Heureusement, tout ce qui lui manque, le Roméo intense et flamboyant de Joyce DiDonato nous l'offre.
Le rôle est pourtant plus difficile, se situant entre le contralto musico rossinien d'hier
et la mezzo de demain, devant affronter des changements de registre redoutables pour l'homogénéité
de la tessiture... rien de distendu ici, le chant se déploie harmonieusement du grave
à l'aigu, dès l'air d'entrée où il faut couvrir plus de deux octaves.
Et le dernier acte nous confirme quelle grande artiste nous entendons: l'arioso de Roméo,
si sobre, si nu – et par là si novateur, au point de déplaire à la Malibran,
qui imposa pour longtemps le finale de Vaccai – exige une pureté de ligne, une qualité
de legato qui sont le propre des authentiques belcantistes.
– ConcertoNet, May, 2008
Pourtant, avec son lait et son miel Netrebko ne fut pas la révélation de la soirée.
Encore une fois Joyce DiDonato sortit sa botte secrète.
Cette ardeur, cet emportement, ce chant urgent où les mots claquent et la douleur s'aiguise, cette voix longue,
qui surplombe les phrases asphyxiantes de Bellini avec un abandon et une énergie inextricablement mêlés,
voici le vrai bel canto, l'ardeur et le rêve en un seul geste. Admirable, transportant. Et d'une justesse totale,
dans l'intonation comme dans la vocalise.
– Concertclassic.com, May, 2008
Dans le rôle travesti de Romeo, Joyce DiDonato prouve une nouvelle fois son aptitude
d'adaptation aux situations les plus redoutables:
elle campe le personnage avec tant de naturel que l'on en oublie l'artifice. Elle n'éprouve
jamais de difficultés à évoluer dans les registres aussi étendus
qui se situent entre contralto et mezzo; l'ambitus de sa tessiture lui permet de réaliser
parfaitement les grands écarts semés en chemin par Bellini entre le grave et
l'aigu sans qu'elle ne donne jamais l'impression de forcer.
– AltaMusica.fr, May, 2008
Romeo DiDonato
Que louer d'abord chez Joyce DiDonato, la voix longue et homogène, le timbre lumineux,
une belle projection même dans le grave, la diction mordante? Non, ce qui frappe le plus c'est
l'évidence de l'incarnation. Le moindre geste, mot, galbe de phrasé touche et prend sens.
Le personnage est étonnamment vivant et convaincant, la chanteuse étant aussi crédible
en adolescent bravache qui vient défier les Capulets, qu'en amoureux enflammé,
ou qu'en amant désespéré et suicidaire …
Je le répète, son incarnation sonne comme une évidence!
– ForumOpéra, May, 2008
Dass man auf der Operbühne nicht vollendeter sterben kann, zeigt die hochsensible
Joyce DiDonato in diesem zeitenthobenen Augenblick.
Was die klug agierende Mezzosopranistin aus dem kämpferischen, leidenschaftlichen jungen Mann macht,
wie sie ihn wütend aufbrausen und zärtlich begehren lässt, ist schlichtweg grandios.
Angefeuert von Evelino Pidos tänzerischem Dirigat, welches dem Orchester beeindruckende
kammermusikalische Transparenz und dunkle Klangfarben entlockt, ist sie es, die mit jeder
Szene mehr und mehr zum Star des Abends avanciert. Am Ende stirbt natürlich auch Giulietta,
aber das nur noch im Schatten ihres geliebten Helden.
– Klassic Info, May, 2008
Ces réserves disparaissent pourtant dans ses duos avec Joyce di Donato, Roméo solaire en osmose totale avec le
«beau chant» bellinien. Graves satinés, aigus aériens et jeu d'une belle intensité,
toutes les inflexions de la mezzo américaine relèvent d'une parfaite concordance avec les exigences
souvent redoutables du rôle. L'harmonie en prime.
– Webthea, May, 2008
Ovation debout pour la diva Anna Netrebko qui fait ses débuts à l'Opéra de Paris en Juliette dans
"Les capulets et les Montaigus" de Bellini. La mezzo Joyce DiDonato lui donne la réplique. Une rencontre au sommet
...la mezzo-soprano américaine Joyce DiDonato campe avec talent un Roméo efficace,
crédible et plaisant. On écouterait des heures ses graves de velours.
– La Tribune, May, 2008
The audience gave Netrebko a glorious welcome, but she had real competition on the applause-o-meter, since American mezzo
Joyce DiDonato portrayed an ardent, decisive, and dramatically vivid Romeo.
– "La Scne", Agence France-Presse, May, 2008
Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Chicago
Lyric debutante Joyce DiDonato immediately announced her prodigious vocal quality with a
killer trill in Rosina's brief interjections to 'Se il mio nome.'
'Una voce poco fà' was fine, but it was in 'Contro il cor' that the American mezzo
really strutted her Rossinian pedigree, delivering the aria's complicated runs with
precision and humorous élan.
– Opera News, May, 2008
DiDonato...with her spunky, funny, lustrous-voiced Rosina...sailed through the elaborate twists and turns of the heroine's touchstone aria,
'Una voce poco fa,' with the agility, accuracy, rhythmic point and mile-wide charm that have made her a superstar in the Rossini repertory.
