Diana Damrau

Diana Damrau (born 31 May 1971) is a German soprano who achieved international fame for her performances, primarily in opera, but also in concert and lieder.

Damrau was born in Günzburg, Bavaria on 31 May 1971.

She was inspired to become an opera singer after watching Zeffirelli's 1983 film of La traviata, which featured Plácido Domingo and Teresa Stratas.

She began her operatic studies with Carmen Hanganu at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg.

During her studies, she developed an edema on a vocal cord.

After consulting with several doctors, she decided to undergo an alternative therapy without surgery.

The treatment lasted about one and a half years.

After graduating from music conservatory she worked in Salzburg with Hanna Ludwig.

Damrau made her operatic debut in 1995 as Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro at the Mainfranken Theater Würzburg.

In the next two years, she was engaged at the same theatre, featuring as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, and then as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute, her debut in that role, and in the world premiere of Salieri's Cublai, gran kan de' Tartari (1998).

Next, she performed with the Mannheim National Theatre and Oper Frankfurt for two years each.

She made her Bavarian State Opera debut in 1999 with Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, and her Vienna State Opera debut with the Queen of the Night in 2000.

In 2001, she made her Salzburg Festival debut, portraying the Naiad alongside Natalie Dessay's Zerbinetta; she became a regular in Salzburg and returned in the subsequent six editions.

Since beginning her freelance career in 2002, she has been performing on leading stages frequently, such as the Bavarian State Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Metropolitan Opera, where she appeared in 12 consecutive seasons since her debut in 2005/06.

Since 2002, she embarked a freelance career, and had frequent engagements with the Bavarian State Opera in roles such as Adele in Die Fledermaus, Marzelline in Fidelio, and the Queen of the Night.

She took part in the world premiere of Cehra's Der Riese vom Steinfeld in the role of Small Woman in Vienna.

Her engagements in Salzburg consist exclusively of roles in Mozart operas: The Magic Flute (Queen of the Night, 2002), Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Blonde, 2003; Konstanze, 2004), The Marriage of Figaro (Susanna, 2007).

Damrau made her Royal Opera, London debut in January 2003, in David McVicar's new production of The Magic Flute, and then appeared in Arabella (Fiakermilli), Ariadne auf Naxos (Zerbinetta), and the world premiere of Maazel's 1984 in two consecutive seasons.

At the Opera Frankfurt, she sang her first Konstanze in Die Entführung, a role she then repeated in Munich and Salzburg.

In March 2004, she sang the role of Zdenka in Arabella for the first time in Munich.

In December 2004, she was invited to sing the title role in Salieri's Europa riconosciuta, conducted by Riccardo Muti, for the reopening of La Scala in Milan.

In 2005, she portrayed Gilda in the premiere of Doris Dörrie's controversial production of Rigoletto in Munich, and later in the year, made her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York City in the role of Zerbinetta.

Since her debut in the 2005/06 season, she appeared in consecutive seasons at the Met, where she starred in new productions of The Barber of Seville (Rosina, 2006), Die ägyptische Helena (Aithra, 2007), and Rossini's comic opera Le comte Ory (Countess Adèle, 2011), besides revivals of Die Enführung aus dem Serail, Lucia di Lammermoor (role debut as Lucia), La fille du régiment, Rigoletto, and L'elisir d'amore.

In the 2006 edition, which celebrated Mozart's 200th anniversary, she played the Queen of the Night in the premiere of Pierre Audi's production of The Magic Flute, and Fauno in Ascanio in Alba.

Damrau sang her first Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro in February 2006 at La Scala, and subsequently in Vienna.

Apart from Konstanze in a new production co-produced with the Burgtheater, she had been featured at the Vienna State Opera in three consecutive seasons with several other roles.

She made Metropolitan Opera history in the 2007/08 season by appearing as both Pamina and the Queen of the Night in different performances of The Magic Flute in the same run, after which she retired from playing the Queen, a role that she had sung in more than 15 productions.

She made guest appearances at the Teatro Real (Zerbinetta), Semperoper in Dresden (Gilda), Theater an der Wien (Pamina), Festspielhaus Baden-Baden (Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier).

She continued to be associated with the Bavarian State Opera, with performances including a new production of Ariadne auf Naxos in 2008.

In the 2008/09 season she returned to Royal Opera, London for Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel and Adina in L'elisir d'amore.

The 2009/10 season saw her Rosina and role debut in the title role in Manon (Vienna State Opera), role debuts of Marie in La fille du régiment (San Francisco Opera) and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Grand Théâtre de Genève), and her last Konstanze at the Liceu, in the 2003 Christof Loy production she premiered.

She also leads concert performances with French bass-baritone Nicolas Testé, whom she married in 2010.

She premiered in a new production of Strauss' Die schweigsame Frau at the 2010 Munich Opera Festival, and portrayed all four heroines in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann in a new production at the Bavarian State Opera premiered in October 2011.

Damrau has furthered her exploration of the bel canto repertoire with highlights including role debut in Elvira in I puritani in Geneva in January 2011, and the title role in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix at the Liceu.

She has since brought her portrayal in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor to Berlin and Vienna.

Damrau has recorded dozens of opera and lieder recital albums since signing to EMI/Virgin Classics (absorbed into Warner/Erato Records in 2013).

She was invested as Bavarian Kammersängerin and has been awarded the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art and the Bavarian Order of Merit.

She has been successful in coloratura soprano roles since her early career, and gradually proceeded into heavier roles of the 19th-century Italian bel canto repertoire.

Her signature roles include the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Violetta in La traviata.

Educated at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg, she had been engaged at the opera companies in Würzburg, Mannheim, and Frankfurt.