Les Nuits d’été with the Minnesota Orchestra
The Minnesota Star Tribune“[Joyce DiDonato is] one of the biggest stars in the opera world, and no one among the almost capacity crowd at Orchestra Hall for Thursday’s midday concert is likely to have been left wondering why. Her expressively compelling performance brought listeners into intimate contact with the layered emotions coursing through Berlioz’s songs, her richly textured voice one of subtlety and nuance.”
The Minnesota Star Tribune
“As a performer, DiDonato is expressive with both her resonant, articulate voice and her face and physicality. Gautier’s poetry is rich in imagery, as in “Le spectre de la rose” (The Ghost of the Rose), sung from the perspective of a dead rose plucked by a beautiful girl, its scent remaining on her breast.
There’s intensity and fierce drama as well, especially in the lament, “Sur Les Lagunes” (On the Lagoons), about a seaman mourning his dead lover. Displaying quite a vocal range in the tune, DiDonato’s voice becomes a piercing wail on the “ah! sans amour!” lines, producing chills.”