She never lets you forget what a smart cookie Rosina is beneath her ingenue facade.
– Chicago Tribune, February 18, 2008
The real musical news comes from the singer portraying Rosina in a belated Lyric debut, American mezzo Joyce DiDonato. All reports are absolutely true:
Here is an open, honest, captivating singing actress who somehow combines youthful freshness with mature knowledge and control.
After the seductive purity of her singing, you will want tickets to New York, London and Paris to see the Kansas product again soon.
– Chicago Sun-Times, February 18, 2008
La Cenerentola, Barcelona
Nel primo ha brillato la stella incontrastata di Joyce DiDonato, straordinaria Angelina,
che ha mertitato le scroscianti ovazioni tributatele dal pubblico. Le ha meritate per
la classe musicale raffinatissima con la quale ha pattinato sul canto di coloratura rossiniano,
conoscendone ogni segreto e ogni malizia tecnica. Il suo timbro de mezzosoprano acuto,
quasi sopranile in pi di un momento (ideale, quindi, per futuri "ruoli Colbran"...) non
ha avuto nessuna difficoltá ad abbandonarsi alla morbida, dolcissima espansione di un
canto patetico, pastellato, screziato di sfumature dolcissime e toccanti. Paradigmatico
il commovente - si, in Rossini... - duetto del primo atto con l'altrettanto magnifico
Juan Diego Florez. La grande scena finale è stata, poi, sicuramente la meglio cantata da
noi ascoltata nell'ultimo ventennio, in un crescendo di mirabolanti e brillanti variazioni,
sempre di gusto squisito, che hanno letteralmente incantato l'asoltatore. Il pubblico ha
gradito entrambe le "locandine" riservando però il clamore a Florez, e il trionfo - insieme
alla sua "bontà", secondo sottotitolo... - Joyce DiDonato.
– L'Opera, January, 2008
Once upon a time, we used to only dream about a stellar pairing like Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu has fielded for their
current offering on display: "La Cenerentola." I mean, a diva and a divo that could both easily, nay joyfully negotiate the
considerable and varied vocal demands of the title role and the Prince? And handle spot-on comic acting as effortlessly as they
embodied well-judged sentimental moments that truly touched the heart? And on top of it all, both be possessed of exceptional,
unassuming youthful good looks and that truly elusive "star quality"? Well, 'tis the season, and dreams do come true. Those who
whine and pine for some elusive "Golden Age" or another should shut up and hurry to Catalonia to catch Joyce DiDonato and
Juan Diego Florez in what may just be definitive performances in Rossini's enchanting rags-to-riches-rendition.
The beautiful, blond, Ms. DiDonato quite simply has it all. She can dispatch roulades with aplomb; color and vary seamless melismas
to convey any variety of emotions; float high, middle, or low notes (and everything in between); spout out fiery dramatic phrases;
or pull back to pianissimi of crushing frailty. It seems nothing in the role eludes her. She is a major artist with a beautifully schooled,
richly handsome instrument, at the top of her game. Above all, she invites us into her world with a winning presence and an infectious
delight, sharing her prodigious gifts in the service of one of Rossini's most enchanting characters.
That she brought us to our knees and then to our feet with a perfectly judged "Non piu mesta" almost goes without saying.
It was one of those thrilling performances when my heart began racing as fast as the coloratura, and the entire audience scarcely
dared breathe. Applause and a low roar began as soon as she released the climactic note, and it built and built until the play-off
finished and we seemed helpless in wanting to out-do each other in shouting our approval.
This is the kind of moment we dream of encountering in our years of routine, nicely competent opera-going, isn't it?
A spontaneous communal moment mercifully unspoiled by the likes of the Met Shush-ers (aka "The Applause Police"), where sudden perfection
and the outpouring of recognition collide to make for an electric, one-of-a-kind shared experience. But far before this famous set piece,
our star impressed from her very first, firmly-voiced "Una volta cera un' re," and then she just went from strength to strength. I felt
much like Renee Zellweger in "Jerry Maguire" when she said "You had me from 'hello'."
– Opera Today, January, 2008
...la mezzo-soprano ligera Joyce DiDonato, que supo situarse a la altura del papel cantando con voz clara y limpia, añadiendo variaciones
en las repeticiones de sus frases y exhibiendo un estilo preciso e impecable.
– La Vanguardia, January, 2008
Los grandes triunfadores fueron también la paraja protagonista. Joyce DiDonato posee una voz muy bella, de mezzo soprano lírica,
con expansión suficiente, pero donde destaca es su sentido de la interpretación, lleno de detalles, su exquisita musicalidad y su
fraseo de una comunicabilidad impactante.
– El Mundo, January, 2008
La destacada emisión de la mezzo-soprano de Kansas Joyce DiDonato, el cuidado fraseo y una coloratura impresionante la han convertido en posos años en una de las intérpretes rossinianas más destacadas. Su interpretación como Cenerentola, muy encorsetada en el frágil personaje de la hermana infamada, due ganando enteros en el segundo acto y se destapó definitivamente en su espectacular aria final y la subsiguiente «calableta».
– La Razon, January, 2008
Ariodante, Geneva
Il cast stellare previsto per l'occasione e decisivo per la riuscita dello spettacolo...
dal grande mezzosoprano americano Joyce DiDonato, nel ruolo del titolo, che non ha bisogno
di presentazione e che domina lo spettacolo con il suo impeccabile aplomb.
