Diana Damrau - Donizetti: L'ELISIR D'AMORE, Prendi per me sei libero, Frankfurt 2001, High E-flat

THE MUSIC: Donizetti's beloved "L'elisir d'amore" is one of the most produced operas in the world, and it's easy to understand why with its sentimental comic story about the gullible underdog who wins over the girl of his dreams. It's been called a "tenor's opera" due to the extremely appealing tenor role of Nemorino; however, the soprano Adina does have one big vocal (and emotional) moment at the end when she finally admits to him that she loves him. "Prendi per me sei libero" is one of the composer's most ingratiating melodies, and it is (often, but not always) followed by an elegant if short florid cabaletta "Il mio rigor dimentico." The score in this section tops out a High C, but there are endless scales and roulades to be negotiated, even without interpolating any extreme high notes -- which Diana Damrau does (to a High E-flat in a cadence about half-way through the video). There are other versions of the cabaletta that are even showier, but these are not in the standard score and rarely sung (see Devia's commercial recording with Alagna or Sutherland's alternate cabaletta as an addendum to her recording.)

THE SONGBIRD: Diana Damrau was born in 1971 Günzburg 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 been a become one of their star sopranos with about 135 performances of 17 roles (plus a few gala concerts), including premiering seven new productions. Adina is one of the roles she sang at the Met: eight performances during March of 2012. She is all over YouTube, but I was not able to find her in Adina's aria, she here she is live very early in her career (just before that Salzburg debut season). I do not know the conductor, but the tenor is Ilya Levinsky.