Una voce poco fa - Diana Damrau

Rosina's main aria from Rossini's 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia' sung by Diana Damrau. In my opinion, the best soprano Rosina ever!
"Una voce poco fa
qui nel cor mi risuonò;
il mio cor ferito è già,
e Lindor fu che il piagò.
Si', Lindoro mio sarà;
lo giurai, la vincerò.
Il tutor ricuserà,
io l'ingegno aguzzerò.
Alla fin s'accheterà
e contenta io resterò
Sì, Lindoro mio sarà;
lo giurai, la vincerò!
Io sono docile, son rispettosa,
sono obbediente, dolce, amorosa;
mi lascio reggere, mi fo guidar.
Ma se mi toccano dov'è il mio debole
sarò una vipera e cento trappole
prima di cedere farò giocar!"

[@saxamaphoneguy1]

I think she is simply the most charming soprano alive. Her voice is so pretty in this! Despite not being able to see her fantastic acting (I'm assuming, since her acting is always on point), it's nice to focus on her voice...such personality!

[@saxamaphoneguy1]

I have been falling more and more in love with Damrau as a soprano. Her charm and talent are undeniable. She is one of the most versatile sopranos of today.

[@Jaydoggy531]

She's so confident, so on the mark, and expressive. You can hear clear emotion in her voice rather than just singing the music. She's not Diana Damrau, she really is Rossina as she performs.

[@DestinazioneFantasia]

la sua pronuncia italiana inoltre è perfetta!!! e sono italiana ;-) And her italian pronunciation is impeccable, i'm italian :-)

[@Gigglingatagas]

I'm in love with Double D. There's a real presence in the sound that most coloraturas lack, I think. A lovely woman and an impeccable musician! Brava.

[@TwistedSoprano]

Way to soprano the aria up, Diana! How amazing is she!? Love this, love her.

[@GreenLite87]

The clarity of her voice is astounding!

[@Lilith89ibz]

Yep, there is a soprano version, which Diana is singing here, but it's different each time it's sung (sopranos always add and change things to create their 'own' aria). Then there is a mezzo version that works just like the soprano one, but it's a bit lower. And the embellishments are different too, of course. There's been a 'little' argument in this vid's comments about which one was written first. I really don't know, but I couldn't care less. I just love them both! ;)

[@merderxsempre]

she absolutely nails it!

[@NintendoDragon94]

Bravissima!! anche nel ruolo della regina della notte....fantastica!

[@dorotheafayne]

What a beautiful soprano voice! So expressive and warm. Dorothea

[@thelivesofme1]

I really like her version of this. She's definitely one of my favorite sopranos

[@jeanhiker]

Diana is simply gorgeous! She has a vitality that is hard to find like that! She incorporates the character. Ela dá vida ao personagem e é de convencer muito bem! Estou maravilhdo com ela. Descobri esta voz a pouco, e não paro de escutar. That's is something I feel it lacks the great majority of sopranos, namely, Netrebko. Diana is a great singer indeed! :)

[@giuseppecascani3669]

brava una voce stupenda.

[@LuthienofLorien]

I love her interpretation of the recit! If I had those crazy (and gorgeous) high notes, I certainly wouldn't hold back either! :)

[@skitzo429]

her voice is perfect for this role, shes a true dramatic coloratura, which allows her to faciliatate the low G's that are written in the original score, as well as add some bravura coloratura high Es, very nice.

[@cthramm]

de las mejores versiones de esta aria. que buena

[@xXaLeKzZXx]

Me encantaría poder ver el video de esta presentación. Verla cantar es mucho más emocionante que solo escucharla. Anyways, gracias por subir la grabación. El video es lindo! Haha Damrau se ve taaan bonita

[@ldrlorena91]

es la mejor!!! no hay otra igual!!!! la mejor cantante de opera de la historia

[@killerbunny123123]

adorable i love damrau she's so sweet and talented

[@FAFYWARRIOR]

i love her voice

[@fer1179]

Really Good! Hearing "una voce poco fa" sung by a soprano instead of a Mezzo is quite different and surprisingly. Diana Damrau's voce is agile anf powerfol so the singing in this version went effortless. anyway, Jennifer Larmore's Rosina is still one of my favourites.

[@liricobarroco]

Wonderful!! bravisimo!!! Exelente!!! great version!!

