Music Review : Soprano’s Colorful Voice Undimmed, Despite A Cold

Some things are more memorable for their imperfections: the fly in the amber, the lopsidedness in a friends smile. Add to this list Diana Damraus cold at her recital on Wednesday night at Weill Hall.

Anyone who has heard Ms. Damrau steal the show as Aithra in Strausss Ägyptische Helena, currently at the Metropolitan Opera, knows that hearing this singer in good health is a pleasure. But on Wednesday there was a notable rasp in her voice, and she coughed from time to time between songs. It is revealing to see how an artist deals with not being at her best. Ms. Damrau showed impressive technical and artistic resources, marshaling considerable forces to deliver an impressive recital.

No coyness for this artist. Rather than sending someone out to make an announcement for her, she announced herself that she was not feeling 100 percent and substituted five songs from Schumanns Myrthen in place of the planned opening set of Liszt. In Widmung and Jemand her voice sounded small and tight, a light shadow of itself. But true performers have a way of responding to an audience. As Ms. Damrau sang her way into the set, she began to loosen up.

By the time she reached Barbers Mélodies Passagères, she seemed securely in control. Singing is always a tightrope walk, on Wednesday the drop was more apparent than usual, but this made it all the more fascinating to hear how she was negotiating her difficulties. She sang intelligently but not gingerly, taking risk after risk: using her exquisite pianissimo at the end of a phrase, even if the voice threatened not to hold it, or throwing herself with abandon into Rachmaninoffs Oh, do not sing to me, fair maiden, even if her top notes were not entirely as free or clear as they might be on a good night. (Plenty of singers would be happy to have them anyway.)

Her powers of expression were certainly not affected. Her voice is strong but not large, with plenty of color; she tailored it to the small room and her cold, but the color came through undimmed. There was a different, distinct mood for each set: warmth for Rachmaninoff, silvery coolness for Bergs Seven Early Songs, a light-hearted lilt for Zemlinskys Walzer-Gesänge (Waltz Songs). Stephan Matthias Lademann, her accompanist, matched her energy, warm if not always clean, perhaps buoying her.

One was on tenterhooks to see if she would essay the concluding set of Strauss songs. I think we all wont enjoy my Amor tonight, she said, referring to the fifth song in the set and offering instead the first four, including a gossamer Ständchen. After her first encore, Zueignung (an unusual choice for a lighter soprano, and one she did well), she said, O.K., I risk it, and offered Amor after all, not as cleanly as she probably does it on a good night, but delightfully. In her final encore, Brahmss Lullaby, the pure beauty of her sound returned to the fore. Everyone could sleep well after that.

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