– L'Opera, December, 2007
Joyce DiDonato séduit Genève en Ariodante
Heureusement, Ariodante est interprété par Joyce DiDonato avec l'incomparable souplesse de sa voix.
Émouvante par la perfection de sa ligne de chant, elle traduit l'émotion de l'amant trahi et possède toutes
les couleurs de cette musique.
– Le Figaro, November, 2007
Joyce DiDonato can create her own drama with her superb command of diction, dynamic nuance, gesture, and stance.
Ariodante marks another welcome triumph in her Handelian gallery – tonally and technically, her vocalism could scarcely have been bettered.
– Gay City News, November, 2007
Joyce DiDonato's excellent Ariodante is not so surprising – we now expect no less of her – but how confidently she brings off trouser roles and what spine-tingling effect she puts into a bravura piece such as "Dopo notte".
– Financial Times, November, 2007
Aride dans son volet théâtral, cet Ariodante marque en revanche le triomphe absolu de la musique.
Le salut vient avant tout d'une distribution féminine renversante. Dans le rôle-titre, la mezzo
américaine Joyce DiDonato porte à elle seule le spectacle. Sa présence a de l'aplomb
et sa voix fruitée et corsée donne une épaisseur inouïe à son personnage
(un long frisson traversera la salle à la fin du sublime «Scherza infida in grembo al drudo»).
– Le Temps, November, 2007
Richard Tucker Music Foundation Annual Gala, New York
There were two clean-up hitters on the program, Ms. DiDonato and Diana Damrau... Ms. DiDonato, having flown in from Switzerland for the day to pinch hit,
evidently decided to make her trip worth everyone's while, especially with an “Una voce poco fa” from Rossini's “Barbiere di Siviglia”
that was among the most spectacular vocal feats this listener has ever heard, thrown off with ease, a sense of fun and pinpoint control.
– The New York Times, November, 2007
Ms. DiDonato reemerged to sing "Una voce poco fa." She was substituting for Susan Graham – and had flown all the way from Switzerland to do so.
It was worth it, certainly for the audience. In "Una voce," Ms. DiDonato was viper-like, charming, and dazzling. She can dream up no end of interpolations
for this aria. I wish Rossini could have heard her.
– The New York Sun, November, 2007
Der Rosenkavalier, The San Francisco Opera
The main attraction of San Francisco Opera's revival of Der Rosenkavalier (seen June 9) was mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, singing the first Octavian of her career.
The Kansas native immersed herself in the Viennese milieu of Richard Strauss's bittersweet comedy as if to the manor born. DiDonato was a noble, forthright
Count Rofrano and a delightful Mariandel; her physical agility and theatrical assurance were on brilliant display throughout the evening, lending the Act I bedroom
scene fresh vigor and giving her Act II confrontation with Ochs a heightened edge. She was simply hilarious while posing as the chambermaid,
dispensing her stage business like clockwork and making it all look improvised on the spot. Vocally, the role is a perfect fit
as well; the mezzo's warm tone and technical precision lent her scenes with the Marschallin a sense of genuine ardor and her first meeting with Sophie the
requisite sparks of excitement. She soared through the beautifully balanced final trio.
Opera News, June, 2007
(Graham) hands over the silver rose to her younger compatriot Joyce DiDonato,
who looks set to become the Rosenkavalier of the next decade or so,
with her coltish looks and her gleaming almost-soprano voice.
Sunday Times, June 24, 2007
Awaiting the arrival of her aristocratic suitor in Act 2 of Richard Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier," the ingenue Sophie von Faninal can barely
contain her excitement. She tries her dutiful best to steel herself as the glorious pageantry unfolds, but she can't do it.
"It's just so beautiful, so beautiful!" she cries.
Anyone in the War Memorial Opera House for the San Francisco Opera's splendid revival will know just how she feels.
As Strauss' sumptuously upholstered comedy unfolded during Saturday night's opening performance, its elegance and sensual allure kept piling
up to irresistible levels. Spirited singing, gorgeous orchestral playing and a vivid theatrical approach all combined to make patrons feel as
breathless and overwhelmed as young Sophie herself.
There were plenty of contributors to this success. But the evening's signal triumph belonged to mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, undertaking the
role of Octavian for the first time and turning it into something tender and strong.
Her singing was robust and full of feeling, and she brought the technical precision and alertness of her finest Rossini and Handel performances to
this very different stylistic strain. The notes and rhythms were impeccably rendered, but in music that some performers approach as a
straitjacket, DiDonato also found room to maneuver.
The result was a performance that seemed to breathe, displaying all the headstrong charm and mutability of this 17-year-old aristocrat still
finding his way through the worlds of love and honor in 18th century Vienna.
That theme of finding one's place with assurance is central to "Der Rosenkavalier," as Octavian abandons his romance with the older, more
sophisticated Marschallin in favor of the blander inevitability of marriage with Sophie. And DiDonato's performance consistently found its
niche within Strauss' endlessly shifting vocal textures -- now firmly supporting the higher vocal lines of the two sopranos,
now soaring free with thrilling athleticism.
DiDonato's physical performance was no less arresting. She worked the different dramatic angles of the trouser role -- Octavian requires a woman
to play a man who often masquerades as a woman -- with both comic dexterity and a steadfast nobility.
