In the first half of the 19th century, Giacomo Meyerbeer was perhaps the world’s most successful opera composer, pioneering onstage theatrics as he worked comfortably across European cultures.
His fame faded after his death in 1864 but as part of a revival, German soprano Diana Damrau has released a new album devoted entirely to his arias.
Damrau, whose bursting yet lush and agile coloratura voice has increasingly made her a top attraction at opera houses around the world, said that a Meyerbeer album has long been a career goal.
“This idea was a dream,” says the 45-year-old, whose nonchalant smile and giggly laugh belie the grim traditional image of a diva.
Her album Meyerbeer: Grand Opera, released last week, includes selections from the composer’s best-known operas Les Huguenots and Robert le diable, and two arias never previously recorded.
She also sings from Meyerbeer’s Dinorah, which she says served as an introduction to coloratura, a vocal art characterised by quick-paced high notes, trills and other ornamentations.