Coming Soon,
Two new recordings from Joyce DiDonato
Even by Joyce DiDonato's usual standards, it's been quite a week for the great American mezzo, and much of the news has a distinctly French flavour...As her residency at the Barbican continues with a performance of Ravel's heady Shéhérazade, the Royal Opera announced yesterday that she will be making her role-debut as Charlotte in Massenet's Werther next summer - and we hear that she'll be taking on another great French tragic heroine on disc the following year, when Warner Classics embark on a studio recording of Berlioz's five-hour epic Les Troyens. DiDonato will sing on the pivotal role of Didon, which she has not yet assumed on stage, whilst Énée will be taken by the label's new star tenor Bryan Hymel, who really has made this punishing role his own over the past couple of years (a foretaste, in the form of the great Act Five monologue 'Inutiles regrets', is available on his recent disc of French heroic arias).
But before that, there's the unexpected pleasure of a new recital-disc (her first in almost ten years), recorded live at the Wigmore Hall last autumn with Sir Antonio Pappano at the piano over two sell-out performances which were hailed for their 'consummate wit and intelligence' (The Guardian) and 'beauty of tone and love for the music' (Financial Times).
The programme is a game of two halves, one Italian and the second American - an apt touch given the respective heritages and musical specialisms of the two performers. They open with Haydn's dramatic 20-minute cantata Arianna a Naxos (an enticing prospect for anyone who remembers her incendiary account of the same composer's Scena di Berenice at the Proms in 2009), followed by songs by Francesco Santoliquido, Ernesto de Curtis and of course DiDonato's signature Rossini; the second half draws on The Great American Songbook, including classics by Richard Rodgers, Stephen Foster and Jerome Kern, and (a personal favourite of mine!) the gloriously sassy Amor from William Bolcom's Cabaret Songs.
The disc will be released on Warner Classics at the end of August.
Recital-discs by Joyce DiDonato
Drake is also the pianist on this 2007 disc of Spanish songs, with music by Falla, Granados, Montsalvatge, Obradors, Rossini and Turina.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
...and other recent recordings
This compelling exploration of the byways of early nineteenth-century Italian opera scooped the Vocal Award at least week's Gramophone Awards, and features arias by Mercadante, Pacini and Carafa as well as music by the bel canto triumvirate - Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Bryan Hymel as Énée
Released just last month, the American tenor's debut disc on Warner offers a snapshot of Hymel as the Trojan prince, as well as jaw-dropping accounts of heroic arias from Guillaume Tell, Hérodiade, Les vêpres siciliennes and more. Unmissable.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Hymel substituted for an ailing Jonas Kaufmann in the Royal Opera House's spectacular 2012 staging of both parts of Les Troyens, to thrilling effect. Cast also includes Eva-Maria Westbroek as Didon and Anna Caterina Antonacci as Cassandre, and Antonio Pappano conducts.
Available Format: 2 DVD Videos
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
