Debussy: Fleur des blés (André Girod)

This DVD, centered on the dazzling German soprano Diana Damrau, complements a ravishing recital with a fascinating documentary.

In March 2013, Damrau achieved “a daring victory” (in the words of the New York Times) when the Metropolitan Opera witnessed her first-ever performances of Verdi’s La traviata. In recent years she has made the transition from glittering, stratospheric roles such as Mozart’s Queen of the Night and Strauss’ Zerbinetta to lyrical heroines of greater emotional complexity, such as Gilda in Rigoletto, Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Lucia di Lammermoor. A series of triumphs at the Met have made her a favourite singer in New York – as she is in other leading opera houses around the world.

In the documentary, Diana Damrau – Diva Divina, the soprano explains that, when she was just 12 years old, it was La traviata (in Franco Zeffirelli’s lavish 1982 cinematic version) that inspired her to make a career in opera. The documentary, directed by Beatrix Conrad, follows Damrau over the course of nine months, covering operatic performances and rehearsals in Geneva, New York, Paris and Munich, recitals, recordings and the arrival of her first child, Alexander.

The recital, filmed at the impressive Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, pairs Damrau with the French harpist Xavier de Maistre in an exquisite selection of songs by Schumann, Fauré, Debussy and Strauss. Among the best-loved items in the programme are: Schumann’s ‘Widmung’; both Fauré’s and Debussy’s settings of Verlaine’s poem ‘Clair de lune’; Fauré’s ‘Après un rêve’; a harp arrangement of Debussy’s piano Arabesque No 1; Strauss’ ‘Morgen‘ and ‘Ständchen’ and, among the encores, the famed Bach-Gounod ‘Ave Maria’.

In the course of 2013, Damrau and de Maistre will also perform together in concert seasons in Washington D.C., Paris, Geneva, Lyon, Reykjavik, Hamburg, Munich and London and at festivals in Menton, Gstaad, Schwarzenberg and Grafenegg.

Reviewing the performance in Baden-Baden – for which the audience joined Damrau and de Maistre on the stage, rather than being distanced from them in the expansive auditorium – the Badische Neueste Nachrichten wrote of Damrau as a recitalist “whose vocal material and abilities as a storyteller approach perfection”, while the Badisches Tagblatt said:” Damrau’s diction is a pleasure, her vocal flexibility amazing. She sings phrases with ample breath, while her nuanced shadings create subtle changes of mood from song to song.” Die Rheinpfalz described the “gentle, sometimes ethereal tones of the harp” as being in perfect harmony with the “exceptionally subtle and detailed vocal art of the soprano … particularly exceptional are the delicate tracery and colours of Diana Damrau’s singing. Her shaping and accenting of the text is meticulous, her phrasing is of great sensitivity and her dynamics are richly nuanced, yet her song performances are never mannered, rather always full of lyrical feeling.”

Born Elisabeth Sara Ameling on 8 February 1933 in Rotterdam, the Dutch soprano known as Elly Ameling won first prize at the Vocal Concours in ’s- Hertogenbosch in Holland in 1956, and the Concours International de Musique in Geneva in 1958. She gave her first formal recital in Amsterdam in 1961 and went on to perform for more than thirty years in virtually every major cultural centre in the world as one of the greatest singers of our age, renowned for her warm, unaffected personality, purity of tone and effortless technique. She made her career mainly as a concert and lieder singer, with some appearances in opera (Mozart and Haydn), and became renowned for her recitals of French and German songs and for her superlative interpretative gifts.

CD 1 begins with two solo cantatas for soprano by Johann Sebastian Bach – the famous Wedding Cantata (BWV202) and ‘Non sa che sia dolore’ (BWV209) – followed by further arias from Bach cantatas and oratorios.

CD 2 presents more music by Bach, with a collection of beautiful soprano arias from cantatas, accompanied by oboe and bass continuo. The oboe soloist is the Dutch virtuoso Han de Vries, who plays three different types of instrument, namely the normal oboe, the ‘oboe da caccia’ and the ‘oboe d’amore’, as specified by the composer, to striking musical effect in the various arias.

In CD 3 Ameling shows her skill as an unrivalled interpreter of the music of Schubert with a collection of the composer’s best-known and most popular Lieder including ‘Die Forelle’, ‘Ave Maria’, ‘Gretchen am Spinnrade’ and ‘An die Musik. The piano accompanists are Irwin Gage and Jörg Demus.

CD 4 opens with Schubert’s great showpiece for soprano and clarinet: ‘Der Hirt auf dem Felsen’ (‘The Shepherd on the Rock’), in which the clarinet soloist is George Pietersen, plus three other Schubert songs. These are followed by a group of songs by Mozart, including ‘Ridente la calma’, ‘Dans un bois solitaire’ and ‘Un moto di gioia’. The soprano is accompanied by Irwin Gage in the Schubert and Jörg Demus in the Mozart.

In CDs 5 and 6, Ameling moves into the field of French song, for which she was trained by the famous French baritone Pierre Bernac. Her repertoire here encompasses many well-known songs by Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy and Francis Poulenc. She is accompanied by the distinguished pianist Dalton Baldwin, with whom she frequently performed.

In CD 7 we hear a collection of much loved popular songs, typical of the mixed programmes with which the artist always delighted her audiences at recitals. These include Mendelssohn’s ‘Auf Flügeln des Gesanges’ (‘On Wings of Song’) and Grieg’s ‘Ich liebe dich’ (‘I Love You’). The disc closes with a further group of French mélodies by Poulenc.

The final CD begins with a collection of Christmas songs from many lands, to which Ms Ameling brings her own special charm. Then comes a typical example of Ameling as a participant in a large-scale liturgical work, in the Kyrie from Beethoven’s Mass in C, where her clearly focussed voice blends perfectly with those of her three fellow soloists. The programme ends with the finale from Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, in which Ameling is heard as the radiant soprano soloist extolling the joys of heaven in a child-like way, with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by André Previn.