Meyerbeer & Damrau & Choeur Orch De Lyon & Emman - Meyerbeer: Grand Opera (Opera Arias) (CD)

Giacomo Meyerbeer, the master of Parisian grand opéra, 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."

Track List:

Disc: 1

1. Le Prophete, Act 1: "Mon Coeur S'elance Et Palpite" (Berthe)
2. Robert Le Diable, Act 4: "Robert, Toi Que J'aime" (Isabelle, Robert)
3. Alimelek, Oder Die Beiden Kalifen, Act 1: "Nur in Der Damm'rung Stille" (Irene)
4. L'étoile Du Nord, Act 3: "Ah, Mon Dieu ! C'est Bien L'air Que Chaque Matin" (Catherine, Chorus)
5. L'africaine, Act 5: "La-Bas, Sous L'arbre Noir Fleurs Nouvelles" (Ines)
6. Il Crociato in Egitto, Act 2: "D'una Madre Disperata... Con Qual Gioia" (Palmide, Aladino, Chorus)
7. Le Pardon de Ploermel, Act 2: "Comme Cette Nuit Est Lente a Se Dissiper ! Ombre Legere" (Dinorah)
8. Ein Feldlager in Schlesien, Act 3 : "Oh Schwester, Find' Ich Dich!... Lebe Wohl, Geliebte Schwester" (Therese, Vielka)
9. Emma Di Resburgo, Act 1: "Sulla Rupe Triste, Sola... Ah Questo Bacio " (Emma, Chorus)
10. Les Huguenots, Act 2: "Ô Beau Pays de la Touraine" (Marguerite, Urbain, Coryphée, Dame D'honneur, CH
11. L'africaine, Act 1: "Anna, Qu'entends-Je ? Adieu, Mon Doux Rivage" (Ines, Anna)