Diana Damrau
Jiyang Chen
Her vast repertoire spans major roles across lyric, bel canto, Mozart, and Richard Strauss, including title roles in Anna Bolena (Zurich Opera House, Vienna State Opera), I Masnadieri and Capriccio (Bavarian State Opera), Roméo et Juliette (La Scala, Metropolitan Opera), Lucia di Lammermoor (La Scala, Bavarian State Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House), Manon (Vienna State Opera, Metropolitan Opera), and La Traviata (La Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Opéra national de Paris, Bavarian State Opera). She is also celebrated worldwide for her iconic interpretation of the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg Festival, Vienna State Opera, Royal Opera House, Bavarian State Opera).
In January 2025, Diana Damrau made her acclaimed debut as the Marschallin in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier at the Berlin State Opera, a role she reprised in a new production at Zurich Opera House in autumn 2025. At the turn of 2025/26, she appeared as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus at both the Vienna State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. Further operatic highlights include the title role in Strauss’s Arabella at Zurich Opera House in April 2026, and Contessa di Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at the Bavarian State Opera in May 2026.
The Metropolitan Opera has been a cornerstone of her career since her debut there as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos in 2005. At the Met, she has sung many of her signature roles—often broadcast worldwide in HD—and has made seven role debuts. Highlights include new productions of Rigoletto (Gilda), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina), Le comte Ory (Adèle), and Les pêcheurs de perles (Leïla), as well as title roles in La Traviata, Manon, La sonnambula, La fille du régiment, and Roméo et Juliette. She is also the first singer in Metropolitan Opera history to have performed both Pamina and the Queen of the Night in different performances of the same run of Die Zauberflöte.
Diana Damrau has also been a committed advocate of contemporary opera, creating roles written especially for her—most notably the title role in Iain Bell’s operatic adaptation of Hogarth’s A Harlot’s Progress (Theater an der Wien, 2013), as well as leading roles in Lorin Maazel’s 1984 (Royal Opera House, 2005).
Internationally recognized as one of today’s most sought‑after recital and song interpreters, she regularly performs at the world’s leading concert venues. She enjoys close artistic partnerships with pianist Helmut Deutsch, harpist Xavier de Maistre, and Sir Antonio Pappano. In spring and summer 2025, she presented her third highly successful recital tour with tenor Jonas Kaufmann and pianist Helmut Deutsch, appearing in Europe’s most prestigious concert halls and at festivals including Aix‑en‑Provence and Salzburg.
Recording exclusively for Erato / Warner Classics, Diana Damrau made her recording debut with Arie di Bravura, a collection of Mozart and Salieri arias. Subsequent solo releases have received numerous accolades, including ECHO and OPUS Klassik awards. She performed Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder at Carnegie Hall with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Mariss Jansons; the recording was released in 2020. She has also appeared on a wide range of complete opera recordings on both CD and DVD. Her current album, Operette – Wien, Berlin, Paris, is devoted to operetta, featuring passionate arias and duets with Jonas Kaufmann.
Much in demand on the concert stage, Diana Damrau has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic under Kirill Petrenko, the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Gustavo Dudamel, and the Staatskapelle Berlin under Christian Thielemann, among many others.
Diana Damrau is Kammersängerin of the Bavarian State Opera (2007) and a recipient of the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art (2010). She was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2021. She has been named Singer of the Year by Opernwelt, the International Opera Awards (London), Opera News, and Gramophone Editor’s Choice. Since 2020, an asteroid bears her name.
