Der Rosenkavalier at the Opernhaus Zürich
Sep 22, 2025
„Dennoch gelingt am Ende des ersten Akts die Wehmut der Marschallin überraschend gut. Es ist Diana Damraus größte, schönste Szene: Im Vollbesitz all ihres Stimmvermögens sinniert sie mit der Klarheit objektiver Erkenntnis über die Zeit, dieses sonderbare Ding, über Vergänglichkeit, ihr Altern. Das hat viel berückende Wahrheit.“
[Nevertheless, at the end of the first act, the Marschallin’s melancholy comes across surprisingly well. It is Diana Damrau’s greatest, most beautiful scene: in full command of her vocal abilities, she reflects with the clarity of objective insight on time, that strange thing, on transience, on her ageing. There is much captivating truth in this.]
“Diana Damrau brought her crystalline, splendid soprano to the role of the Marschallin, imbuing every phrase with meaning through her intelligent and poignant acting. She skilfully conveyed both the character’s passion and her measured aristocratic elegance, rendering the Marschallin’s musings on the passage of time genuinely moving. While a deeper, darker voice might be considered traditional for the part, Damrau’s interpretation, combined with the sheer beauty of her instrument, proved irresistible.”
Bachtrack
„Mit Diana Damrau stand eine der führenden deutschen Sopranistinnen als Feldmarschallin auf der Bühne. Sie sang die Rolle der liebenden, altersweisen und von Trauer umwehten Adeligen mit in jeder Lage perfekt geführter Stimme.“
[Diana Damrau, one of Germany’s leading sopranos, took to the stage as the Feldmarschallin. She sang the role of the loving, age-wise noblewoman, enveloped in grief, with a voice that was perfectly controlled in every situation.]
“Diana Damrau’s rich and tender soprano voice and physical presence embody the Marschallin’s dignity tinged with a poignant vulnerability. Her introspective arias are deeply touching.”
„Als Gesamtkunstwerk ist ihre Marschallin fast schon ein Gegenbild zur heute manieriert wirkenden Künstlichkeit einer Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in dieser Rolle.“
[As a total work of art, her Marschallin is almost a counterpoint to the now seemingly mannered artificiality of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in this role.]
„Diana Damrau gestaltet die Marschallin mit feinem Gespür für Nacht, Lust und Melancholie. Obwohl Strauss wie Steier ihr wenig Raum lässt, findet sie im dritten Akt als leichenblasse Maria Theresia im eisvogelblauen Reifrock zu einer zarten, alles versöhnenden Klimax.“
[Diana Damrau portrays the Marschallin with a keen sense of darkness, desire and melancholy. Although Strauss, like Steier, gives her little room to manoeuvre, in the third act she finds a delicate, all-reconciling climax as the deathly pale Maria Theresa in her kingfisher-blue crinoline.]
“El reparto fue también excelente. Estuvo encabezado por la soprano Diana Damrau como una vivaz y cercana Mariscala, que destacó por su naturalidad expresiva, en especial en el célebre monólogo del primer acto. Fue la gran triunfadora de la noche”
[The cast was also excellent. It was led by soprano Diana Damrau as a lively and approachable Marschallin, who stood out for her expressive naturalness, especially in the famous monologue in the first act. She was the big winner of the night.]
„Diana Damrau betört als Marschallin
Für die Hauptpartie der Marschallin konnte Diana Damrau gewonnen werden. Eine ideale Besetzung, denn Damrau vermag mit ihrer schlanken, agilen Stimme das Reflektieren von Zeit und Vergänglichkeit ergreifend auszugestalten. Ob in «Es ist der Lauf der Welt» oder «Die Zeit ist ein wundersames Ding», Damraus lyrisch-verklärter Gesang geht unter die Haut.“
[Diana Damrau captivates as the Marschallin
Diana Damrau was secured for the lead role of the Marschallin. She is the ideal choice, as Damrau’s slender, agile voice allows her to poignantly convey reflections on time and transience. Whether in ‘Es ist der Lauf der Welt’ or ‘Die Zeit ist ein wundersames Ding’, Damrau’s lyrical, transfigured singing gets under your skin.]
