Diana Damrau, lauded by the New York Times for her "lustrous agile coloratura soprano voice and charisma galore," and by Opera News for her "exuberant glamour and emotional authenticity", has made her name in such demanding operatic roles as Mozart's Queen of the Night, Strauss' Zerbinetta, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Verdi's Violetta. But with her new album Forever, she turns to music from operetta, musicals and the movies, including Die Fledermaus, Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), South Pacific, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, The Phantom of the Opera, The Wizard of Oz and three Disney classics: Snow White, Mary Poppins and The Little Mermaid.
"This music shows a side of me that many people don't know yet," says Diana Damrau. "Every life has its own soundtrack and these are numbers that have had an impact on my life, and no doubt on other people's lives too. I have tried to gather together my own memories and the collective memories of my generation. I'm a child of my time ... and I'd also like to show the world that opera singers are not confined to one genre."
The soprano points out that she has sung many of the numbers on Forever to her young sons Alexander and Colyn. "I've been able to tell that they like them too, that the music is timeless and not tied to any particular generation. These tunes are great art, because they are associated with unforgettable moments in everyone's lives."