Diana Damrau - Weber: DER FREISCHÜTZ, Kommt ein schlanker Bursch/Einste traumte, Frankfurt 2000

THE SONGBIRD: Diana Damrau was born in 1971 in Bavaria, Germany. Her operatic debut role in Würzburg in 1995 was Barbarina. Her debut in Vienna came in 2000 as Queen of the Night, followed by Salzburg in 2001 as the Celestial Voice in "Don Carlo" and as Najade to Natalie Dessay's Zerbinetta. Soon after came a continuous series of leading roles at the major opera houses around the world, including the gala reopening of La Scala in 2004. The Met signed her up first for Zerbinetta in 2005, and she has become one of their star sopranos with about 135 performances of 17 roles (plus a few gala concerts), including premiering seven new productions.
THE MUSIC: “Der Freischütz” by Carl Maria von Weber premiered in Berlin in 1821. It is considered the first German Romantic opera and was tremendously successful and influential. The lead soprano Agathe tends to be sung by dramatic sopranos, but her young cousin Ännchen is very much in the soubrette mold. She has two lyrical arias, with some light flexibility in the writing. First comes the flirtatious "Kommt ein schlanker Bursch gegangen" and then in Act 3 she tries to distract Agathe with the aria "Einst träumte meiner sel'gen Base," where she tells a spooky story about a creepy ghost sneaking up on her, which turns out to be just their household dog.