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
BBC Proms, London
The soloists sang out of their skins, too. Joyce DiDonato's Fac ut Portem was a gloriously sustained arc of thrilling mezzo tone.
– Richard Morrison, The Times, July, 2007
Rossini's standing as a serious composer is at an all-time high, and this was reflected in Pappano's grand reading, the opulent playing of the orchestra, the superb choral singing and a fine quartet of soloists, from whom Joyce DiDonato stood out for immaculate style and beauty of tone.
– Hugh Canning, The Times Online, July, 2007
Recital, Madrid
La maja de Kansas
Le echa valor a la vida la mezzosoprano estadounidense Joyce DiDonato. Porque hay que tener agallas, para presentarse en un ciclo de lied, frente a un público "especializado",
sin una sola canción en alemán, y un punto de osadía para comparecer en Madrid con un recital basado en obras emblemáticas de Granados, Falla y Montsalvatge. Calentó motores,
en francés, con Bizet y se lució, en italiano, con Rossini, dejando bien claras desde el principio sus dotes comunicativas y su irresistible simpatía. Hasta aquí no había sorpresas,
claro, ya que la mezzosoprano es una intérprete consumada de Rossini, con una componente operística de muchos quilates, que lo contagia todo. Pero, ¿y lo español? ¿Cómo se iba a
desenvolver la sonriente cantante de Kansas ante los fantasmas de iconos de referencia como Victoria de los Ángeles o Teresa Berganza, que merodeaban a sus anchas anteayer por
el teatro de La Zarzuela?
DiDonato comenzó con la Elegía eterna y las Majas dolorosas, de Granados, conteniendo la sonrisa, acentuando la faceta expresiva y mostrando una pronunciación, una dicción absolutamente
impecables. Las Siete canciones populares de Falla eran la prueba definitiva. DiDonato diferenció cada una de ellas con una caracterización precisa e imaginativa. Sin imitaciones,
a su manera. Pero con una fuerza, una sensibilidad y un empuje extraordinarios. No recuerdo a ningún cantante extranjero en la actualidad con tanta soltura en este repertorio.
Sopló un segundo después de Falla, para ver qué sucedía. La reacción del público subrayó que había triunfado y, así, en Montsalvatge se mostró ms relajada si cabe. Sus dos rossinis
ofrecidos como propinas fueron fantásticos y libérrimos, y su Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito, el broche de oro de un recital arrollador. DiDonato y Drake salieron en Madrid
por la puerta grande.
– El Pais, April 11, 2007
Recital, Salle Gaveau, Paris
Elle a tout d'une grande
... [le]meilleur récital de la saison, celui de Joyce DiDonato, offert jeudi dernier dans une Salle Gaveau...
...[le] programme... reprend en partie celui de ¡Pasión!, son disque de chansons espagnoles enregistré l'année dernière,
la cantatrice américaine n'en finit pas de subjuguer ; par la technique avec laquelle, des mélodies de Bizet à celle de Montsalvatge, elle sculpte
la note et déjoue les pièges tendus, notamment les croche-pieds de l'écriture rossinienne - Giovanna d'Arco et encore plus "Una Voce poco fa", offert
en bis et chanté avec une évidence confondante et un art de l'ornementation qui rappelle, par son intelligence, celui de Maria Callas (rien de moins !);
par la manière spectaculaire dont elle négocie les écarts de tessiture, des Siete Canciones Espagnol par exemple, cette façon qu'elle a de passer en un
sourire d'un grave sonore et sauvage à un aigu posé piano sur le souffle ou alors lancé crnement comme un défi.
Mais la technique n'est rien si elle n'est pas portée par la force de l'interprétation. Là aussi, Joyce DiDonato réalise des merveilles en glissant d'une
mélodie à l'autre comme le plus habile des mannequins d'une robe à un tailleur. Elle donne à "Ouvre ton coeur" des accents qui ne sont pas sans évoquer Carmen,
emplit de larmes parfumées les "Adieux de l'hôtesse arabe", de jubilation sensuelle les saluts de Giovanna d'Arco à son roi. Dans le répertoire espagnol,
elle écaille d'une inflexion, d'une oeillade, le vernis qui glaçait son enregistrement de l'année passée. Le chant renoue alors avec ses origines, se débarrasse
des clichés pour retrouver son ardeur première, non plus la saveur un peu fade du produit industriel mais le goût authentique de Seville, Madrid ou Barcelone.
...l'essentiel : la beauté intrinsèque de la voix, sa longueur prodigieuse, l'arc-en-ciel des couleurs qu'elle trace dans
le ciel sonore, la rondeur et le velours...