[@Lilith89ibz]

I just love anything she sings lol It's true, what you say about her colour (she's German, after all lol), but Rosina, specifically, which is mainly a mezzo role... She is agile, but 'solid', if you know what I mean. I'd say she fits the role perfectly ^^

[@10726209]

I haven't listened to any of Netrebko's performances, so this makes me really curious... But DD as Queen of the Night was my first love

[@Lilith89ibz]

Oh, and about the variations, what's written in the score is more of a guidelines on which every singer builds her own fiorituri, more than something fixed. That's why they are variations! ^^ There is none considered 'better', because it depends on how it suits the singer's voice. Anyway, if you buy the score, you can read the original :)

[@agmini]

Sumi Jo's version of this aria has always been my favorite, and I thought I'd never find another I'd like as much (and I looked quite a bit--I have ones by Joan Sutherland, Frederica von Stade, and Kathleen Battle, to name a few). But I have to say, this one is an extremely close second. Brava!

[@musadiagosto]

Bravissima !!! Voce meravigliosa ! Finalmente una voce non tanto scura per questo ruolo ... scusate , è solo la mia opinione , ma la preferisco così ... Very good !!! Wonderful voice ! Finally a voice not so "dark" for this role ... excuse me , my opinion , but I prefer so ...

[@Lilith89ibz]

Thank you very much =) Same to you! Anyway, as I live in Barcelona, what I miss is the Met, most of all... Along with the Vienna's Staatsoper. Hopefully, I'll be able to see Diana live soon!

[@fashionablesixties]

Absolutely a great singer. Yes, with an impeccable Italian diction. Love this version, soprano or mezzo, who cares? Why do why people worship at the altar of Netrebko when someone as like Damrau could sing better?

[@aeru9]

Yes, the best soprano rosina.

[@tsukikolua]

hi friend...don't have any video from this? I would like to see she acting

[@LordHettrick]

3:30 Juan Diego Florez with glasses! Gotta love it! I like her interpretation. Wish we had the video, though.

[@MarinaSamoylovich]

Lots of energy, I just want to sound like that!

[@jamesgeist]

Lili, great job on the photos. Even though only three of them correspond to her singing "una voce poco fa"...the ambiance in the photos REALLY goes well with the varying tone of the song.

[@tripleaxell]

i agree with you. i can feel the emotion of rosina when callas sings it.

[@jflaviovidal]

This is what we can take as a correct interpretation in all senses. Orchestra and voice fine tunned. Brava!!! 5*

[@mjmacmtenor]

Actually, it is not just "una voce poca fa" that is changed. All the other keys remain the same, but the sopranos add higher embellishments (and occasionally take a low lying phrase up higher). More importantly, ALL the ensembles are changed. In the score Berta (maid) has the soprano part and Rosina the alto. When Rosina is cast as a soprano, they trade parts in the ensembles (Berta is cast as a mezzo).

[@skitzo429]

this role was written for contralto, the woman who it was written for was the same one who originated the contralto lead of la cenerentola, which has low Fs. This is the "soprano version" in a higher key, most sopranos sing it in this key.

[@waldotube]

I love this singer... hace tiempo que no escuchaba con tanto agrado esta aria. Como la Callas no hay! Ohh right! Han escuchado a la Gheorghiu en esta aria? puaj!

[@blancopatri]

Todos queremos ser Diana :( lastimosamente solo ella puede

[@turandot82]

Diana does a wonderful job here. I've always been partial to Beverly Sills in this role (soprano-wise speaking. Teresa Berganza is my fav in the role as a Mezzo) but Diana does it justice. Brava!

[@jocmuc]

i am a absolutely damrau fan. but stay objective. we shoud not forget all the the other great sopranos and mezzospranos that do this role in a singular way. may be damrau will be one day our assoluta, i long for it, but i will never forget the former assolutas

[@Lilith89ibz]

Yes, I know! I'm not sure about it yet, but I hope I will be able to go. Anyway, she'll be singing Konstanze in Barcelona in 2010, so I'll see her then for sure. I'm so jealous of you! I wish I could go to Dresden too. I asked Juan Diego about the production when I met him after his Cenerentola with Joyce DiDonato in the Liceu, and he told me it would be great. Well, of course. Diana and him together! So nice to have met you =)

[@lasultanica]

UNA SORPRESA ESTE VÍDEO. Me encanta esta Rosina/Damrau!! He visto a JDF con Ganassi, Bayo y Di Donato, y escuchado a otras Rosinas, pero "mi" Rosina favorita es la Battle! Me gustaría muchísimo VER a DIANA en esta interpretación, porque la encuentro absolutamente genial, existe DVD junto a JDF? Y junto a otro "Conde"? Gracias!! : )

[@LeCoconut]

that is absolutely correct

[@ellensong1228]

lol wow you guys are so knowledgeable about all this

[@alim3611]

Bravo Diva !