When Octavian disguised himself as a maid, the results were uproarious. But DiDonato never obscured the fact that this was a true aristocrat,
cross-dressing without loss of dignity solely for the amusement of himself (and us).
San Francisco Chronicle, June 11, 2007
It's rare to find a performance of "Der Rosenkavalier" in which everything -- and everyone -- works. That makes the San Francisco Opera's latest
revival of Richard Strauss' opera more than just remarkable; it makes it practically miraculous.
Most notable was mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. Singing the first Octavian of her career, DiDonato invested the trouser role of the 17-year-old "knight of the Rose"
...with youthful vigor, musical intelligence and theatrical flair. Her Octavian was fervent in the Act I bedroom scene and fiery in the Act II confrontation with Baron Ochs.
DiDonato, who last appeared here as Rosina in "The Barber of Seville," is also a skilled, agile comedian, and she gave a hilarious performance
in the Act III charade where Octavian poses as the fictitious maid Mariandel...Her initial meeting with Sophie -- one of the most riveting love-at-first-sight
scenes in all of opera -- projected the youth's surprise and delight in equal measure.
And in the glorious trio that is the high point of the opera, DiDonato soared.
Contra Costa Times, June 11, 2007
San Francisco Opera has scored another triumph. On the heels of its outstanding Don Giovanni comes a Der Rosenkavalier so overflowing with superb
singing and masterful portrayals as to drain a critic's grab-bag of superlatives.
It was hard to believe that the extraordinary mezzo Joyce DiDonato was assuming the role of Octavian for the first time in her career.
Infusing her beautiful mezzo instrument with unbridled passion, DiDonato's voice was exceptionally free on top. Whether strutting
the stage as an overly serious youth or cutting up in her disguise as the chambermaid Mariandel, DiDonato created a totally finished portrayal.
It's not always the case that four hours go by without a yawn. From first brash note to zinging final flourish, this is a Der Rosenkavalier to treasure.
Bay Area Reporter, June 13, 2007
Il Barbiere di Siviglia, The Metropolitan Opera
Ms. DiDonato’s singing was rich, luscious and lyrically pliant. She had technique to spare and thrilling top notes.
New York Times, May 5, 2007
Ms. DiDonato is known worldwide as a Rossini singer, and on Wednesday night she made what you might call her Met Rossini debut: She sang Rosina in "The Barber of Seville."
Early in Act I, Rosina sings a famous aria, "Una voce poco fa." And how did Ms. DiDonato do? Well, she started flat on her back – lying down, that is.
And she sang slowly, deliberately. She was savoring every note and every word, and she would continue to do so as the aria progressed, picking up speed.
Her intonation was spot-on, and she showed no sign of effort. When she was cute, she wasn't cutesy. Passagework was elaborate, and clean as a whistle.
Her Italian is really Italianate, complete with some nasal vowels. She acted all through the aria, but with no harm whatsoever to her singing.
Her big B at the end was free and beautiful. She just slew the aria, and slew the audience as well.
And she never let up, all evening long. It takes something to be as interesting in recitative as in aria, and Ms. DiDonato almost was. Act II finds Rosina taking
a voice lesson, and Ms. DiDonato put on a fine semi-parody – you get the feeling this mezzo could be an actress, even if she couldn't sing (perish the thought).
And speaking of singing: You know the type of singer who is so secure, technically and otherwise, that you can simply sit back in your chair, without having to be nervous?
Ms. DiDonato is such a singer, and thus a rarity.
New York Sun, March 16, 2007
And the perky, rich-toned and vocally brilliant young American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato had a triumph as Rosina, played here as a determined young woman you would not want to cross.
New York Times, March 16, 2007
La Cenerentola, Houston Grand Opera
Joyce DiDonato est la Cenerentola de nos rêves, dépourvue de toute affectation, à la fois touchante dans "Una volta c'era un re" et
virtuose dans le rondo finale..
Opéra Magazine, Avril, 2007
The cast sing like gods, especially mezzo Joyce DiDonato, the former HGO studio artist who has triumphed throughout the international opera circuit
in this most demanding role. Luscious of voice, with a pyrotechnic technique for days, she sings the hell out of it. Joyce DiDonato,
the world is your oyster. A complete musical artist is so rare that it takes only one hand to count them all – here’s the opportunity
to experience the real thing.
Houston Press, February 6, 2007
But the Houston Cenerentola is also a kind of dream come true for Joyce DiDonato and the HGO powers-that-be who nurtured the Kansas-bred mezzo
when she was just starting out. Cultivated in the Houston Grand Opera Studio, the company’s apprentice program, she’s gone on to become a
certifiable international star. And deservedly so. Girl-next-door pretty, with a voice gorgeous from top to bottom, fluttering elegantly through the most
florid coloratura, she's the answer to opera impresarios’ – and audiences’ – dreams ...at the end of Sunday afternoon’s performance,
at the Wortham Center's Brown Theater, she all but set the place on fire.
The Dallas Morning News, February 5, 2007
From the opening simple song of daydreams Cinderella sings, DiDonato performed Angelina/Cinderella with bravura ease, yet without ever losing focus on musicality.
