Simple and humanist

 A native of Kansas, the mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato is one of the greatest currently active opera singers. Far from the clichés of divas from times gone by, she is a modern, smiling and elegant woman. She tweets, is active on the social networks and keeps a blog. She performs all over the world and meets with phenomenal success, which does not prevent her from remaining level-headed and modest. With an optimistic and strong-willed character, she is upset by the world and its injustices. She strives for peace and hopes, through her art, to help promote humanism.

A passion for Rosina…

Joyce DiDonato is the sixth of seven siblings in her family and comes from a music-loving background. From childhood, she took part in the choir at her school as well as learning the piano. It was on watching Cecilia Bartoli as Rosina in The Barber of Seville that she discovered a passion for opera. Her training tended towards the opera stage and she accumulated performances, from auditions to appearances, before obtaining the role, at the Paris Opera, of… Rosina! It was a triumph and her career literally took off. Enamoured of distorted roles, she racked up appearances and then took on the most demanding scores of the dramatic register, playing characters as complex as Marie Stuart, Elena, Charlotte, Adalgisa, Donna Elvira, Cinderella, etc., on the boards of the greatest opera houses with prestigious partners and conductors. She obtained an exclusive recording contract with Warner Music and the famous Gramophone magazine heaped the following praise upon her: “Joyce sings and the world is suddenly brighter”.

Program

• Gioachino ROSSINI – Semiramide – Ouverture
• Giovanni PACINI – Stella di Napoli – Ove t’aggiri, o barbaro…
• Michele CARAFFA – Le Nozze di Lammermoor – O di sorte crudel… (version transposée)
• Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART – Le Nozze di Figaro – Ouverture
• Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART – Le  Nozze di Figaro – Deh vieni non tardar…
• Gioachino ROSSINI – Il Barbiere di Siviglia – Una voce poco fa…

• Richard WAGNER – Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg – Prélude Acte 1
• Hector BERLIOZ – Les Troyens – Je vais mourir… Adieu, fière cité…
• Georges BIZET – L’Arlésienne, suite n°2 – Farandole
• Vincenzo BELLINI – Adelson e Salvini – Dopo l’oscuro nembo…
• Gioachino ROSSINI – La Donna del lago – Tanti affetti…