The joy of DiDonato

So, i said Joyce DiDonato :-)




What do I say next???


Probably saying a big, big thank you would be appropriate :-)
I was looking forward to this evening because it would be the return to live music, but also because I am on a discovery journey of my own, with female voices (which I am known for not being a big fan of) and with song evenings in general. I have had too little experience of it and have come quite late in life to dare them. To dare myself to experience and maybe enjoy them; singing in its purest form, with none of the frills and thrills of orchestra, stage, make up and costumes.

I am finding the experience so far fascinating! I think that whoever puts themselves out there and bares their souls and vocal cords like that, deserves respect! It is not for the faint hearted, but it makes the good ones truly great!

The Wigmore recital on Saturday was a wonderful experience. I had heard Joyce DiDonato in recordings before, but never life and from the first till the last note I was basking in the gorgeousness of her tone. The hall has amazing acoustics and although I was sitting at the very back of the balcony she reached me easily.

She didn’t only reach my ears, but touched mu heart and awed my mind. What an amazing lady, what talent and what an amazing work she does. Her English, Italian, French, Spanish and German were all flawless and she is an amazing exception in the great sea of female singers: you can listen to her and actually understand every single word she says! Not only the sounds are beautiful, but she tells a story that you can understand, I appreciated it tremendously!

But most of all she is real. She is angelic, and tender and sweet, but she is also earthy, full of live and such a woman! She does us proud, girls!

I also have to say a special thanks to her for engaging with us, the public. That is a special gift and so rare in singers, especially in such recitals. I am grateful to her for talking to us, looking at us, addressing us with her singing, she made us part of the experience, her partners in a very pleasant way. All too often we fell amazed but strangely left out, and the singer stays in her/his unreachable realm and seems to be singing more to herself/himself, while the bunch of us sitting there only provide the opportunity for display. Saturday I felt very much part of the show, in a friendly and sweet way. Thanks Joyce for sharing yourself with us in such a generous way.

This was the program:
Antonio Vivaldi:
Col piacer della mia fede (Arsilda, regina di Ponto)
Vedro con mio diletto (Il Guistino)
Da quel ferro che ha svenato (Il Farnace)
Ernest Chausson
Hebe
Serenade
Le colibrí
Les papillons
Joaquin Turina
Poema en forma de canciones (Dedicatoria- solo piano, Nunca olvida…, Cantares, Los dos miedos, Las locas por amor)

Aaron Copland
Songs from 12 poems by Emily Dickinson (Nature, the gentlest mother, There came a wind like a bugle, Why do they shut me out of Heaven?, The world feels dusty, Dear March, come in!, Sleep is supposed to be, Going to Heaven, The Chariot)
George Gershwin
The man I love ( Lady be Good)
By Strauss

Encore:
Strauss – The composer’s aria Ariadne auf Naxos
Handel – Ombra mai fu
The wizard of Oz – Somewhere, over the rainbow

It is so hard to pick favourites, but I want to prove to you that I did listen ;-):

Vivaldi was vivacious and lusciously Italian and lively, the Chaussaun was melancholic and the papillons were my favourite! I had never heard Turina before, but this was probably one of my favourite of the whole night:

“Prefiero, como todas las mujeres
Que me amen poco tiempo y con locura!”
Copland touched me with being shut out of Heaven and going to Heaven, such sorrow and such emotion! And the evening ended on a note of joy and fun with Gershwin and Strauss.

And Joyce, the song you dedicated to your husband…awwww, I bet, every time he hears you sing it, he falls in love with you all over again!

The encores were as diverse as you see and all beautiful! But the dedication to her father, Somewhere, over the rainbow, was he one which brought tears to my eyes. I don’t like any musicals at all (well maybe Mamma mia, but that is ABBA), but I have never heard this one sung so well and so touchingly. This song, you made me love it and for me there will never be a better version than yours tonight!

So what else to say…. I am hooked!!!

In fact, I am so hooked I went and bought myself a ticket for the Barbican, the 13th of December, Furore, 1 row! (yesss!!!!) And wait, it is Handel, isn’t it…oh, boy… (well, if anyone can convert me to Handel, she’s the one! )

The concert was recorded by the BBC and will be broadcast on Radio3 on the 22nd of October. Don’t miss it!!!

And now I need to dash off to the cinema…for Joyce’s debut as Donna Elvira (she will be fabulousss, I know it!), for the first live broadcast in cinemas of a ROH performance (and I am keeping all my fingers crossed that it will be a great success!) and for watching Simon Keenlyside’s Don try to seduce and be rejected by all women ;-) (we must forgive them, Mozart and Da Ponte made them do it!)
More on that tomorrow….




PS Thanks for the pictures to EMI Classics