An important major musical change in the original version is that Senta’s ballade was written in the key of A minor. At the premiere in Dresden in 1843, the celebrated soprano (and fellow part-time political agitator) Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient was unable to manage the punishing high tessitura of the scena and Wagner agreed to transpose it down a tone to G minor – a practice which is generally followed today in the three-act version. Unlike Madame Schröder-Devrient, Diener sailed through the multiple top A naturals, sustained G’s and riveting top B natural of the ballade without a soupçon of strain or stridency. This was in all respects a tour-de-force performance and hard to believe that it was Diener’s first attempt at the role. Undoubtedly there will be many more.
