Diana Damrau is arguably one of the finest artists in the opera world in the early 21st century, with exquisite phrasing, drama, and heartfelt emotion. One need only hear her interpretations of German lieder, the Queen of the Night, or even Bernstein. Yet these Verdi canzoni are rather a disappointment, given Damrau's prodigious talent, though César Augusto Gutiérrez and Paul Armin Edelmann seem to be better suited to this repertoire. Damrau's Stornello begins this album, and there is too much scooping and added drama in ...
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Diana Damrau is arguably one of the finest artists in the opera world in the early 21st century, with exquisite phrasing, drama, and heartfelt emotion. One need only hear her interpretations of German lieder, the Queen of the Night, or even Bernstein. Yet these Verdi canzoni are rather a disappointment, given Damrau's prodigious talent, though César Augusto Gutiérrez and Paul Armin Edelmann seem to be better suited to this repertoire. Damrau's Stornello begins this album, and there is too much scooping and added drama in the voice. The legato lines are lost, and Damrau interprets them in a more spoken fashion. Lo spazzacamino comes across as too bright and shrill; the drama seems to be coming more from the artist putting something into the song, rather than organically coming from the song itself. Sometimes the pitch variation in Damrau's vibrato creates a bit too much distortion, such as when she sings "Perduto ho la pace" in the song of the same name. However, here, one can hear Damrau's beautiful...
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