News - The latest about Diana’s engagements and recordings

 

Diana Damrau first sang Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Five years later, in July 2013, she brought her riveting interpretation of the tragic bel canto heroine to her native Bavaria, where she was greeted with rapture. In this much-anticipated live recording from Munich’s Philharmonie Gasteig, she is joined by two splendid singers from the Mediterranean: tenor Joseph Calleja as Lucia’s lover Edgardo, and baritone Ludovic Tézier as her controlling brother Enrico.

Diana’s Metropolitan Opera debut in Lucia was nothing short of a “triumph” (USA TODAY) – it was truly “Damrau’s night” (The New York Times) in a role that has now become a signature for Ms. Damrau.

“Singing Lucia was a landmark for me,” she explained to APPLAUS magazine before the concert. “I waited for a long time and it was one of my biggest role debuts.”

Hailed “the Meryl Streep of opera”, Damrau is admired for the detail and realism of her stagecraft. At Munich’s Philharmonie Gasteig she had no costumes, stage decor or director, but, as she told APPLAUS: “I like concert performances, because I am performing so close to the orchestra. I put all my passion for acting into the voice. I can give free rein to my interpretation of the role, creating my own stage production in my mind.”

Lucia di Lammermoor - Diana Damrau

Her interpretation of the Mad Scene in Munich was greeted with an ecstatic standing ovation, following a virtuoso cadenza accompanied by a real verrophone rather than a flute to produce the ethereal glass harmonica effect Donizetti originally intended. Played here by its inventor, Sascha Reckert, the glass tubes emit eerily shimmering tones to match Damrau’s vocal colours.

Lucia’s ill-fated lover Edgardo is sung by the Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja whose previous outing in the role was for the Met in 2011 opposite Natalie Dessay, where he was praised by The New York Times as “sensationally ardent”. As Calleja told APPLAUS: “Edgardo is one of the most difficult tenor roles ever written … At the end, in ‘O bell’alma innamorata’ … he winds the voice up higher and higher; it’s incredibly beautiful music – damn difficult, but really beautiful to sing.”

With the Münchener Opernchor and Orchester conducted by Jesús López-Cobos, one of the world’s leading coloratura stars unveils her unforgettable Lucia.

Lucia di Lammemoor is out late November. More information here.