CD, favourites such as "Ständchen", "Wiegenlied", "Allerseelen", "Cäcilie" and "Zueignung" feature alongside more rarely heard numbers, and six tracks recorded under studio conditions now complement the sixteen songs captured live.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I am an ardent fan of the Golden Boy Richard Strauss and have mountains of favourite discs with Lott, Schwarzkopf, Battle and Norman. This offering is a wonderful addition to my stable of music. Play this and all cares and woes of the day will vanishStrauss - Ariadne Auf Naxos (Levine, Metropolitan Opera) [DVD]
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
A delightful program of Strauss's luscious orchestral songs
15 Feb 2011
Format:Audio CD
It's been a while since a notable soprano made a recording of Strauss's orchestral songs. The composer had a light, silvery lyric voice in mind when he composed many of these (his wife Pauline possessed such a voice, along with a notoriously shrewish temper), and she must have been quite accomplished, given the coloratura demands of, for example, "Ich wollt ein Struasslein binden," the first item on the program. Diana Damrau handles it beautifully, moving through the tricky melisma with a steady, beautiful tone and winning manner. I haven't heard her in person, but if the microphones place her front and center, there's no issue of such a light soprano having to ride over Strauss's lush orchestral writing. She makes a good deal out of the poetry, too, which is welcome; I think this is the most expressive singing, so far as language goes, since Schwarzkopf's famous Strauss collection under Szell four decades ago.
Damrau has emerged as a star, particularly on stage, where she is said to be a compelling actress; on disc, however, I've tended to find her coy and mannered, expending too much effort on histrionics. That isn't so here. Under the expert guidance of Christian Thielemann, who has made a name for himself conducting Strauss operas around the world, the singer is bright and forward but respectful of limits. It's hard for a coloratura soprano to sound as serious as a richer voice would, but she overcomes this innate difficulty well. I wasn't as emotionally involved as with notable Straussians form the past like Schwarzkopf, Gueden, and Della Casa, yet in her lighter way Damrau is quite successful, particularly if you are listening for ravishing sound from voice and orchestra, which has certainly been supplied by EMI's excellent engineering.
Twenty-two songs is a generous number -- too generous, perhaps, since a long stretch of Strauss's luscious melodies turns into musical marzipan after a wile. But taken eight or nine at a time, they are delightful, and all the chestnuts are here. Damrau joins Felicity Lott and Renee Fleming as a leading exponent of this repertoire among recent singers. Among the men, I'd plump for Steve Davislim, although the great Fritz Wunderlich also recorded a handful, taken from radio broadcasts as I recall, not studio sessions.
Damrau has emerged as a star, particularly on stage, where she is said to be a compelling actress; on disc, however, I've tended to find her coy and mannered, expending too much effort on histrionics. That isn't so here. Under the expert guidance of Christian Thielemann, who has made a name for himself conducting Strauss operas around the world, the singer is bright and forward but respectful of limits. It's hard for a coloratura soprano to sound as serious as a richer voice would, but she overcomes this innate difficulty well. I wasn't as emotionally involved as with notable Straussians form the past like Schwarzkopf, Gueden, and Della Casa, yet in her lighter way Damrau is quite successful, particularly if you are listening for ravishing sound from voice and orchestra, which has certainly been supplied by EMI's excellent engineering.
Twenty-two songs is a generous number -- too generous, perhaps, since a long stretch of Strauss's luscious melodies turns into musical marzipan after a wile. But taken eight or nine at a time, they are delightful, and all the chestnuts are here. Damrau joins Felicity Lott and Renee Fleming as a leading exponent of this repertoire among recent singers. Among the men, I'd plump for Steve Davislim, although the great Fritz Wunderlich also recorded a handful, taken from radio broadcasts as I recall, not studio sessions.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Beautiful and smart
29 Mar 2011
Format:Audio CD
These are very fine recordings, done with a great deal of intelligence. Diane has a perfect voice for these songs -- clear, careful, but passionate. In a song like "Morgen" you actually get images of sun and shining in her tone. I tend to prefer Janet Baker and Gerald Moore's version of "Morgen" (simple piano is better than orchestra, I never could go for the schmaltzy violin) but she is just as good.
Some of the songs are admittedly over the top -- Cacile is pretty crazy (is this a love song or a shipwreck on the high seas?) -- and "Amor" (a tour de force for her voice) really needs to be heard in a Vienna cafe -- but it is all lovely listening.
Some of the songs are admittedly over the top -- Cacile is pretty crazy (is this a love song or a shipwreck on the high seas?) -- and "Amor" (a tour de force for her voice) really needs to be heard in a Vienna cafe -- but it is all lovely listening.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Damrau the top-notch Strauss interpretor.
14 Mar 2011
Format:Audio CD
It has been some decades since a German soprano emerged as a major Richard Strauss lieder exponenet - since Schwarzkopf and Janowitz, we had Popp, then Te Kanawa, Fleming, norman, Gruberova, Isokosi.
Here, Diana Damrau sung 22 Strauss lieders in one breath, showing to the world how Germans sing Strauss lieders.
Damrau and Thielemann employed slightly crisper tempi in majority of the songs. As in Morgen, the soprano tackles the verses in ultra-fine syncopated articulations, leaving the spot light to the violin solo, in a most authentic way of interpretation of this famous piece.
After 'graduating' from the Queen of Night, Damrau moves to bel canto, following the footsteps of Edita Gruberova. In Amor, Damrau again demonstrates her fearsome coloratura technique, reminding one of her celebrated portrayal of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos.
The album ends with six Brentano Lieders, sung to critical acclaim in the past by Edita Gruberova.
Damrau succeeds admirably in this album in showcasing how Strauss should be sung - in the authentic manner.
Here, Diana Damrau sung 22 Strauss lieders in one breath, showing to the world how Germans sing Strauss lieders.
Damrau and Thielemann employed slightly crisper tempi in majority of the songs. As in Morgen, the soprano tackles the verses in ultra-fine syncopated articulations, leaving the spot light to the violin solo, in a most authentic way of interpretation of this famous piece.
After 'graduating' from the Queen of Night, Damrau moves to bel canto, following the footsteps of Edita Gruberova. In Amor, Damrau again demonstrates her fearsome coloratura technique, reminding one of her celebrated portrayal of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos.
The album ends with six Brentano Lieders, sung to critical acclaim in the past by Edita Gruberova.
Damrau succeeds admirably in this album in showcasing how Strauss should be sung - in the authentic manner.
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