This season, Diana Damrau returns to the stage of La Scala as Juliette in Bartlett Sher’s sumptuous production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, in which she originally starred in its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera. Ms. Damrau is once again joined by tenor Vittorio Grigolo as Roméo, with Maestro Lorenzo Viotti leading from the pit. The performances take place from January 15 – February 16.
“Ms. Damrau showed impressive range in her solo turns. At one point during the Capulet ball in Act I, after Juliette is introduced to Pâris, the young count her father wishes her to wed, she sings the light, waltzing “Je veux vivre” to a group of ogling young courtiers, explaining that she is too young and full of life to settle down. Ms. Damrau dispatched the aria with rosy sound, agile coloratura and girlish glee. But in Act IV, when the good-intentioned friar gives Juliette a potion that will make her appear dead to her family until Roméo can rescue her, Ms. Damrau summoned weighty vocal power and tragic intensity as she agonized over what to do, then forced herself to drink.”
Anthony Tommasini – The New York Times
Before her last two performances as Juliette, Ms. Damrau embarks on a tour of Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder. This short tour follows the January 31 release of her recording of this work with pianist Helmut Deutsch, the Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and the late Maestro Mariss Jansons. The album is available for pre-order via Presto Classical. These performances take place on February 5 in Frankfurt, February 7 in Paris and February 9 in Baden-Baden.