Diana Damrau - Mozart: ZAIDE, Ruhe sanft mein holdes Leben, Salzburg 2005

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: "Zaide" is an unfinished opera by Mozart, composed in 1780, but abandoned when a commission for "Idomeneo" came in from Munich. "Zaide" is a singspiel on a Turkish theme, very similar to his "Abduction from the Seraglio" composed in 1782. The music for "Zaide" was discovered by Mozart's wife Constanze several years after his death, scattered among his many music manuscripts. Though incomplete, there is still plenty of music, including three arias for the title character, a soprano. First up is the most well-known aria from the work, and one of Mozart's most beautiful, the placid long-breathed lullaby "Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben." This is from a broadcast of a performance during Mozartwoche (Mozart Week) in Salzburg in January 2005, with Harnoncourt conducting. A later recording of the same cast in Vienna in March 2006 was issued commercially.