Latest news

October 2011

New Album: "Liszt Lieder"
Franz Liszt Song Recitals with Diana Damrau and Helmut Deutsch
Release: October 21st, 2011
More information

October 2011

Live Broadcast
"Les contes d'Hoffmann" in Munich
Monday November 21st, 2011, 7:40pm CET on arte

July 2011

Klassik ECHO for Diana Damrau!
Diana Damrau is awarded the german classic music award "ECHO 2011" for her album "Poesie".

January 2010

"Poesie" new album released
Diana Damrau sings orchestra songs composed by Richard Strauss
Click below to buy
More information

December 2010

Diana Damrau – Diva divina
ZDF/arte , Germany 2011, 52 Min.
on Monday, February 7, 2011, at 8:50pm CET
Read the PDF (German)

Vita

Diana Damrau's coloratura technique is formidable, her stage savvy impressive and her charm irresistible, but it is the sheer, auditorium-filling force of her bonhomie that sets her apart from other artists active in her chosen repertoire. No other star currently aloft conveys the can't-wait-to-get-started joy of singing that Damrau does.
Opera News

Acclaimed as the "leading coloratura soprano in the world" (New York Sun), Diana Damrau continues to amaze audiences with her brillant voice and arresting stage presence. A regular guest at the most renowned opera companies and concert halls, she looks ahead to new productions at the Metropolitan Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Royal Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Gran Teatre de Liceu, and Grand Théâtre de Genève. In 2007, she was awarded the title Bayerische Kammersängerin and in 2008 was named Singer of the Year by Opernwelt magazine. A documentary directed by Beatrix Conrad and entitled Diana Damrau - divine diva, was first aired on the French-German TV channel arte in February 2011.

Diana's 2011/12 schedule features three operas new to her repertoire. After leading the cast in Les contes d'Hoffmann in Munich, she will appear as Linda di Chamounix in Barcelona and Philine (Mignon) in Geneva. Further commitments include Gilda at the Zurich Opera, Lucia at the Vienna State Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin as well as Adina at the Metropolitan Opera. Concerts and recitals take her to Edinburgh, Milan, Monaco, Paris and Vienna.

As a member of the ensembles at Mannheim's National Theatre and the Frankfurt Opera, Diana's career gained momentum with her much-praised appearances as Queen of the Night, Zerbinetta and Adele (Die Fledermaus) in Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, and Vienna. Free-lancing since 2002, she scored a tremendous success as the Small Woman in the world premiere of Cerha's Der Riese vom Steinfeld at Vienna State Opera, ultimately entering the international limelight with her UK debut as Queen of the Night at the Royal Opera House and a spectacular rendition of the title role in Salieri's L'Europa riconosciuta at the re-opening of La Scala in 2004.

Between 2006 and 2011 highlights included Gym Instructress/Drunken Woman in the world premiere of Lorin Maazel's 1984 at Covent Garden, Susanna at La Scala, Konstanze at Burgtheater Vienna, Zerbinetta at Teatro Real Madrid and Munich Opera Festival, Gilda at Semperoper Dresden, Gretel at Covent Garden, Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) at Baden-Baden, as well as her role debuts as Marie (La fille du régiment, San Francisco), Donna Anna (Geneva), Massenet's Manon (Vienna), Aminta (Munich) and Elvira (I puritani, Geneva).

A beloved artist to the audience of the Metropolitan Opera, Diana has returned to New York every season since 2005, tackling Zerbinetta, Rosina, Aithra, Konstanze, Gilda, Lucia and as Marie, as well as stunning audience and critics alike by singing both her first Pamina and her last Queen of the Night in a 2007 run of Die Zauberflöte. In 2011, she made her much-anticipated HD broadcast debut as Adèle in a new production of Le comte Ory and starred as Lucia in the Met's tour of Japan. In Europe, she has close ties with the Salzburg Festival, where her 2001 debut was followed by engagements as Queen of the Night, Blonde, Konstanze, Fauno and Susanna. The list of conductors with whom Diana has collaborated includes Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Sir Colin Davis, Ivor Bolton, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Kent Nagano, Fabio Luisi, Jérémie Rhorer, Dan Ettinger and Christian Thielemann.

In addition to her achievements in opera, Diana has established herself as one of today's finest lieder singers, working with pianists including Helmut Deutsch, Julius Drake and Matthias Lademann, appearing in Berlin (Philharmonic), Vienna (Musikverein), the Salzburg Festival, Schwarzenberg (Schubertiade), London (Wigmore Hall), and New York (Carnegie Hall). Her extraordinary muscial partnership with harpist Xavier de Maistre is documented in both a CD release (Nuit d'étoiles) and a TV recording of a recital given at Baden-Baden. Diana regularly performs songs by the British composer Iain Bell, whose first opera A Harlot's Progress will open at Vienna's Theater an der Wien in 2013, featuring Diana in the title role.

