JOYCE DIDONATO
Joyce DiDonato
performed at Helsinki Music Center in her production In War & Peace –
Harmony through music with Il Pomo d’Oro orchestra. This time I am running out
of adjectives in describing the night, since it was pure magic. The audience
was listening and enjoying the performance in total silence.
The first part of the
production was about war, violence, pain. DiDonato’s singing was believable and
already the first arias - Handel’s Scenes of horror, scenes of woe and Leonardo
Leon’s Prendi quel ferro, o barbaro – rang in ferocious rage. And the beginning
of Handel’s Pensieri, voi mi tormentate was absolutely spectacular. What a
fantastic voice! At this point I, at least, stopped breathing.
The second part was
about peace and harmony. It felt as if there was a totally different woman on
the stage. The voice was equally magnificent, but the songs and performing were
calm and serene. In this you could really pay attention to DiDonato’s superb technique.
Decorations were precise and pure. Really breathtaking virtuosity!
As an additional
number DiDonato sang beautifully Richard Wagner’s Morgen, the first words of which (Und
Morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen) described perfectly the feeling of hope
in which it was good to end the evening.
I am sure that the
voice of Joyce DiDonato alone would have been enough to enchant the audience,
but the production was built as a whole. I couldn’t have been the only one, who
forgot to follow the video projections (Yousef Iskander) on the wall and
ceiling, when I was concentrating on the singing, but when I did notice them, I
had to admit that they were very suitable and supported the themes of the
performance. Also the lights (Henning Blum) were well planned and they created
a nice atmosphere on the Helsinki Music Center’s otherwise a bit bland scene.
In my opinion the dance was perhaps the least contributing part of the
performance even though dancer and choreographer Manuel Palazzo did well in his
task.
I have to also mention
the costumes (by Vivienne Westwood) which reflected the themes of both the
parts, too. The first dress was glamorous, even aggressive with a winged skirt
and the second dress brought to mind a peacefully flowing river.
Il Pomo d’Oro played
well throughout the whole evening. It is a world class baroque orchestra and
their solo performances were also enjoyable to listen to. Their cooperation
with Joyce DiDonato was well polished but still sounded spontaneous. An
absolutely fabulous evening!
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