I wonder what happened to Damrau's once so beautiful voice, like in this recording. Her Queen of the Night was easily the best of this century, and arguably of all times. And while fast runs and scales were always tricky for her, she did sing the standard coloratura repertoire for some time and exelled in most of it. It's clear from her recent recordings that her glory days are long gone. She and Dessay both had very short peaks, maybe 5 years or so. So I prefer to remember these singers from their early carreers when they still had full control over their instrument.
My theory is that sometimes her over dramatic acting can overtake her voice and when your acting trumps your voice and you’ve been singing that way for 10-15 years , it can definitely wear you down- but what do I know, she is still singing at the world’s top opera houses!
@@fpolende I agree about Damrau's (over?)acting but truth be told: even without the drama she always adds her voice is no longer the instrument it once was. High notes are either completely gone or strained, coloratura sounds forced and is never without effort. Some say it's her age but she's not even 50 yet and there have plenty of examples of singers who were in much better shape at that age (Gruberova, to name just one, and she too is known for her over-acting and mannerisms but at least the voice itself stayed intact until she was in her 60s).
I wonder if there's some kind of universal problem with coloratura sopranos since many of them seem to have relatively short carreers, or they turn into a shadow of their former selves after a short peak. Damrau and especially Dessay seem to fit this scenario.
@@russki1978 That is an interesting point! I mean Natalie Dessay really had such a delicate voice that was capable of so many colors but again I think it was the over acting that really killed her voice as we got closer to the 2010s. What I am noticing with this generation of new singers is that they are more inclined to keeping their vocal mechanism intact while not letting the acting sacrifice their sound. Some examples: Lisette Oropesa, Erin Morley, Rachel Willis-Sorensen (while not a coloratura per-say), Piotr Beczala, Matthew Polenzani, etc.
@@russki1978 A couple of comments: - Damrau is far from being a great Queen of Night - she had great attitude and sang it correctly but there were a lot of shortcuts she took for Die Holle Rache. If you want to listen to the best renditions, I suggest you try Lucia Popp, Edda Moser, Sumi Jo. - Coloratura sopranos, with a proper technique, have actually long careers: Gruberova, Devia, Sutherland, Pons, Peters and other, sang very well past their 60s. - Damrau was an average singer/performer that ate more than what she chould chew. Dessay, on the other hand, was a great singer/performer whose health issues shortened her career.
ADINA "Prendi per me sei libero", ária de Adina, da ópera L' Elisir d'amore, de Donizetti, vemos uma situação De casal em que na obrigação dele, ela o desonera De sair da terra natal para viver com ela, de coração. Ela lhe revela que todos daqui lhe amam, sabendo Que ele é sábio, amoroso e honesto, em conclusão, Ela afirma: sempre descontente e triste, não vendo Nele nenhuma possibilidade dele ficar em desunião. É uma situação que ocorre com bastante frequência Pelas vicissitudes da vida: trabalho, família e emprego. A compreensão é necessária para haver a prudência. Os namorados separados, fisicamente, não quer dizer Que a separação exista no plano mental. Isto eu prego: Os liames afetivos são vínculos eternos, no bendizer. (*) (*) FERNANDO PINHEIRO, presidente da Academia de Letras dos Funcionários do Banco do Brasil. - ADINA (poesia), de Fernando Pinheiro. - in O mundo de Morfeu, de Fernando Pinheiro.
This is very annoying rendition. It’s full of bravura baroque aspects with endless pushy phrases, slurring, crooning and weird whispery even nervous effects. It doesn’t really sound like Donizetti frankly. The voice here is enchanting nevertheless yet Damrau always had a out of nowhere temperament that often was at odds with her sweet lyricism. The second part is much more in 18th C century in vibe which is an unusual approach. At times it feels even sacrificial and pyre like versus giving into any kind of joy.
Increible!!!
She is known as a queen of "hight notes"! Wonderful!