Recording exclusively for EMI/Virgin Classics since 2007, Diana made her CD debut with Arie di Bravura, which received enthusiastic reviews and prestigious awards, including Germany's Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. Subsequent recordings include discs with Mozart opera and concert arias (Donna), coloratura pieces of the romantic period (COLORaturaS) and orchestral songs by Richard Strauss (Poesie, awarded with the ECHO Klassik award in 2011). Diana's discography is rounded off with various opera, concert and recital recordings on various labels. TV broadcasts, most notably from the opening gala of the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Munich have made her well-known to the broad public.

A native of Günzburg an der Donau/Germany, Diana studied voice with Carmen Hanganu at Würzburg Conservatory and with Hanna Ludwig in Salzburg. In 1995, she made her professional operatic debut as Barbarina at Würzburg's Mainfrankentheater, later joining the company's ensemble. Diana lives in Geneva and is married to the French bass-baritone Nicolas Testé, their son Alexander was born in 2010.

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Key Steps in Diana Damrau's Career

2008

• Ms. Damrau is awarded the "2008 singer of the year" by the international opera magazine "Opernwelt" (Germany) and appears on the 2008 issue's cover of the annual book. Read the article (german PDF document)
• Standing Ovations for Diana Damrau's "Gilda" at the "Rigoletto" premiere in Dresden's Semperoper - also seen on TV.
• "Exemplary activities for Europe" - Diana Damrau receives the "Europe medal" on May 7, 2008
• "Arie di bravura" is awarded "Le Timbre de Platine". More information
• Special release in February: On acclaimed harpist Xavier de Maistre's debut cd, Diana Damrau sings a selection of songs by Claude Debussy, accompanied by this Vienna Philharmonic soloist.

2007

• Diana Damrau is invested as "Bayerische Kammersängerin"
• An exclusive recording contract is fixed with Virgin / EMI
• A further role debut at the Met: Aithra in a new production of Strauss' "Die ägyptische Helena"
• Lieder recital debut in New York's Carnegie Hall
• Lieder recital debut at La Scala, Milan
• Engaged to sing both Pamina (Role debut) and Queen of the Night at the Met

2006

• A role debut as Susanna in "Le nozze di Figaro" at La Scala, Milan at the start of Mozart's Anniversary Year
• Plays Konstanze in a new production of Mozart's "Entführung" staged at the Wiener Burgtheater where the piece was originally debuted
• Part of the line-up of "3 Orchester und Stars" to mark the opening of the World Cup in Germany in Summer 2006, performing alongside Domingo, Lang lang, Mehta, Thielemann and Jansons
• Makes three appearances at Salzburg Festival's Mozart celebrations; in a new production of "Die Zauberflöte" as Queen of the Night, as Fauno in "Ascanio in Alba" and as the Soprano in his C Minor Mass
• Spain debut as Zerbinetta at the Teatro Real, Madrid
• Role debut as Rosina in Bartlett Sher's new production of Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" at the Metropolitan Opera, New York

2005

• Metropolitan Opera debut as Zerbinetta in Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos"
• Lieder recital debut at the Salzburg Festival which is released by Orfeo as a Live CD
• Lieder recital debut at Vienna's Musikverein
• Takes on the duo roles of Gym-Instructress and Drunken Woman in the World Premier of Lorin Maazel's "1984" at the Royal Opera House, London

2004

• Performs the title role in Salieri's "L'Europa riconosciuta" at La Scala, Milan to mark the house's grand re-opening. Singing under the baton of Riccardo Muti, the performance is attended by the world's press.

2003

• Role debut as Konstanze in Christoph Loy's celebrated production of "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" at Oper Frankfurt (DVD)
• British opera debut at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Queen of the Night in David McVicar's new production of "Die Zauberflöte" (DVD)
• Sings Beethoven's 9th under Dohnanyi at the Proms at London's Royal Albert Hall

2002

• Created the role of Die kleine Frau in the World Premier of Cerha's "Der Riese vom Steinfeld" at the Vienna State Opera (TV and CD)
• USA debut in a concert of Mozart Arias conducted by Leonard Slatkin in Washington's Kennedy Center

2001

• Lieder Recital debut at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg
• Debut at the Salzburg Festival as Najade in Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" and Voce dal cielo in Verdi's "Don Carlo"

2000

• Debut at the Vienna State Opera as Königin der Nacht

1999

• Debut at the Bavarian State Opera, Munich as Zerbinetta

1998/1999

• House debuts in Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Frankfurt as Queen of the Night

1996-2002

• The soprano was contracted to the opera houses of Würzburg, Mannheim and Frankfurt, each for two years respectively

1995

• Opera Stage debut as Barbarina in Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" at the State Theater, Würzburg

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