Diana Damrau - Meyerbeer: Grand Opera (2017)

Giacomo Meyerbeer, the master of Parisian grand opera, was hugely successful in his time and a major influence on Verdi and Wagner. His music has fascinated Diana Damrau since her student days. With her brilliant coloratura, lyricism and dramatic power, the soprano rises triumphantly to the vocal and expressive challenges of arias from 10 of his operas, singing in French, Italian and German. Two of the arias receive their world premiere recording with this album.

The idea of a Meyerbeer album has been close to Diana Damrau’s heart since she first recorded for Erato back in 2006. She became fascinated by the composer’s music as a student in Würzburg, when she was invited to perform his cantata Gli amori di Teolinda. “I immersed myself in Meyerbeer’s world,” she explains, “and was excited by his multifaceted writing for the voice, by his orchestral colours, his theatrical instincts, the powerful and varied way in which he expresses emotion, his splendid melodies and, last but not least, his ability to capture precisely the right ‘national style’. If you compare his Italian, German and French works, it is like listening to three different composers.”

TRACKLIST

01. Le prophète: "Mon coeur s'élance et palpite" - Diana Damrau, Emmanuel Villaume & Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon
02. Robert le Diable: "Robert, toi que j'aime" - Charles Workman, Diana Damrau, Emmanuel Villaume & Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon
03. Alimelek: "Nur in der Dämm'rung Stille" - Diana Damrau, Emmanuel Villaume & Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon
04. L'Étoile du Nord: "Ah, mon Dieu !… C'est bien l'air que chaque matin" - Choeurs de l'Opéra National de Lyon, Diana Damrau, Emmanuel Villaume & Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon
05. L'africaine: "Là-bas, sous l'arbre noir… Fleurs nouvelles" - Diana Damrau, Emmanuel Villaume & Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon
06. Il crociato in Egitto: "D'una madre disperata… Con qual gioia" - Choeurs de l'Opéra National de Lyon, Diana Damrau, Emmanuel Villaume, Laurent Naouri & Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon
07. Le pardon de Ploërmel: "Comme cette nuit est lente à se dissiper !… Ombre légère" - Diana Damrau, Emmanuel Villaume & Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon
08. Ein Feldlager in Schlesien: "Oh Schwester, find' ich dich!… Lebe wohl, geliebte Schwester" - Diana Damrau, Emmanuel Villaume, Kate Aldrich & Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon
09. Emma di Resburgo: "Sulla rupe triste, sola… Ah questo bacio" - Choeurs de l'Opéra National de Lyon, Diana Damrau, Emmanuel Villaume & Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon
10. Les Huguenots: "Ô beau pays de la Touraine" - Choeurs de l'Opéra National de Lyon, Diana Damrau, Emmanuel Villaume, Joanna Curelaru Kata, Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon, Pascale Obrecht & Pei min Yu
11. L'africaine: "Anna, qu'entends-je ?… Adieu, mon doux rivage" - Diana Damrau, Emmanuel Villaume, Kate Aldrich & Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon