Joyce DiDonato is one of opera listener’s favorites as her voice flows majestically over difficult melodies with ease. In her most recent album, ‘Divo, Diva’, DiDonato shows the capabilities of a mezzo-soprano voice as she covers both male and female roles. Earlier this year she won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo, and listening to this album it is easy to understand why.
With tremendous accuracy, range, and drama, Joyce DiDonato sings with perfect technique. The change between different languages and the characters between the pieces is clear that she has a deeper understanding of all of the operas.
DiDonato, a very talented mezzo-soprano explains in the liner notes of the album how lucky she is to have slightly longer vocal chords.
“This genetic blessing has allowed me to portray a wealth of characters, from young boys to princesses, from ardent young men to demented, murderous wives. A richer tapestry of human emotions would be hard to find, and that translates into sheer fun for me!”
Sheer fun indeed! This album really shows Joyce DiDonato’s ability to portray all roles and emotions, the most important aspect of opera. She has no problem with ‘trouser roles’ (where a woman plays a male role) and this is shown in the opening notes of the album in “Je suis gris” as she plays Chérubin.
It seems that DiDonato enjoys singing, and put all of herself into this album. There is nothing better than a truly expressive piece of music, and this album has 16 perfect pieces. Joyce DiDonata deserves her Grammy Award and anyone who is interested in understanding why (opera fanatic or not) should listen to this album.