Theatre News

A touch of Kansas in the City

Acclaimed mezzo-soprano, Joyce diDonato, is set to be the subject of a Barbican Artist Spotlight next season.

As part of its 2014-15 season, the Barbican has announced that Kansas-born mezzo-soprano Joyce diDonato will have a series of events built around her to display the many facets of her artistry and showcase her in areas of the repertoire that have been the foundation of her career.

Joyce diDonato
Joyce diDonato

On 25 September she will perform a concert of bel canto arias by Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini with the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon . She has conquered all the major opera houses of the world with her vivid performances of these composers’ leading roles for the mezzo voice, indeed she is nominated for in the Whatsonstage Opera Poll for her assumption of the role of Elena in La donna del lago which she performed at The Royal Opera House last year to great critical acclaim.

Her virtuoso Baroque vocal skills will be showcased in a performance of Handel’s Alcina with the English Concert on 10 October when she sings the title role, whilst her affinity with late-Romantic music will be explored when she joins the New York Philharmonic on 17 April 2015 for a performance of Ravel’s Shéhérazade.

On 14 April 2015, she appears in an intimate concert at Milton Court Concert Hall for a new song cycle for voice and string quartet, Camille Claudel: Into the Fire. This work was written for her by the American composer Jake Heggie, who will also be at the piano to accompany Joyce DiDonato in the first half of the concert. With texts by Gene Scheer, Heggie’s song cycle is based on the life and work of Camille Claudel, the French sculptor and lover of Rodin, whose career ended when she was confined to a mental hospital for the last three decades of her life.

Barbican Centre