# What do you think about Diana Damrau and her voice?



## Baritenor (Dec 13, 2015)

One of my favourite opera singers of all time...


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

I love her perormance of The Queen of the Night. She is really, really tops vocally and dramatically. I also love her performance in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims.

I can't help but notice the similarity of our screen names. One question: Have you ever had a voice teacher tell you you were a heldentenor?

Best Regards,

George


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

My overall impression is that she is a singer with nice voice and nice technique.

I haven't listened to a lot of her works, but her *COLORaturaS: Opera Arias* is sort of a life-changing experience for me. Her intakes of breath in the album are so loud and distracting that it made me ask myself "How come I have never before paid any attention to how loudly singers take breath?". The following month, whoever I listened to, I couldn't help but fix my attention on every slightest breath intake 

I like her singing in Strauss Lieder album. She would probably make an ideal Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten if she wants to.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

never really did much for me. a fine singer, but the voice is overly bright and lacks a certain Italianate warmth I look for in most singers (always came off a bit cold/icy. good for certain German rep, not so much for Italian).


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I do think that her first Rigolleto ( Florzes) is the best she ever did on stage....
The Lucia I like to see live, the recording is (being polite) mediocre


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## Baritenor (Dec 13, 2015)

Barelytenor said:


> I love her perormance of The Queen of the Night. She is really, really tops vocally and dramatically. I also love her performance in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims.
> 
> I can't help but notice the similarity of our screen names. One question: Have you ever had a voice teacher tell you you were a heldentenor?
> 
> ...


No, I've had a voice teacher tell me that I'm a baritenor and I completely agree with him (We've spent a lot of time analyzing my voice). What about you??

Sandy


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## Il Maestro (Oct 27, 2015)

One of my favourites too. She was my introduction to opera. When a friend showed me Damrau performing the second aria of the queen of the night on YouTube some years ago I was in awe of what the human voice could do. Besides Edda Moser, I think no other singer has matched her as the queen of the night. If I am being honest, from what I could hear from her latest recital album “Fiamma del belcanto”, her top no longer sounds very pleasant but her middle is rich and she has enough agility to tackle the roles she sings. She can float some beautiful pianissimi and has a good trill. Her breath-intakes have always been noisy and her vibrato has always been on the wide side but not to the point of being intrusive. The thing I like the most about her is how she she really invests meaning into her characterisations. I am really looking forward to seeing her live for the first time as Lucia next month.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Baritenor said:


> No, I've had a voice teacher tell me that I'm a baritenor and I completely agree with him (We've spent a lot of time analyzing my voice). What about you??
> 
> Sandy


It all depends on what the meaning of "is" is.  If you are singing tenor with baritonal quality and coloratura flexiblity, that is the usual definition. I was forced by my first two voice teachers, both tenors themselves, to sing tenor although I am not. I have been called a heldentenor because I have good high notes (up to A; my B-flats are dicey but finally coming in -- at age 67 I still take lessons). Fortunately, when I graduated college I found a competent vocal coach who said "you are not a tenor." (I can sing A-flats that blow most tenors away, though.) But I am a lyric baritone who can sing heavier music (Scarpia, Rigoletto, Rodrigo, even a lot of the bass-baritone stuff) now that I am, ahem, mature. Good luck with your singing! So, one final question for you, or two if you care to answer. What kinds of roles/arias do you sing/are most suited to your voice, and (optional) what age are you?

Now we return to our regularly scheduled programming ... Love La Damrau! Listen to her "Glitter and Be Gay" on YouTube for a treat ... not completely idiomatic and quite overacted, but wow, what vocal endowments she is blessed with!






Best Regards,

George


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Barelytenor said:


> It all depends on what the meaning of "is" is.  If you are singing tenor with baritonal quality and coloratura flexiblity, that is the usual definition. I was forced by my first two voice teachers, both tenors themselves, to sing tenor although I am not. I have been called a heldentenor because I have good high notes (up to A; my B-flats are dicey but finally coming in -- at age 67 I still take lessons). Fortunately, when I graduated college I found a competent vocal coach who said "you are not a tenor." (I can sing A-flats that blow most tenors away, though.) But I am a lyric baritone who can sing heavier music (Scarpia, Rigoletto, Rodrigo, even a lot of the bass-baritone stuff) now that I am, ahem, mature. Good luck with your singing! So, one final question for you, or two if you care to answer. What kinds of roles/arias do you sing/are most suited to your voice, and (optional) what age are you?
> 
> Now we return to our regularly scheduled programming ... Love La Damrau! Listen to her "Glitter and Be Gay" on YouTube for a treat ... not completely idiomatic and quite overacted, but wow, what vocal endowments she is blessed with!
> 
> ...


so basically you're a Verdi baritone


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

I don't put much stock in the fach system now that I have sung tenor, baritone, and bass-baritone in my life, but I am somewhere in the vicinity of that.


