Diana Damrau

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!