Kay Stern / Dawn Harms / Patricia Helller / Emil Miland VIOLINS OF HOPE

 

VIOLINS OF HOPE

Joshua Hopkins / Jake Heggie SONGS FOR MURDERED SISTERS

 

SONGS FOR MURDERED SISTERS

 

Jamie Barton UNEXPECTED SHADOWS

UNEXPECTED SHADOWS

 

Olivia Vermeulen / Jan Philip Schulze DIRTY MINDS

DIRTY MINDS

Joyce DiDonato / Brentano String Quartet INTO THE FIRE

Recorded live at London’s celebrated Wigmore Hall, this captivating recital by Joyce DiDonato and the Brentano Quartet was conceived around Jake Heggie’s song cycle Camille Claudel: Into the Fire, a work written for DiDonato – she describes it as “one of most moving projects I’ve ever been part of”. Songs by Debussy and Strauss and a quartet movement by Guillaume Lekeu complete the programme, which prompted the Financial Times to write that “the beauty and range” of DiDonato’s singing “are surely now at their impressive peak.”

Joyce Didonato / Alexander String Quartet JAKE HEGGIE Camille Claudel: Into the Fire

American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is currently one of the undisputed stars of the contemporary operatic scene, with frequent appearances in the world's premier venues. Her liquid coloratura vocal palette has left critics gasping for superlatives. She is the Barbican’s Artist Spotlight awardee for the 2014-5 season, and has curated this performance for herself as the finale of her residency. 

American composer Jake Heggie, a friend of DiDonato’s, is the most distinguished contemporary creator of the art song cycle. His Camille Claudel: Into the Fire has been written specifically for DiDonato. It tells the story of the titular sculptor. For many years she was both model and lover to Auguste Rodin, before coming into her own as one of the most important French artists of the early twentieth century. In 1913, her poet brother committed her to an asylum, where she remained for the remaining 30 years of her life, despite the insistence of her friends that she was well. 

The piece consists of seven movements, six of which are based on individual sculptures by Claudel.

Joyce DiDonato / The Dallas Opera Orchestra and Chorus / Patrick Summers JAKE HEGGIE Great Scott

Great Scott is the first full-length opera by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally since Dead Man Walking in 2000. It was commissioned by The Dallas Opera and is co-produced with San Diego Opera.

The world premiere was Oct 30, 2015 at the Winspear Opera House with a starry cast that included Joyce DiDonato, Ailyn Pérez, Frederica von Stade, Nathan Gunn, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Kevin Burdette, Michael Mayes and Rodell Rosel.

It was conducted by Patrick Summers and directed by Jack O’Brien with sets and costumes by Bob Crowley, lighting by Brian MacDevitt and projections by Elaine J. McCarthy.

Based on an original story by McNally, Great Scott is set in a large American city that has a respected but struggling opera company and a thriving professional football team. International opera star Arden Scott has returned to her hometown to save American Opera, the company that launched her career, but the opening night performance of the long-lost opera she discovered (Rosa Dolorosa, Figlia di Pompei) falls on the same night as the home football team’s first national championship (Go Grizzlies!). The fate of the company hangs in the balance as Arden is forced to consider the sacrifices she has made and discovers that true greatness is a matter of heart.