“Rejoyce! The Best of Joyce DiDonato” – Joyce DiDonato, sop./ Various artists – Erato 5099993412124 (2 CDs), 154:15 [Distr. by Naxos] ****:
As you can guess by the title, this is a “greatest hits” disc of popular American soprano Joyce DiDonato, only this time there is a twist; she let her fans select the cover photo, some of the blurbs inside the booklet, the title, and the tracks, all from her previous 15 albums, with the exception of the last one, the first CD release of Over the Rainbow. The rest of the album, heavily favoring the Baroque with excursions into classical and early Romantic periods—and a few more modern pieces like Strauss, Heggie, and Rodgers and Hammerstein, completely play to her strengths and are well-selected by her myriad fans.
DiDonato’s voice is not one that comes to mind when you are considering the most luscious-sounding sopranos of the day—like Renee Fleming—but that is not to say that the voice is lacking in pleasing timbre. Far from it—she can display quite a remarkable tone when she decides to do so. But her forte is more in delivery, a singing actress who throws herself into a role like few others today. In this way she reminds me of Danielle De Niese, whose performances I find myself enjoying more when watching than just singing, because the delivery can be so spectacular. But at this point DiDonato is the more versatile singer, and this two-disc assembly brings a lot of pleasure, showing her to be fully adept in many styles, and fully justifying her enviable reputation among opera lovers today.
As I said, 15 recordings are represented here, so there are all sorts of additional artists who appear, such as Anna Netrebko, Frederica von Stade, Antonio Pappano, and many others. If you are a fan—and it’s hard not to be—you might already have a lot of these recordings. For an incomplete collection or as a way to get acquainted I can think of no better way than latching onto this release.
TrackList:
Disc 1 =
1 Frondi tenere… Ombra mai fu: Serse, HWV40, Act I – Joyce DiDonato/Il Complesso Barocco/Alan Curtis
2 Act III, scene 11 – Crude furie degl’orridi abissi (Serse): Serse HWV 40 (1737) – Joyce DiDonato/Christophe Rousset/Les Talens Lyrique
3 Addio, Roma: L’Incoronazione di poppea, SV 308 – Emmanuelle Haïm/Le Concert d`Astrée/Joyce DiDonato
4 Aria: Non saria pena la mia: Ercole su’l Termodonte, RV.710, Act I, Scena 9 – Fabio Biondi/Europa Galante/Joyce DiDonato
5 Act V, scene 1 – Moriro, ma vendicata: Teseo HWV 9 (1713) – Joyce DiDonato/Christophe Rousset/Les Talens Lyrique
6 Io t’abraccio: Rodelinda HWV 19 – Joyce DiDonato/Patrizia Ciofi/Il Complesso Barocco
7 Aria: Scherza infida: Ariodante HWV 33, Atto secondo, Scena 3 – Joyce DiDonato/Alan Curtis/Il Complesso Barocco
8 Aria: Vanne, sorella ingrata (Radamisto) HWV 12a: Radamisto, Atto 2, Scena 8 – Joyce DiDonato/Il Complesso Barocco/Alan Curtis
9 Madre diletta, abbracciami: Ifigenia in Aulide – Joyce DiDonato/Il Complesso Barocco/Alan Curtis
10 Col versar, barbaro, il sangue: Berenice – Joyce DiDonato/Il Complesso Barocco/Alan Curtis
11 Act III, scene 3 – Where shall I fly?: Hercules HWV 60 (1745), Air de Dejanira – Joyce DiDonato/Christophe Rousset/Les Talens Lyrique
12 Sposa, son disprezzata: Merope – Joyce DiDonato/Il Complesso Barocco/Alan Curtis
13 Duet: Addio, mio caro bene (Act 1, Scene 4): Teseo HWV 9 – Patrizia Ciofi/Joyce DiDonato/Alan Curtis/Il Complesso Barocco
14 Parto, parto: La Clemenza di Tito K.621 – Joyce DiDonato/Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon
15 Voi che sapete: Le Nozze di Figaro K.492 – Joyce DiDonato/Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon
16 Aprite, presto aprite: Le nozze di Figaro, K.492, Act II – Joyce DiDonato/Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon
Disc 2 =
1 Amour, viens rendre à mon âme: Orphée et Eurydice, Act I – Joyce DiDonato/Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon
2 In quali eccessi, o numi… Mi tradi quell’alma ingrata: Don Giovanni – Yannick Nézet-Séguin – Mahler Chamber Orchestra
3 Una voce poco fa: Il barbiere di Siviglia – Joyce DiDonato/Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
4 Giusto ciel, in tal periglio: Maometto II – Joyce DiDonato/Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
5 Quis est homo: Stabat Mater – Anna Netrebko/Joyce DiDonato/Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
6 Ascolta! Se Romeo t’uccise un figlio…. – La tremenda ultrice spada: I Capuleti e i Montecchi – Joyce DiDonato/Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon
7 Tanti affetti in tal momento… Fra il padre, e fra l’amante: La donna del lago – Joyce DiDonato/Edoardo Muller/Coro dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia
8 La Damnation de Faust: D’amour l’ardente flamme: La Damnation de Faust, Op.24 – Joyce DiDonato/Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon
9 Nacqui all’affanno: La Cenerentola – Joyce DiDonato/Choeurs de l’Opéra National de Lyon
10 Seien wir wieder gut!: Ariadne auf Naxos Op.60 – Joyce DiDonato/Nabil Suliman/Orchestre de l’Opéra
11 You’ve been so good to him and all of us…Who will walk with me?: Dead Man Walking – Joyce DiDonato/Frederica von Stade/Patrick Summers
12 ”You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel – Joyce DiDonato/John Wilson/The John Wilson Orchestra
13 ”Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from The Sound of Music – Joyce DiDonato/John Wilson/The John Wilson Orchestra
14 Scene 8 – The Execution: He will gather us around, all around (Sister Helen): Dead Man Walking, Act II – Joyce DiDonato
15 Somewhere over the rainbow – Joyce DiDonato/Kansas City Orchestra/Michael Stern
—Steven Ritter