Pour couronner le portrait, il émane de la femme une séduction naturelle, une sympathie qu'engendrent l'attitude, simple sans être affectée, et la franchise du ton.
– Forum Opéra, April 5, 2007
Recital, Wigmore Hall, London
Astonishing power of the mezzo who thrills at all altitudes
Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is a pert American blonde with a wide smile and a guileless air of enjoyment in what she does.
When a song goes well, she has the pleased air of a golfer who's just hit a hole in one. And yet this bubbly creature can assume
a statuesque demeanor and touch the depths.
The first group of songs were by Bizet...we heard a swaying barcarolle, a naïve little pastorale, and a long, sensuous rendition of
Farewell of the Arabian Hostess. It's a charming image, which softens the harsh realities of France's 19th-century imperial ambitions;
which is why we're supposed to be suspicious of this sort of song nowadays. But between them, Bizet and DiDonato got round my scruples.
A purely human delicacy seemed to emerge. By now it was clear that DiDonato's voice has a natural openness and sincerity, which makes even
a dubious sentiment seem true.
Her trump card is her lower register, which gathers a vibrant conviction and penetrating power as the vocal line descends.
Alongside that is her thrilling agility, which allowed her to toss of the vocal trumpet-calls of Rossini's Joan of Arc with infections bravura.
After the interval, she showed there was more yet to that voice. She struck a note of tragic gravity in Granados's La Maja Dolorosa
- again that thrilling descent to the depths, but this time from starting from and altitude and with an astonishing power not yet heard
...how pungent she made those Spanish words sound!
– The Daily Telegraph (London), April 3, 2007
They’d been flirting for a while now, but this was the night that things really got serious between Joyce DiDonato and the Wigmore Hall audience.
“Open your heart,” she commanded in the opening Spanish serenade by Bizet, while assuming a Carmenesque pose on the platform, and the response
was instant capitulation. So seduced were some that they almost forgot their Wigmore vows about not clapping between song collections.
But then it is a remarkable package that DiDonato offers: a mezzo cast in milk chocolate, but so smooth and agile that it can reach up
to a diamond-bright soprano as well as sink to a rich, chesty alto. And then there is the instinctive charisma: she is always engaging,
always sparking off her accompanist (here Julius Drake), and always intelligently shaping the verse and text.
– The Times (London), April 2, 2007
Recital, Carnegie Hall, New York City
A Recital to Last the Ages
Have I got a voice recital for you – or rather, Weill Recital Hall did, Thursday night. Onstage was Joyce DiDonato, the Kansas-born mezzo
(and her accompanist, the London-born Julius Drake). Ms. DiDonato sang a recital that should last in the memories of all who attended.
This lady has lit up opera stages around the world, and she is especially prized in Rossini. I have called her a "sparkplug" of a mezzo, and she is.
But she has deep qualities, too. And the scintillation and depth were amply in evidence at Weill.
She began with five songs of Bizet, who should be known for more than "Carmen." From the first moment, Ms. DiDonato was super-secure, both musically
and technically. She was always in the center of the note. She did justice to both the words and the music, but remembered that musical matters are foremost.
She used a wide range of dynamics – and she did not sing prissily, did not sing in a "recital voice." She opened up as appropriate.
No note was covered, no note was fake, no note was precious – this was just good, honest singing.
Ms. DiDonato poured on her celebrated personality, although "personality" is a poor word for what this singer has: It's more like the ability to bring a
piece fully to life. Throughout the Bizet songs, she was saucy and delicious. Normally, I am opposed to any acting in recital, and Ms. DiDonato acted,
just a touch. But it seemed perfectly appropriate, even an enhancement.
Ms. DiDonato went on to another Horne specialty, as it happens, Rossini's cantata "Giovanna d'Arco." This is a tour de force for the mezzo who can make it so – and
Ms. DiDonato is one of them. In addition to singing brilliantly, she sang bravely, especially when unaccompanied, and utterly exposed in that small hall. Ms. DiDonato
presented what you have to call a scorching bel canto.
Her second half was all-Spanish, and she seemed to be channeling Conchita Supervia, her great mezzo predecessor (and a predecessor sparkplug). She started out with
five songs of Granados – and her love of the language, along with the music, was obvious. She especially enjoyed those aitchy Gs. Each song was packed with soul,
but Ms. DiDonato never overdid it.
Ms. DiDonato closed her printed program with three songs from Montsalvatge's "Canciones negras," though not the most famous, the lullaby that begins "Ninghe, ninghe, ninghe."
She was especially effective in the jazzy and infectious "Canto negro." It was simply – to use high-flown critical language – way-cool.
