By Ronald Blum [AP, 26 September 2005]

NEW YORK (AP) — Diana Damrau smiled, giggled and pranced around the stage as her brilliant coloratura filled the Metropolitan Opera House. She needed only a few notes to show she has a big future.

The 34-year-old German soprano made her Met debut Saturday as saucy Zerbinetta in the first performance this season of Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos,” and when she finished her big second-act aria, “Grossmaechtige Prinzessin,” she was rewarded with a 70-second cheering ovation.