The recording features Gianandrea Noseda conducting the Orchestra Teatro Regio Torino, with additional vocalists Nicole Brandolino, Piotr Beczała, and Nicolas Testé.
Interpretation
Diana Damrau's goal for this album is not to showcase vocal pyrotechnics, but to express the inner reality of the opera as the composers intended.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Diana Damrau sees Donizetti, a composer featured on this album, as an "analyst of the human psyche" due to his portrayal of women in exceptional circumstances.
Performer Biography
This is soprano Diana Damrau's first recital album dedicated entirely to Italian opera, exploring the genre from bel canto to verismo.
Historical Context
Verdi's opera La traviata was groundbreaking for its time, being one of the first operas to feature a modern-day setting and depict a contemporary, somewhat unsavory milieu on stage.
Interpretation
Diana Damrau, a German singer, intentionally included works inspired by the German playwright Schiller, such as Donizetti's Maria Stuarda and Verdi's I masnadieri and Luisa Miller, to find a German thread within the Italian operatic tradition.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Diana Damrau views Italian opera as an art form that deals with real feelings and human experience, rather than being abstract.