She sang dazzling coloratura awesomely – in the correct sense of awe-filling – yet made quieter and tender moments sweet and velvety.
Houston Chronicle, January 28, 2007
Idomeneo, Paris
...DiDonato making Idamante's arias sound more glorious than they really are.
In the duet with Ilia, the 'Addio' trio and the quartet, and above all in the wrenching accompagnato before the oracle's pronouncement,
the American mezzo approached the sublime. This Idomeneo was worth catching for her alone.
Opera, April, 2007
Tra le signore, Joyce DiDonato ci offriva un Idamante che meglio non si può né sognare né desiderare. Il timbro, l'omogeneitá, l'espressivitá,
le agilitá, la figura, meritavano non solo le lodi ma le parole “splendido” e “ideale” (non so quale scegliere): non un cedimento, non una frase,
anche la piú “trita” che non avesse un senso e non dimostrasse una profonda dimestichezza con il ruolo. La signora DiDonato ama la parte e Mozart
e ce lo fa capire subito. Applausi a non finire a parte, sarebbe piuttosto il caso di dirle “grazie”.
L'Opera, January, 2007
Le plateau est dominée par la performance de Joyce DiDonato, rayonnante et vindicative dans le rôle travesti d’Idamante. La voix aux couleurs soyeuses de la mezzo américaine, qui vocalise avec assurance, s’ajoute à son incontestable présence scénique. Elle est le joyaux de ce sombreIdoménée.
La Croix, December 4, 2006
Joyce DiDonato in the castrato role of Idamante stood out. She not only looks the part of the ardent prince, she sings it with refreshing vigor.
Bloomberg, December, 2006
Dans le rôle de son fils, Idamante, la belle mezzo américaine Joyce DiDonato confirme une fois encore son immense talent:
voix solaire parfaitement conduite, engagement, musicalité.
The mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato has covered a lot of territory in her operatic appearances, in the process swiftly securing a position as one of the most engaging, consistently satisfying singers around. In a recital she presented in Lincoln Center's Art of the Song series at the Rose Theater on Wednesday night, she ranged farther still.
Accompanied by the pianist David Zobel, Ms. DiDonato opened with three arias from operas by Vivaldi. The qualities that have made her a hot commodity in Handel were on full display: powerful low notes, penetrating highs and utter security in between, as well as dazzling technical command, stylish ornamentation and an eloquent grasp of character.
Persuasive accounts of four lovely songs by Chausson made you hope that Ms. DiDonato might find time in her crowded schedule to record this elegantly fashioned music. She and Mr. Zobel struck just the right tone for the plain-spoken simplicity of "Hébé," the languid sensuality of "Sérénade," the deftly rendered nostalgia of "Le Colibri" and the busy flutter of "Les Papillons."
Two works in the program, Turina's "Poema en Forma de Canciones" and Copland's "12 Songs of Emily Dickinson" have turned up on Ms. DiDonato's adventurous CDs. Here she endowed the Turina with a suitably sultry passion and brought clarity to eight of Copland's angular, enigmatic Dickinson settings.
Ms. DiDonato proved her genuine regard for Richard Strauss in her first encore, a blazing account of "Musik ist eine heilige Kunst" from the opera "Ariadne auf Naxos." And if that pointed toward Ms. DiDonato's future, her second encore, "Non più mesta" from Rossini's "Cenerentola," reminded listeners why they had fallen for her in the first place.
– New York Times, March, 2008
Joyce DiDonato, lyric mezzo-soprano du jour, seems to have everything… Lithe, lovely and obviously smart, she can sing high and low with nearly equal resonance, and with no break between the extremes. She can sing fast with astonishing accuracy and slow with compelling grace. She can sing loud with decent fervour and soft with exquisite point. She knows how to make even a simple scale sound meaningful.
Draped in a lavish turquoise gown, she devoted the first half of the evening to elegant pursuits. She brought noble finesse to two Vivaldi arias, heroic bravura to a third. She graced four mélodies of Chausson with suave sensuality, shaded four canciones of Turina with smouldering insinuation.
First she illuminated Copland's Emily Dickinson Songs with austere wit and crafty whimsy. Then she flirted with good old Gershwin: a sweetly sophisticated interpretation of "The Man I Love" followed by an in-joke, "By Strauss". The Strauss of the original involved the Schlag of Johann, but an oh-so-cute adaptation by James Lowe incorporated the Schmaltz of Richard. The fans obviously would have been happy to have DiDonato waltz all night.
– Financial Times, March, 2008
Ms. DiDonato began with three Vivaldi arias. She rolled out an opulent voice, and one that moved - one that could move through passagework. This is one of the most exciting things in music: a sizable, opulent voice that can move. I have often likened such voices to linebackers who can pirouette.
From Vivaldi, the performers moved on to four songs by Ernest Chausson. In the first, "Hébé," Ms. DiDonato was superb: She was a model of control, both physical and mental. And she sings a very good French. It is not "singer French," correct but obvious. It is subtle and natural.
Ms. DiDonato sang eight of the 12 Dickinson songs that Copland wrote...the mezzo did her eight songs proud: She sang them intelligently and naturally. She didn't cute them up, and she didn't try to be deep with them. Neither was she inappropriately mousy: She let herself be "operatic," when that was called for. I will mention one song in particular: "The world feels dusty." It was simple, unaffected - almost devastating.
Encores? There were two. Ms. DiDonato sang the Composer's Aria from Strauss's "Ariadne auf Naxos." Here, she was soaring, rhapsodic - thoroughly Straussian. And then she sang her inevitable. Or one of her two inevitables. Ms. DiDonato is a noted Rossinian, and it was pretty sure she'd sing either "Una voce poco fa" or "Non pi mesta." She sang the latter - and did so winningly, dazzlingly. The aria was faster than fast. And clean as a whistle, and clear as a bell. As usual, Ms. DiDonato's interpolations were surprising and amazing. Also as usual, they were at least as musical as they were show-offy.
This singer has umpteen things going for her: a fabulous technique, an excellent voice, a fine mind. But she also has adorability - a kind of secret ingredient, of great benefit to a singer. As she was making her final curtain call, she slipped and fell. The audience gasped. But Ms. DiDonato recovered, adorably - and the audience applauded all the more.
– New York Sun, March, 2008
Recital, Palais Montcalm, Quebec
Joyce DiDonato pourrait se contenter de chanter, on y trouvait déjà des raisons de l'apprécier. Sa grande gentillesse, qu'on a pu découvrir au fil de la soirée donnée au Palais Montcalm hier, apparaît donc comme une sorte de cadeau qu'elle vous offre par-dessus le marché, seulement pour vous faire plaisir.
La mezzo-soprano américaine n'a pas besoin de se donner des airs de diva distante pour qu'on comprenne qu'on se trouve en présence d'une grande artiste. Comme elle cherche au contraire à se faire proche des gens, on a parfois l'impression qu'elle ne chante que pour vous. Elle est un peu votre voisine d'à côté, mais qui aurait une voix sublime.
Les trois airs de Vivaldi qui ont ouvert la soirée permettaient de découvrir une voix qui se donne telle qu'elle est, totalement, sans chercher à faire joli. C'est ce qu'on pourrait appeler chanter avec son âme. La chanteuse a osé plusieurs longues tenues sans vibrato, se contentant de jouer avec le timbre, d'ajouter de nouvelles nuances à la couleur. On sent dans cette attitude une approche trés naturelle et même plutôt candide.
Cette absence de défense, on la retrouvait dans les quatre mélodies de Chausson, dont Le colibri, purement ensorcelant, ainsi que dans les pétillantes chansons de Turina. Quant au cycle de Copland, celui-ci a permis à Joyce DiDonato de donner une idée de la force et de l'étendue expressive de son instrument.
Si on se fie à l'acclamation qui a salué Non piu mesta...de Rossini offert en guise de second et dernier rappel, c'est ce morceau qui a été le plus apprécié de toute la soirée. Émises apparemment sans effort, ces vocalises vertigineuses dessinées avec précision en suivant la courbe d'un phrasé naturel et souple sont vraiment la marque de commerce de Joyce DiDonato.
– Le Soleil, March, 2008
Recital, Philadelphia
You could call her the classical music world's "mezzo of the moment" – except that her winning, incisive artistry, in person and on recordings, is not of the flash-in-the pan variety but instead proves a lasting contribution. Her singing offers utter vocal security: spectacular agility, generous breath control, a wide range …and a stunning command of musical and verbal phrasing. Unlike many younger singers, cushioned by opera audiences' reliance on projected titles, DiDonato really cares about words.
– Philadelphia City Paper, March, 2008
Joyce DiDonato barely stepped onto the stage Sunday afternoon before the audience at the Independence Seaport Museum discovered two things. First, DiDonato is an expressive singer who colors words and conveys character with her voice. Second, the mezzo-soprano is an adventurous recitalist who knows how to put together a program that displays her artistry as well as her versatility.
The recital marked a homecoming for the mezzo-soprano trained at the Academy of Vocal Arts. The applause built from one selection to the next and culminated in an ovation that drew two encores.
Both artists found their form in a long-breathed aria from Vivaldi's "Il Giustino." Zobel cradled DiDonato's voice with loving care as she spun out the vocal lines in a flow of beautifully shaded tone. DiDonato exploited the woodwind timbres in her voice in a coruscating account of a virtuoso aria from "Il Farnace." She shifted seamlessly from Italian opera to French chanson in a group of four songs by Chausson. Her warm-toned voice took on a new array of colors. Turina's songs invited the singer to color her voice boldly. In "Cantares," she sang with such expressive intensity, someone in the audience cried out, "Ole!"
DiDonato proved an expressive advocate for Copland's "Poems by Emily Dickinson." She found a vivid interpretive manner for each of the eight songs. Totally relaxed and in complete vocal control, she wrapped her melting voice around Gershwin's "The Man I Love." Then she capped the afternoon with an ebullient "By Strauss."
The audience demanded – and got – two encores. DiDonato soared through the Composer's ecstatic paean to music from Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos." Then she gave a breathtaking performance of Cinderella's rondo from Rossini's "La Cenerentola."
Handel: Floridante, Il Complesso Barocco / Alan Curtis, DG Archiv Produktion
All six singers are simply splendid. If I pick out one in particular, it is only because DiDonato delivers another one of her knockout portrayals,
commanding every vocal nuance while applying extraordinary dramatic feeling
at every point – one can almost close one’s eyes and see her acting!
American Record Guide, July/Aug 2007
The exception is mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who gives... a lesson in tonal purity, emotional directness and bravura technique.
San Francisco Chronicle, April 15, 2007
American mezzo Joyce DiDonato is the chief reason for adding this rarity to your collection of Handel operas. Fine as the other soloists are, as, indeed,
is the playing of Alan Curtis's sleek ensemble, DiDonato is outstanding as Elmira, lover of Floridante, Prince of Thrace.
The Observer, April 15, 2007
What Curtis' sage, shapely and astutely dramatic performance gets right is Handel's deep absorption in the character of Elmira...
(he) is aided by the psychologically penetrating performance of Joyce DiDonato, among the best Handel singers of our day. She's got the chops to
sing "Oh what a surprise" (in Italian, of course) when Oronte gives her the dual news – and make it count. Throughout the long, demanding role, she never,
as the Brits say, puts a foot wrong, and her lustrous mezzo doesn't miss a single dramatic nuance. There are echoes of Callas in the aria that follows, "Barbaro, t'odio a morte"
("I hate you to death"), and she sings a transfixing scene that upends the Baroque sleep aria convention by making it an insomnia-accompanied recitative.
Bay Area Reporter, April, 2007
Joyce DiDonato is outstanding as Elmira, flame-toned in her rejection of the tyrant Oronte's grotesque advances, sensuous in her love for Floridante.
The Telegraph, April, 2007
This is the one to have, however, above all for DiDonato's fabulous Elmira.
The Times, April, 2007
Best of the Year!
CLASS ACT: Joyce DiDonato released two splendid recitals, The Deepest Desire (Eloquentia) and a lovely Venetian-themed program (Wigmore Hall Live),
as well as recording a standard-setting performance of the title role in Handel's Radamisto (Virgin).
Opera News, January 2007
¡Pasión!, Eloquentia
DiDonato relishes the richness of her voice and spins some gorgeous, purely vocal moments in Falla's Seven Popular Spanish Songs.
She is aided by deliciously playful accompaniment from Julius Drake. [They] achieve a stylish intensity in Turina's Poema en forma de canciones.
DiDonato's [encore] is a Rossini Canzonetta spagnuola, full of sensuous teasing and building up to an accelerating crescendo in which –
and this is the highest praise I can bestow – she did make me think of Supervia.
Gramophone, October, 2007
Bright light
With ¡Pasión! (Eloquentia), DiDonato shines a bright light on a dark corner of the song repertory, the
turn-of-the-last-century Spanish song, with the kaleidoscopically colored musical personality she brings to everything she sings.
Enchantment informs her performance of that languid, sensual love song, [Del cabello mas sutil] sung with the full richness of her
beguiling instrument. Still more astonishing is the huge expressive range of the eight-song set, Canciones clasicas espanolas.
DiDonato responds to the material like a born Spaniard, with color, snap, and a suave feeling for rhythm made even more compelling by her
superb sense of line and dynamic shading.
Three other composers of the 30 songs here – Enrique Granados, Joaquin Turina, and Manuel de Falla – are even more familiar, but the
likelihood of anyone's having heard their delectable songs in recital is scandalously slight. Even so, the revelation is the five-song set,
Cince canciones negras, by the little-known Xavier Monstsalvatge (1912-2002). The material is arresting and, nominally exploring the
color black, uses all its hues across a daunting range of melodies, harmonies and rhythms, to all of which DiDonato and her superb accompanist
Julius Drake respond like dancers in lock-step.
Her encore, Rossini's dizzyingly accelerating "Canzonetta spangnola," sung to enchant, not impress, is the perfect fillip.
Bay Area Reporter, April, 2007
Following up her triumphant debut disc of Amercian art songs, last year's The Deepest Desire, brilliant lyric mezzo Joyce DiDonato confronts the riches of 20th-century Spanish canciones.
Spanish songs have sometimes served as a refuge for nonnative mezzos who have blown their resources into blowsy edginess, but that's far from the case here. DiDonato's pellucid timbre
always sounds youthful and fresh – even when suggesting the bitter coffee tinge that some of the chestier numbers call for – and there are few healthier, more accomplished techniques
in the world today than hers. DiDonato's hauntingly emotional tone color is wielded with pinpoint sensitivity to words and dynamics. An excellent intro to DiDonato's art and this uniquely
fascinating song repertory.
Time Out, NY, February, 2007
Here, I suspect, is the disc that admirers of the young American mezzo have all been waiting for. This is a gorgeous voice,
and she has evidently listened to both de los Angeles and Berganza without falling into the trap of imitation.
Her warm, colourful mezzo is capable of the utmost delicacy in Falla’s lullaby (Nana, from Seven Popular Spanish Songs),
but there is authentic-sounding Iberian fire in her singing of the dancelike rhythms of the more extrovert numbers by Obradors,
Turina and Granados. She exploits her dark-tinted chest voice in cries of anguish on the latter’s Maja dolorosa triptych.
It’s hard to think of a better modern introduction to Spanish song..
The Times, January 28, 2007
Joyce DiDonato a donc rassemblé ici des airs fort connus et souvent enregistrés, mail qui le lui reprochera tant elle y fait merveille?
