Joyce DiDonato
with the
Opera Orchestra

Mezzo-Soprano with a Golden Voice

The American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato has been described by The New Yorker as “perhaps the most potent female singer of her generation.” The New York Times called her voice “nothing less than 24-carat gold.”

She has won several Grammy Awards, and in 2018, she won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera. Now, she is coming to the Main Stage to perform Hector Berlioz’s The Death of Cleopatra with the Opera Orchestra!

The Death of Cleopatra

The Death of Cleopatra is considered a masterpiece, despite being one of four unsuccessful attempts by Berlioz to win the Prix de Rome. The emotional swings of the suicidal Cleopatra make the cantata both dramatic and technically demanding.

Living Dolls

The concert is framed by music from two major ballets. The Opera Orchestra will start the evening with one of the most famous works by the composer who came to define the 20th century – Igor Stravinsky’s Petrushka, which was his second major success after The Firebird and before The Rite of Spring.

Petrushka is about a love triangle between three dolls that come to life at a market in St. Petersburg. In typical Stravinsky style, the music is filled with references from various styles, such as Russian folk tunes, Viennese waltzes, and popular music.

Picturesque Love

The last piece to be performed this evening is Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, which Stravinsky called “not only Ravel’s best work but also one of the most beautiful products of all French music.”

When his beloved Chloé is kidnapped by pirates, the shepherd Daphnis falls into a troubled sleep where he dreams that he is helped by the god Pan. He wakes up, and the dream has become reality – Chloé is back in his arms.

Ravel’s music paints pictures of sunny summer meadows and babbling brooks, birdsong, and the romantic tension between the two lovers.

The concert is conducted by the Opera’s music director, Edward Gardner.

Program

Igor Stravinsky Petrushka, Suite 1946
Hector Berlioz The Death of Cleopatra (with Joyce DiDonato)
Maurice Ravel Daphnis et Chloé, Suite no. 2