Ladies and gentlemen, you hope against hope for a first-rate voice recital – and, occasionally, you get one.
– New York Sun, March 6, 2007
DiDonato's sensational vocalism and charm were evident from the start... (s)he opened with Spanish-flavored songs by Georges Bizet, sung in French. In a tune called "Pastorale,"
impersonating a love-struck shepherd, she seductively offered the words "laisse-moi prendre un tendre baiser" (let me steal a tender kiss) with radiant sweetness –
a naturally gorgeous voice made personal by a glint of charisma. We swooned.
Enrique Granados' set of "Desolate Maiden" songs are characterized by big stone-block chords in the piano, with the singer high above, suffering or raging at her fate.
Here DiDonato took off: her bright mezzo (with a tinge of husky contralto at the low end) exploded in opulence, the last word in radiant, bejeweled singing.
In Manuel De Falla's "Seven Popular Songs" and a Cuban set by Xavier Montsalvatge, her voice crackled with earnest vitality.
What was clear from her Rossini – the "Joan of Arc" cantata and two encores – was her awesome power and unthreatening female allure.
– Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 5, 2007
From a Singer With Style, a Voice in Service of Music [H]er voice: firm and radiant, digging into sultry lower notes, caressing the middle, shining forth with a clear top, and yet
presented matter-of-factly, in the service of the music – modulating, inflecting – rather than as an end in itself.
It seemed particularly to shine in Rossini. Thursday's program included the cantata "Giovanna d'Arco," written for piano performance in the
composer's drawing room by his wife, and it brought out the best in Ms. DiDonato, showcasing a lower register she had been shyer about emphasizing
in the opening (and elegant) set of Bizet songs and rising up to golden heights.
The main thrust of the program, however, was not Rossini but Spain: the focus of her CD "¡Pasión!," released last month. ... [S]he plunged into songs by Granados, De Falla
(the Seven Spanish Popular Songs, a recital staple) and Montsalvatge...
[I]n her first two encores ... she gave a fine rendering of the "Canzonetta spagnuola," ... heating up to darting fire. Then she marshaled her forces for "Non più mesta," the closing aria of Rossini's
"Cenerentola" (which she had just performed in Houston), and delivered the goods once again.
Ms. DiDonato is about to sing Rosina in the Metropolitan Opera's "Barber of Seville," and you would do well to buy tickets soon.
– New York Times, March 3, 2007
Recital, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC
The young mezzo Joyce DiDonato has been stirring things up on the operatic stage for the last few years, winning hearts and minds
for her dramatic depth as much as for her remarkable, multifaceted voice. So it was a real pleasure to hear her Tuesday in the relatively
intimate Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, where she presented an unusually captivating recital that ranged from lullabies to scorched-earth coloratura.
Accompanied by the fine pianist Julius Drake, DiDonato opened with five songs by Georges Bizet. It was an inspired beginning; these songs are lyrical almost to a fault,
and she delivered finely calibrated interpretations, precisely balanced between full-voiced richness and transparent delicacy.
But that was mere lead-in to the blockbuster of the evening, Giacomo Rossini's solo cantata "Giovanna d'Arco." It's a dazzling tour de force, almost a
catalogue of coloratura technique. And while it may sound a bit overcooked to modern ears, DiDonato carved a brilliant and explosive drama out of it,
repeatedly building the tension, drawing back and building again into a final climax – a performance as psychologically astute as it was powerful.
– Washington Post, March 1, 2007
Solo Recital, Pesaro
Ovation for "Rosina"
“Joyce DiDonato charmed everyone with the gracefulness she showed, with her voice, so sweet and at the same
time so powerful, with how she inhabits the role with body and soul, and for the extraordinary ease with which she
handles the most arduous parts… Nothing is routine when Joyce sings… From the interpretative and vocal qualities pours
elegance, class, congeniality. A radiant presence.”
– Il Corriere, August 17, 2005
The tour de force of Joyce's virtuosity is the rediscovery of "Belcanto"
“Forgetting and bypassing the fussy scholars, the superficial, the repetitive, false sighs, Joyce DiDonato exhibited
a spontaneous personality, where talent and training were transformed into ‘style’… Without conceding to the obvious or
traditional, the mezzo-soprano distinguished herself with great range and flexibility of expression… The virtuosity never
turned into pure technical fireworks, instead, it remained always sensitively sung, illuminating the melancholic emotion
of absence, that which is the essence of love.”
“The unquenchable and prolonged ovation called back the beautiful DiDonato at the end of her program, validating and
inspiring the hearts of all the appassionato present in the audience, always happy to discover a real ‘star’.”
