March 18, 2010
Joyce DiDonato: The Deepest Desire
My goodness, I have really dropped the 8-ball on this blog. Well, I’m starting to get inspired to post again, so look out …
A good friend kindly lent me a copy of Joyce DiDonato‘s 2005 recital on Eloquentia, The Deepest Desire. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable program of works by Bernstein, Copland, and Jake Heggie, whose cycle The Deepest Desire features a flute obbligato (here played by Frances Shelly). The pianist here is David Zobel, who is excellent – he has a great dynamic and tonal range. DiDonato is her usual thoroughly engaged self, occasionally sacrificing beauty of tone for expression of the text, which is not necessarily a bad thing!
An excerpt, Bernstein’s “Extinguish My Eyes”, is available on Youtube with commentary by the singer:
