Handel’s ‘Jephtha’ on tour

In April and May, Joyce DiDonato joins frequent collaborators Francesco Corti and il Pomo d’Oro for a five-city tour throughout Europe, performing Handel’s biblical oratorio Jephtha. She and the orchestra have collaborated on Jephtha before, recording an aria from the oratorio as part of her album, In War and Peace. The Arts Desk praised her performance, saying, “‘Scenes of horror, scenes of woe’ from Jephtha makes an arresting opening, scuttling strings matched by the nervy progress of the voice, lurching between extremes of range and texture. It’s music made for a singing-actress like DiDonato, and she revels in it, drawing baroque ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev with her into this gorgeous, grotesque sound-world.”

Joyce joins an exciting all-star cast, including Michael Spyres in the title role, Mélissa Petit as Iphis, Jasmin White as Hamor, and Cody Quattlebaum as Zebul, with Joyce as Jephtha’s wife Storgé.

The tour begins in Paris on April 29 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, before traveling to Madrid’s Teatro Real on May 1 and Dortmund on May 2, as part of Joyce’s residency at the Konzerthaus Dortmund for their Curating Artist series. Performances continue in London’s Barbican Theatre on May 7 and Budapest’s Béla Bartók National Concert Hall on May 9, concluding in Katowice on May 11, a performance that will be broadcast live to mezzo.tv subscribers.