Sa voix semble avoir été créée pour ces mélodies dont elle détaille les subtilités et les nuances avec un extrème talent, certaines couleurs
ne sont pas loin d’évoquer celles de Victoria de Los Angeles. Plutôt que d’en donner une lecture musclée, ainsi que certaines de ses consoerus
aiment à le faire (graves sonores et envolées exaltées), elle en dégage plutôt la face intimiste et mélodieuse, qui se heurte d’ailleurs
à l’aspect “olé, olé” de la couverture. Très bien accompagnée par un pianiste discret, cette jeune star que l’on connait surtout commer
interprète de Rossini ou de Handel, se révèle ici sous un nouveau jour.
Heureusement, tout ce qui lui manque, le Roméo intense et flamboyant de Joyce DiDonato nous l'offre.
Le rôle est pourtant plus difficile, se situant entre le contralto musico rossinien d'hier
et la mezzo de demain, devant affronter des changements de registre redoutables pour l'homogénéité
de la tessiture... rien de distendu ici, le chant se déploie harmonieusement du grave
à l'aigu, dès l'air d'entrée où il faut couvrir plus de deux octaves.
Et le dernier acte nous confirme quelle grande artiste nous entendons: l'arioso de Roméo,
si sobre, si nu – et par là si novateur, au point de déplaire à la Malibran,
qui imposa pour longtemps le finale de Vaccai – exige une pureté de ligne, une qualité
de legato qui sont le propre des authentiques belcantistes.
Lyric debutante Joyce DiDonato immediately announced her prodigious vocal quality with a
killer trill in Rosina's brief interjections to 'Se il mio nome.'
'Una voce poco fà' was fine, but it was in 'Contro il cor' that the American mezzo
really strutted her Rossinian pedigree, delivering the aria's complicated runs with
precision and humorous élan.
Nel primo ha brillato la stella incontrastata di Joyce DiDonato, straordinaria Angelina,
che ha mertitato le scroscianti ovazioni tributatele dal pubblico. Le ha meritate per
la classe musicale raffinatissima con la quale ha pattinato sul canto di coloratura rossiniano,
conoscendone ogni segreto e ogni malizia tecnica. Il suo timbro de mezzosoprano acuto,
quasi sopranile in pi di un momento (ideale, quindi, per futuri "ruoli Colbran"...) non
ha avuto nessuna difficoltá ad abbandonarsi alla morbida, dolcissima espansione di un
canto patetico, pastellato, screziato di sfumature dolcissime e toccanti. Paradigmatico
il commovente - si, in Rossini... - duetto del primo atto con l'altrettanto magnifico
Juan Diego Florez. La grande scena finale è stata, poi, sicuramente la meglio cantata da
noi ascoltata nell'ultimo ventennio, in un crescendo di mirabolanti e brillanti variazioni,
sempre di gusto squisito, che hanno letteralmente incantato l'asoltatore. Il pubblico ha
gradito entrambe le "locandine" riservando però il clamore a Florez, e il trionfo - insieme
alla sua "bontà", secondo sottotitolo... - Joyce DiDonato.
Il cast stellare previsto per l'occasione e decisivo per la riuscita dello spettacolo...
dal grande mezzosoprano americano Joyce DiDonato, nel ruolo del titolo, che non ha bisogno
di presentazione e che domina lo spettacolo con il suo impeccabile aplomb.
There were two clean-up hitters on the program, Ms. DiDonato and Diana Damrau... Ms. DiDonato, having flown in from Switzerland for the day to pinch hit,
evidently decided to make her trip worth everyone's while, especially with an “Una voce poco fa” from Rossini's “Barbiere di Siviglia”
that was among the most spectacular vocal feats this listener has ever heard, thrown off with ease, a sense of fun and pinpoint control.
The main attraction of San Francisco Opera's revival of Der Rosenkavalier (seen June 9) was mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, singing the first Octavian of her career.
The Kansas native immersed herself in the Viennese milieu of Richard Strauss's bittersweet comedy as if to the manor born. DiDonato was a noble, forthright
Count Rofrano and a delightful Mariandel; her physical agility and theatrical assurance were on brilliant display throughout the evening, lending the Act I bedroom
scene fresh vigor and giving her Act II confrontation with Ochs a heightened edge. She was simply hilarious while posing as the chambermaid,
dispensing her stage business like clockwork and making it all look improvised on the spot. Vocally, the role is a perfect fit
as well; the mezzo's warm tone and technical precision lent her scenes with the Marschallin a sense of genuine ardor and her first meeting with Sophie the
requisite sparks of excitement. She soared through the beautifully balanced final trio.
Ms. DiDonato’s singing was rich, luscious and lyrically pliant. She had technique to spare and thrilling top notes.
The cast sing like gods, especially mezzo Joyce DiDonato, the former HGO studio artist who has triumphed throughout the international opera circuit
in this most demanding role. Luscious of voice, with a pyrotechnic technique for days, she sings the hell out of it. Joyce DiDonato,
the world is your oyster. A complete musical artist is so rare that it takes only one hand to count them all – here’s the opportunity
to experience the real thing.
...DiDonato making Idamante's arias sound more glorious than they really are.
In the duet with Ilia, the 'Addio' trio and the quartet, and above all in the wrenching accompagnato before the oracle's pronouncement,
the American mezzo approached the sublime. This Idomeneo was worth catching for her alone.