[@Lilith89ibz]

No, she didn't improvise them lol She had them written down, but that's her version. Every soprano changes the fiorituri for herself. Although the original version was written for a mezzo, I think the soprano version was also written down by Rossini(not sure about it), but it was most like a guideline, on the embellishments.

[@Huaimek861]

Wow !!!

[@Bobbyo60]

You are quite welcome. I have tickets to the Met in May to see her sing Kontanze, and June 21st. in Dresden for Rigoletto. She is performing in Madrid May 19th, maybe you could get to that performance?? Good luck!!

[@Lilith89ibz]

Jajaja Gracias ^^ Yo la voy a ver en Madrid el día 19!!!!!!! :D Estoy hiper nerviosa XD

[@leoperarm]

Callas's version is the standard for a soprano singing this role, I can assure you that Diana listened to Callas's version before doing it herself :P

[@soundslikeblue]

Damrau is amazing, and I really like her version of this aria, even if I prefer Callas version, but anyways, both are amazing!

[@Lilith89ibz]

Well, that is because she is a really high soprano, and the range she is more comfortable in is the middle and higher one. Anyway, this was a couple of years ago, now her lower register is way more solid :)

[@spn1007]

I tend to like the mezzo Rosina's better. Of them, Joyce di Donato reigngs supremes as far as I'm concerned. That said, I love Damrau and think she may well be the best soprano singing today. Unfortunately, that's not saying much, so I'll say she's probably one of the best sopranos in long time. If she takes care of her voice and sings the right roles she'll be up there with Tebaldi and others in the end! BTW, is she singing this in the original mezzo key? It doesn't seem as high as others.

[@Lilith89ibz]

Yes, this is the soprano version, so it is in F. However, it is not really 'transported' but 'rewritten higher', if you know what I mean xD I think the mezzo and the soprano version are quite different, but not only on the pitch. Typically, a soprano will add more fiorituri than a mezzo. Rossini wasn't too happy about it but ended up accepting it! :)

[@Lilith89ibz]

A mezzo singing the Queen? I think she did the right thing. I mean, there's still a lot of people complaining about sopranos singing Rosina, imagine that a mezzo sung the Queen! lol

[@Lilith89ibz]

De rien ^^ Je suis espagnole, de Barcelone. J'aimerais pouvoir chanteur comme elle, mais c'est trop dificile pour moi lol Sa voix est vraiment... Comment dire. Unique et merveilleuse, ouias lol Désolé pour mon français =) Bisous

[@Lilith89ibz]

With music it's something completely different because you have to 'tell' other people how you feel the music and the words. That's what may change a bit the score in some cases, althought who wrote the score didn't want it that way. Sometimes happens that the composer doesn't understand his/her own composition until someone plays it. For instance, this happened with Horowitz's interpretation of the second piano concerto of Rachmaninov, who said that Horowitz played it better than he did.

[@jamesgeist]

Lili, I just reached my 150th view of this!

[@nofraotep5g]

yo quiero cantar asi!!!

[@lailaefederico]

Ma che pronuncia stupenda!!

[@Lilith89ibz]

She sung Rosina at the Met, in 2006 :)

[@Lilith89ibz]

In my 'Rosina ranking' (lol) Teresa Berganza is my second best along with Cecilia Bartoli and juuuust after Diana ^^

[@suzanneetmoi]

@Lilith89ibz It's only "Una voce poco fa" that is changed, taken up a step, when a soprano plays Rosina- the rest of the role is exactly the same for a soprano or a mezzo. The fiorituri is a matter between the conductor, who has the last word(!) and the singer!

[@elenatroncone]

I think she is fantastic in everything!she is even a very beautiful lady. What can we ask more?Sometimes that perfection provoques some strange feelings in some people.

[@00ceroalaizquierda00]

Ok!! gracias

[@Lilith89ibz]

Weeeell, it depends on what you like most of a voice, and the way they bring the character to life. Callas' and Damrau's Rosina are completely different =)

[@mnwugn86]

Actually, every recording that I have heard of Callas, she does it in E. Don't quote me on this, but the one Callas altered the key on was Casta Diva - I think.

[@eeli1]

Her interpretation is completely different from Teresa Berganza's, but I love both equally. One question, is this song done by both sop and mezzos just in different keys? I ask because there is a myriad of women from different fachs doing this song.