“Redefining The Marschallin
In the role of Marschallin, Diana Damrau appeared in her celebrated interpretation. The soprano, who once took on the role of Sophie in her early career, has now graduated to the more lyrical and mature character. It is quite interesting to see Damrau move into this character, as symbolically she has essentially left behind all the roles of her earlier career and is making room for a new generation of singers to take those on. And in a way, it makes her interpretation even stronger.
As she opens the first act, Damrau, dressed in a flowy dress, moved about in a girlish manner, running around the stage, expressing her desire to be young. Her voice was also lighter as she emphasized the German text in the rhythmic qualities of the recit between Octavian and the Marschallin. And in the more lyrical sections of the score, her voice soared with a soft lyric timbre. In her exchanges with Baron Ochs, there was playfulness and coquettishness, and Damrau’s exchanges saw her voice lightened even more even singing a chromatic coloratura line with flexibility. But as her entire court came into create a commotion, Damrau’s Marschallin started to feel haunted. As the Italian tenor sang his aria, she looked distressed, and one could sense her fear. She ran to close the bed curtain and make the ghost-like figure disappear.
When she sang the lines, “Mein lieber Hippolyte,” remarking about looking older, Damrau sang with a nostalgic quality; you could sense her torment. That was all the more evident in her aria “Da geht er hin, der aufgeblasne, schlechte Kerl,” where Damrau gave a heartbreaking account. Her voice soared with gorgeous legato lines and beautiful, floated pianissimi. One sensed a Marschallin who was holding back the tears as she delivered each line. The ensuing duet with Octavian was equally wrenching, especially in the “Die Zeit, die ist ein sonderbar Ding.” Here, the soprano had a fuller and richer middle voice. The lower notes were also weightier, and the legato lines were connected with impeccable phrasing. As the duet ended, Damrau’s voice slowly decrescendoed with a sound that sometimes felt like a whisper. You could sense her despair at the decision to leave her Octavian.
In Act three, all the youthful energy disappeared, and she returned as a regal princess who had accepted her fate. Damrau’s vocal delivery had grace and poise as well as authority. As she looked at Angela Brower’s Octavian, you could sense the nostalgia and yearning for her lover. That was all the more present in the trio “Hab’ mir’s gelobt, ihn lieb zu haben,” where Damrau sang with a lush timbre that emphasized her longing. The middle voice resonated with a silvery tone and a gorgeously connected legato. The three voices sang in unison, with neither ever covering the others. It was a visceral moment, and given all the character work that Damrau gave us in Act one, it was hard not to feel for this Marschallin. Her final lines, however, gave us a sense that this Marschallin would be alright.”
“German soprano Diana Damrau was an exceptionally touching Marschallin, bringing her signature elegance of phrasing and mastery of nuance in Hofmannsthal’s language. Her Act I monologue on the transience of youth and beauty became one of the performance’s most poignant moments, sung with luminous fragility that conveyed both resignation and tenderness.”
“Diana Damrau, que en sus inicios había dado tantas alegrías como Sophie, confirmó su madurez en la Mariscala: su timbre lírico, con un centro carnoso y agudos luminosos, se desplegó con una línea de canto exquisita y filados de gran belleza.”
[Diana Damrau, who in the beginning of her career brought so much joy as Sophie, confirmed her maturity in the role of the Marschallin: her lyrical timbre, with a rich middle register and luminous high notes, unfolded with exquisite phrasing and beautiful filati.]
Ópera Actual
„…und gesanglich ist sie natürlich Spitzenklasse, wie fein sie jeden Ton modelliert und die Linien gestaltet mit ganz vielen Schattierungen…“
[…and vocally, she is of course top class, how finely she shapes every note and crafts the lines with so many nuances…]
SRF Kultur Kompakt Radio
„Diana Damrau verkörpert geradezu magistral den Edelmut, die Zerrissenheit, aber auch die Grandezza der Marschallin.“
[Diana Damrau masterfully embodies the nobility, inner turmoil and grandeur of the Marschallin.]
Tages-Anzeiger Zürich
„Diana Damrau ist eine grosse Erzählerin, wunderbare Lyrikerin…“
[Diana Damrau is a great storyteller, a wonderful poet…]
Aargauer Zeitung