– Il Resto del Carlino, August 17, 2005
Joyce DiDonato, recital of a star
“For her much anticipated recital – that without any surprise was completely sold out – the American singer conquered
everybody in the audience. The artist gave as a gift a performance that ROF’s aficionados will remember for a long time…
DiDonato showed an extraordinary technique and perfect intonation. The repertoire she chose allowed her to show all her
compelling qualities, with an excellent stage presence too.”
– Il Messaggero, August 17, 2005
Hercules concert, Beaune International Festival of Baroque Opera
It was a tour de force, with jaw-dropping performances by American mezzo Joyce DiDonato as Dejanira
and Swedish alto Malena Ernmann as Lichas. Both not only sang with lyric beauty and elegantly iron-clad
control of flights of baroque ornamentation but also acted so well they seemed to transform the concert
platform, packed with musicians, into the emotionally turbulent apartments of Hercules and his household.
The Australian, July 29, 2004
London Recital Debut (Wigmore Hall)
Her voice, a proper mezzo rather than a ‘short’ soprano, has substantial reserves of power.
Both lush and focused, it lies somewhere between Balsta and Bartoli (albeit minus their idiosyncrasies).
Her technique is fearless, the sound especially distinctive in quiet passages, where the tone can narrow
down to an almost ‘white’ thread.
DiDonato has typical American polish, but more than that, a real personality, is at work. The opening
item, Haydn’s ‘Arianna a Naxos’, is a classic (and Classical) warm-up number, but from the first moment
DiDonato’s interpretative heat was on max. The piece became a dramatic ‘scena’ that deployed rather
than tested her full technical and expressive armoury and tingled the spine at its presto finale.
Finally, ‘Cara Speme’: its fusion of poised vocalism and open-hearted expression exemplified why
Joyce DiDonato deserves a place of honour amongst today’s lyric mezzos.
Opera Now, May/June 2004
New York Recital Debut
[DiDonato] and her brilliant accompanist, Brian Zeger, constructed an absorbing, unusual program that showed off
the full range of her gifts. Owner of a lovely voice, the basic quality of which is perhaps more gleaming than
mellow, with a wide, even range and a shining top, she uses her assets with uncommon flexibility and skill.
Some of this can be learned; her ability to inhabit her material and communicate its essence without apparent
effort has to be innate.
Perhaps the encores best encapsulated DiDonato’s success. Starting with a hilarious romp through a Cole
Porter rarity about an oyster’s journey through high society, she exploded in a demonstration of coloratura
virtuosity with the only warhorse of the evening, a dazzling ‘Una voce poco fa’ that deserved the ovation it
received. She sent the reluctant audience into the night with a compelling ‘Cara speme,’ Sesto’s poignant
aria of hope from Handel’s Giulio Cesare.
When DiDonato manages to squeeze another recital into her schedule, an early dash for tickets is strongly recommended.
Opera News, Jan. 2004
Washington Vocal Arts Recital
Joyce DiDonato could have performed only Haydn’s dramatic scene ‘Arianna a Naxos’ at her
Vocal Arts Society recital at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, and that 20 minutes of masterly singing alone would
have made devoted fans of the Terrace Theater audience. This splendid mezzo invested the piece with a recital’s
worth of interpretive smarts, from playful eroticism to imploding self-delusion to near-catatonic depression.
And then there was DiDonato’s voice. The tone is plush throughout a formidable range, with a plummy lower
register and a middle and upper voice made luminous by a softly flickering vibrato. She’s got a baroque singer’s
talent for launching ravishingly pure high notes, but she can unbutton the voice to fill the room with a thrilling
jolt of sound.
If her sultry tang in Obradors’s songs, or her breathy urgency in songs by Rossini, brought Cecilia Bartoli
to mind, DiDonato engaged in less all-out emotional brinksmanship than the Italian mezzo so often does, relying
more on the natural refulgence of her voice and finding a centeredness and poise within the drama.
The Washington Post, Oct. 2003
Schwabacher Debut Recital
Here is a singer with a remarkable combination of power, agility and precision, as well as the interpretive
resources to put those gifts to work. Her vocal quality is lush and marked by a range of colors, yet she
tears through the most demanding colorature writing without missing a step. Just as impressive as the
bravura passages was DiDonato’s delivery of slow, lyrical writing. Her flawless intonation and stellar
breath control allowed her to spin out long, seamless legato phrases that never faltered.
DiDonato opened her Schubert set with as radiantly serene an account of ‘Nacht und Traume’
as I hope to hear. During the piano introduction, DiDonato simply stood there — then opened her mouth and,
seemingly without any preparation, began to spin out a golden, utterly perfect melodic line. For those few
minutes, time seemed to stop.
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.