[@Lilith89ibz]

Oh, I know... It was the first time I saw her on stage (on the DVD, I mean, not live) and I was so astonished I had trouble with the idea of her being real lol

[@jewelmarkess]

@fashionablesixties They hardly share any of the same roles. Maybe a couple. Damrau is a coloratura, Netrebko is a full lyric with some coloratura ability but not nearly at the level of a coloratura soprano.

[@Lilith89ibz]

Thanks! ^^ Yes, I know that... Unfortunately I didn't get more pics of her Rosina until I had already posted the video and I had to use the ones I had. Murphy, you know.

[@Lilith89ibz]

No, this is the soprano key, trust me xD And it's spelled "DiDonato", btw ;) Thanks for commenting!

[@Lilith89ibz]

That's what I think too ^^ Thanks for commenting!

[@liyysopr]

Perfecto!! Cuando lo tengas pones el link o al menos dices para buscarlo =)

[@puhijun]

As far as I remember, Cecilia Bartoli sang this aria in key of Eb, when it is originally written as F?

[@Lilith89ibz]

Completely agreed :)

[@bunbacheso]

haha that's funny cuz I've been trying to learn ithe first 8 lines for a few hours from this video and I can only sometimes hit that a on the second lindoro. I was stressing about it, but now I realize I can do the original version. :)

[@LiveFaustDieJung]

True, true, true.

[@Lilith89ibz]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think it is not, because they recorded the performance with DiDonato, which has been recently uploaded to youtube, by the way. Nobody is more sorry than me, I swear!

[@killerbunny123123]

lilith do u know what she was doing in the beginning and people laughed??

[@00ceroalaizquierda00]

Por cierto.. el Almaviva que se ve en las imágenes que acompañan este vídeo es Flórez verdad?¿?... es que no se aprecia demasiado bien pero me parece que sí.. SALUDOS!!! (y gracias)...;)

[@Lilith89ibz]

Yes, that's right. This is the soprano version of the aria :)

[@Lilith89ibz]

Thanks a lot for the info =) But I'm soooo sorry there's no video of Diana. Sigh...

[@Lilith89ibz]

I normally say I'm a soprano Rosina supporter but in fact it's just because of Diana lol Which is your favourite mezzo Rosina? Mine is Bartoli, closely followed by Berganza and DiDonato ^^

[@LiveFaustDieJung]

This song kicks major ass. She sings it quite well.

[@Lilith89ibz]

È vero che quest'aria era scritta per mezzosoprano, e amo la Rosina de Cecilia Bartoli, ma l'interpretazione de Diana è mia preferita (Scusi il mio italiano, ma sonno spagnola)

[@operviva]

yO LA CONOCI EN EL TEATRO COLO DE BOGOTA Y ADEMAS ES UN PERSONA HERMOSA Y AMOROSA BRAVA

[@chicha1964]

I am one of the greatests fans of Damrau, I LOVE HER, but I agree, the true Rosina is Callas.

[@SiMiChiamanoMariel]

yo tambien!

[@Lilith89ibz]

@bobbleheadedbudgie I am Spanish, and we call it 'transportar'. I meant 'transpose'. Doesn't make any difference.

[@iloneens]

the same fantastic as Elina Garanca is. :)

[@hadziukful]

That's right!:)))))

[@Lilith89ibz]

Sí, es Flórez. Cantó tanto en la versión de soprano con Diana Damrau como en la de mezzo con Joyce DiDonato =)

[@Bobbyo60]

Lilith, I really enjoy your posts, you are thoughtful, polite, and well informed. I have traveled many miles to Europe to indulge my love of opera, and I hope you do the same, and I wish you the best in your passion.

[@Lilith89ibz]

I can't believe my eyes! lol Well, her voice is definetely different from anything I've heard before. I love her QotN the most, but I think she'd made you surrender in roles like Europa, Konstanze or Zebinetta (all of them in youtube. Check my Diana playlist, if you feel lazy lol). And her Lied is just sublime... I've uploaded some (the Wasserrose is my favourite). Give her a chance, and tell me about it afterwards ^^

[@Lilith89ibz]

No se grabó la versión de Diana, sólo la de Joyce DiDonato (que también es genial, por cierto). A mí también me fastidia mucho, pero qué se le va a hacer.

[@Lilith89ibz]

Io adoro la Rosina de Cecilia Bartoli e la de Marylin Horne, ma la sua é la mia preferita ^^ (Excusa il mio italiano, ma io sonno spagnola =)