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## Baritenor (Dec 13, 2015)

I'm 26 and my voice is PERFECT for baryton-martin roles and French opera in general. I'd describe my voice as light, bright, gentle, 'inwardly', and even feminine (and no, I don't think that's a bad thing!). I sound A LOT like this guy: 




Btw I like these descriptions of the baritenor voice from Wikipedia and I think they suit my own voice too: 'a dark, weighty lower octave and a ringing upper one but with sufficient agility for coloratura singing' ; 'John Potter refers to this type of voice as "tenor-bass" and notes that several virtuoso singers of the 17th century who were described as "tenors" by their contemporaries could also sing in the bass register' ; 'employ an open speech-like sound' .

EDIT: I also think that the baritenor voice is the male equivalent of the soprano sfogato and/or soprano falcon.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

The gentleman has a lovely, unforced sound of which I approve! Thanks for sharing. Yours is a very different voice from mine, and given the age difference, I think that is a good thing! Best of luck. :tiphat:

George


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## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

If I had never heard anyone else performing that second Queen of the Night aria, I could still die happy having heard Diana's. Gives me goosebumps every time.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

I heard her for the first time this evening, in the Mad Scene from I Puritani.


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## Baritenor (Dec 13, 2015)

And what do you think about her?


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## Baritenor (Dec 13, 2015)

Wood said:


> I heard her for the first time this evening, in the Mad Scene from I Puritani.


And what do you think about her?


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

LOVE HER! i knew she had a web site http://diana-damrau.com/


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

I have to give an honorable mention, however, to another singer. I guess the second aria, "Der Hölle rache," is in itself a signature tune in classical music, so distinctive, so memorable that it endows special gifts on even second-rate sopranos who can manage to squeak and schmear their way through it. I was lucky in that, about age 20, I discovered the aria, the opera, and the soprano all at the same time in the wonderful Otto Klemperer/EMI recording with Lucia Popp as QOTN, Nicolai Gedda as Tamino, Gundula Janowitz as Pamina, the incomparable Walter Berry as Papageno, Gottlob Frick as Sarastro, and it even has Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as Die Erste Dame and Christa Ludwig as Zweite Dame! What a starry cast. Gedda is his usual lyric-tenor-wonderful self (although no one can match Wunderlich), and the whole cast is unusually endowed with a surplus of vocal riches. Lucia Popp, now (may she rest in peace, a singer who passed much too young), just had an incredible amount of ping in those top notes, and yet they were somehow less muscular than those of La Damrau. It is a more lyric voice overall, and one of incredible beauty. If you have never heard her -- and even if you have -- give yourself a treat and a listen.


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## Baritenor (Dec 13, 2015)

Barelytenor said:


> I have to give an honorable mention, however, to another singer. I guess the second aria, "Der Hölle rache," is in itself a signature tune in classical music, so distinctive, so memorable that it endows special gifts on even second-rate sopranos who can manage to squeak and schmear their way through it. I was lucky in that, about age 20, I discovered the aria, the opera, and the soprano all at the same time in the wonderful Otto Klemperer/EMI recording with Lucia Popp as QOTN, Nicolai Gedda as Tamino, Gundula Janowitz as Pamina, the incomparable Walter Berry as Papageno, Gottlob Frick as Sarastro, and it even has Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as Die Erste Dame and Christa Ludwig as Zweite Dame! What a starry cast. Gedda is his usual lyric-tenor-wonderful self (although no one can match Wunderlich), and the whole cast is unusually endowed with a surplus of vocal riches. Lucia Popp, now (may she rest in peace, a singer who passed much too young), just had an incredible amount of ping in those top notes, and yet they were somehow less muscular than those of La Damrau. It is a more lyric voice overall, and one of incredible beauty. If you have never heard her -- and even if you have -- give yourself a treat and a listen.


