Ecstatic Living Room

The dazzling German soprano Diana Damrau has won international acclaim for both for the breathtaking agility of her voice and her vivid acting.  In her responses to our “20 Questions” we learn, among other things, that she’s a fan of the German metal band Whitesnake and has a passion for riding horses.  She records exclusively for Virgin Classics.

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The charismatic French soprano Natalie Dessay is one of the most exciting opera singers on the stage today, equally celebrated for both her incandescent singing and her superb acting.  She originally sought a career as an actress, but discovered her talent for singing while taking acting classes.  She dropped the “h” in the original spelling of her name in tribute to the actress Natalie Wood.

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The French harpsichordist and conductor Christophe Rousset has long been one of the bright lights of the early music and period instruments scene. At twenty-two he won the prestigious First Prize, as well as the Public Prize, in the Seventh Bruges Harpsichord Competition (1983).He performed with Les Arts Florissants and then Il Seminario Musicale before embarking on a career as a music director, which led him to form his own ensemble, Les Talens Lyriques, in 1991. (more…)