Three short “dings,” the lights go dim, and the excited
crowed quiets down, they know they’re about to hear magic. Ms. Damrau comes out
to thunderous applause and smiles broadly at the crowd. She and Mr. Maistre bow
humbly already thanking the audience for loving them. Ms. Damrau explains she
has a head cold and couldn’t breathe this morning, but she has tried and missed
DC one too many times. So she got some antibiotics and is here to perform, but,
“Could we please excuse any vocal mishaps?” she asks. Then the program began
and it was the most wonderful sound you could imagine. The harp and the voice
resonating in the small Eisenhower Theater unencumbered by amplification was a
perfect combination. Her already masterful
voice paints a picture of music making I can’t imagine hearing frequently, this
side of heaven. And the singing with a harp only added to that image.
There were a few vocal hitches as she warned us of, but no
one in the audience ever minded, in fact a small realization that she, too, is
only human I think only enhanced the experience. The most noticeable glitch
happened at the very end of L’heure
exquise, while holding out the last note of the piece her voice cut out for
a brief second, but never lost any of the beautiful quality. She merely smiled
and at the end when the audience applauded exuberantly she patted her chest
humbly and smiled again. There was no ego, no frustration, no embarrassment,
just understanding that this happens sometimes and the world goes on.
Probably the most impressive display of her pure love of the
craft and lack of personal ego was during a piece that was particularly
challenging for the harpist (wish I could remember which piece, but oh, it was
a bear!) she explained this to the audience and calmly walked to the other side
of the harp and turned his pages while performing. This international opera
star was literally stooping to turn her accompanist’s pages while continuing to
perform with grace and expression! I was amazed. It was just such a lovely
moment watching two world class artists make music together. Suddenly you felt
like you were shoved into their living room watching them rehearse (flawlessly)
this extremely complicated piece. It added such heart.
She finished the program with a personal favorite of mine, Villanelle. It was the only piece on
this program that showed off her phenomenal coloratura skills. My favorite moment was at the very end, she
had a descending line that was so fast it sounded almost like a slide, but she
articulated every single note on the way down beautifully. And then the whole thing of course ended with
a beautiful high note beginning on a piano and growing steadily to a forte for the
grand finale. I don’t remember how many curtain calls she did. But we were
extremely lucky to get two encores from her. The girl I sat next to and I both
agreed there’s something special about encores, they just make you feel like
you’ve seen something extra special.
I was so privileged to meet Ms. Damrau and Mr. Maistre at
the stage door. She was just as gracious and humble in person as she appeared
onstage. She spoke with each audience member, signed programs and took pictures
with everyone that requested to. We had all been waiting for a while after the
performance. Lots of people were coming in and out of the doors that were
clearly not who we were waiting for. The only information we had was probably
10 minutes into the wait a gentleman who had been waiting with us went in and
came back out saying, “She may not come out since she’s not feeling well.” He
and his friend left. The rest of us waited, unfazed. Then finally after about
30-40 minutes a lady rushes out and tells us, “She’s coming! But she’s not
feeling well.” With the implication being, ‘so be nice.’ The crowd instantly
perked up and one girl said hastily, “We won’t crowd her!” And we didn’t she
came out a few moments later and everyone jus t stood there beaming at her. We
applauded and she smiled and finally she said, “Well, I’m assuming you want
some of these?” And she mimed a signature. Then a line quickly formed and we
waited breathlessly to tell the star how brightly she shone.
It was an amazing experience. I’m so happy to have heard her
perform. I’m not sure tears have come to my eyes while listening to a singer quite
as frequently as they did tonight. It was such a blessing to hear the
phenomenal talent of Diana Damrau and to see her humility and gratitude was the
cherry on top. I wish her many years of good performances to come and I do
think I will come see her again as soon as she is in Washington!