I wonder what happened to Damrau's once so beautiful voice, like in this recording. Her Queen of the Night was easily the best of this century, and arguably of all times. And while fast runs and scales were always tricky for her, she did sing the standard coloratura repertoire for some time and exelled in most of it. It's clear from her recent recordings that her glory days are long gone. She and Dessay both had very short peaks, maybe 5 years or so. So I prefer to remember these singers from their early carreers when they still had full control over their instrument.
My theory is that sometimes her over dramatic acting can overtake her voice and when your acting trumps your voice and you’ve been singing that way for 10-15 years , it can definitely wear you down- but what do I know, she is still singing at the world’s top opera houses!
@@fpolende I agree about Damrau's (over?)acting but truth be told: even without the drama she always adds her voice is no longer the instrument it once was. High notes are either completely gone or strained, coloratura sounds forced and is never without effort. Some say it's her age but she's not even 50 yet and there have plenty of examples of singers who were in much better shape at that age (Gruberova, to name just one, and she too is known for her over-acting and mannerisms but at least the voice itself stayed intact until she was in her 60s).
I wonder if there's some kind of universal problem with coloratura sopranos since many of them seem to have relatively short carreers, or they turn into a shadow of their former selves after a short peak. Damrau and especially Dessay seem to fit this scenario.
@@russki1978 That is an interesting point! I mean Natalie Dessay really had such a delicate voice that was capable of so many colors but again I think it was the over acting that really killed her voice as we got closer to the 2010s. What I am noticing with this generation of new singers is that they are more inclined to keeping their vocal mechanism intact while not letting the acting sacrifice their sound. Some examples: Lisette Oropesa, Erin Morley, Rachel Willis-Sorensen (while not a coloratura per-say), Piotr Beczala, Matthew Polenzani, etc.
@@russki1978 A couple of comments:
- Damrau is far from being a great Queen of Night - she had great attitude and sang it correctly but there were a lot of shortcuts she took for Die Holle Rache. If you want to listen to the best renditions, I suggest you try Lucia Popp, Edda Moser, Sumi Jo.
- Coloratura sopranos, with a proper technique, have actually long careers: Gruberova, Devia, Sutherland, Pons, Peters and other, sang very well past their 60s.
- Damrau was an average singer/performer that ate more than what she chould chew. Dessay, on the other hand, was a great singer/performer whose health issues shortened her career.
Love this version and love Callas’ version.
This is spectacular, but no one ever sang it better than Sutherland, IMO: th-cam.com/video/GBAviffeJVU/w-d-xo.html
ADINA
"Prendi per me sei libero", ária de Adina, da ópera
L' Elisir d'amore, de Donizetti, vemos uma situação
De casal em que na obrigação dele, ela o desonera
De sair da terra natal para viver com ela, de coração.
Ela lhe revela que todos daqui lhe amam, sabendo
Que ele é sábio, amoroso e honesto, em conclusão,
Ela afirma: sempre descontente e triste, não vendo
Nele nenhuma possibilidade dele ficar em desunião.
É uma situação que ocorre com bastante frequência
Pelas vicissitudes da vida: trabalho, família e emprego.
A compreensão é necessária para haver a prudência.
Os namorados separados, fisicamente, não quer dizer
Que a separação exista no plano mental. Isto eu prego:
Os liames afetivos são vínculos eternos, no bendizer. (*)
(*) FERNANDO PINHEIRO, presidente da Academia de Letras dos Funcionários do Banco do Brasil. - ADINA (poesia), de Fernando Pinheiro. - in O mundo de Morfeu, de Fernando Pinheiro.
This is very annoying rendition. It’s full of bravura baroque aspects with endless pushy phrases, slurring, crooning and weird whispery even nervous effects. It doesn’t really sound like Donizetti frankly. The voice here is enchanting nevertheless yet Damrau always had a out of nowhere temperament that often was at odds with her sweet lyricism. The second part is much more in 18th C century in vibe which is an unusual approach. At times it feels even sacrificial and pyre like versus giving into any kind of joy.