You're right, she's great, but her voice isn't as 'muscular' as Diana's.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Barelytenor said:


> I have to give an honorable mention, however, to another singer. I guess the second aria, "Der Hölle rache," is in itself a signature tune in classical music, so distinctive, so memorable that it endows special gifts on even second-rate sopranos who can manage to squeak and schmear their way through it. I was lucky in that, about age 20, I discovered the aria, the opera, and the soprano all at the same time in the wonderful Otto Klemperer/EMI recording with Lucia Popp as QOTN, Nicolai Gedda as Tamino, Gundula Janowitz as Pamina, the incomparable Walter Berry as Papageno, Gottlob Frick as Sarastro, and it even has Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as Die Erste Dame and Christa Ludwig as Zweite Dame! What a starry cast. Gedda is his usual lyric-tenor-wonderful self (although no one can match Wunderlich), and the whole cast is unusually endowed with a surplus of vocal riches. Lucia Popp, now (may she rest in peace, a singer who passed much too young), just had an incredible amount of ping in those top notes, and yet they were somehow less muscular than those of La Damrau. It is a more lyric voice overall, and one of incredible beauty. If you have never heard her -- and even if you have -- give yourself a treat and a listen.


you're listening to too many teapot coloraturas. this is what a real Queen of the Night sounds like


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> you're listening to too many teapot coloraturas. this is what a real Queen of the Night sounds like


Yeah, I tend to prefer a big-voiced Queen of the Night, too, provided her voice can really handle the coloratura. June Anderson was another good one.

As to the topic of this thread, I haven't experienced enough Damrau to be able to judge her. I imagine she's in line with coloraturas like Edita Gruberova (who were probably criticized by some for not being Italianate).


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Baritenor said:


> And what do you think about her?


I liked the snippet. Her voice sounds unusual. I'd like to hear more.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Christina Deutekom - Der Hölle Rache (Studio)

I have our own Dutch nightingale, any day off the week :tiphat:


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)




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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)




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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

I find Damrau's "_Ich wollt ein Strausslein binden_" and some of her "_Standchen_" absolutely delightful.

I high lighted in bold the parts of "_Standchen_" that I love with Damrau:

_*Mach auf, mach auf, doch leise mein Kind,
Um keinen vom Schlummer zu wecken.
Kaum murmelt der Bach, kaum zittert im Wind
Ein Blatt an den Büschen und Hecken.*
Drum leise, mein Mädchen, daß [nichts sich]1 regt,
Nur leise die Hand auf die Klinke gelegt.

*Mit Tritten, wie Tritte der Elfen so sacht,
[Die über die Blumen]2 hüpfen*,
Flieg leicht hinaus in die Mondscheinnacht,
[Zu]3 mir in den Garten zu schlüpfen.
Rings schlummern die Blüten am rieselnden Bach
Und duften im Schlaf, nur die Liebe ist wach.

Sitz nieder, hier dämmert's geheimnisvoll
Unter den Lindenbäumen,
Die Nachtigall uns zu Häupten soll
Von unseren Küssen träumen,
Und die Rose, wenn sie am Morgen erwacht,
Hoch glühn von den Wonnenschauern der Nacht.._

I especially like how she feminizes this with that sighing _Innigkeit _of hers.

No, not Schwarzkopf or Baker-level caressings, to be sure. Nor does Damrau have the control or solid technique of, say, Elisabeth Schumann or Imgaard Seefried or even Renee Fleming.

But the highlighted parts are absolutely lovely for me all the same.


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## mahler76 (Mar 12, 2016)

She sounds and looks very good to me


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

since we are showing vids about the "queen of the night" i find the strangest videos on you tube.
sone of you might know these sopranos


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

ldiat said:


> since we are showing vids about the "queen of the night" i find the strangest videos on you tube.
> sone of you might know these sopranos


1:46 Hyunju Park. Nice 






If I saw a performance of Die Zauberflöte with Hyunju Park as The Queen of the Night a role she by the way have played I would cheer for The Queen of the Night.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Now for something completely different a male soprano singing a Queen of the Night aria in the original key over the Rolling Stones. Has to be seen to be believed.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Now for something completely different a male soprano singing a Queen of the Night aria in the original key over the Rolling Stones. Has to be seen to be believed.


I can't stop laughing :lol::tiphat:


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Next post please


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

On the lighter side I really like Damrau in the MET comedy role "le comte ory" with DiDonnato and JDF, a very good actress with good stage charisma I would say, more more more..........





> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYbCHOrHMRU Now for something completely different a male soprano singing a Queen of the Night aria in the original key over the Rolling Stones. Has to be seen to be believed.


How do I now "un-see" that "performance", how did it get over 100 likes on youtube........


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

DarkAngel said:


> On the lighter side I really like Damrau in the MET comedy role "le comte ory" with DiDonnato and JDF, a very good actress with good stage charisma I would say, more more more..........
> 
> 
> 
> How do I now "un-see" that "performance", how did it get over 100 likes on youtube........


Curiosity , people are always curious and putting it on a public forum.....


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/mar/20/be-ready-for-blood-diana-damrau
read to the bottom!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

ldiat said:


> http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/mar/20/be-ready-for-blood-diana-damrau
> read to the bottom!


Atrocious;

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/atrocious


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