In War & Peace: Harmony Through Music © Joyce DiDonato

Accompanied by the italian orchestra Il Pomo D’oro, the american mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato presents the recital In war and peace: harmony through music. Recognized as the best recital of 2017 by the Gramophone Awards, arrives this Wednesday, October 16 at the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo. 

“Perhaps she is the most powerful singer of her generation,” The New Yorker described to the American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who has twice won the Grammy Award in the category of best classical vocal soloist (2012 and 2016). Recently, she was named the ‘Singer of the Year’ by the prestigious Opus Klassik awards, which were created to promote classical music. 

She is an artist who sends political and social messages through her productions, such as In war and peace: harmony through music, in which she exposes her perception of current affairs with Baroque arias by Purcell, Händel, De Cavalieri, Gesualdo, Leonardo Leo and Arvo Pärt, in order to convey the “joy of music” in the midst of the harsh reality that hits the world today. 

The impeccable interpretation of DiDonato is mixed with the work of Il Pomo D’Oro, under the direction of Russian harpsichordist Maxim Emelyanychev; To that is added a powerful and colorful staging and the choreographies created by the Argentine Manuel Palazzo.

DiDonato is the sixth of seven brothers, her father was an architect and directed a church choir; her mother was the one who played the organ there. She wanted to devote herself to teaching, but her father encouraged her to devote herself to lyric singing. “‘Do you know Joyce? There are many ways to teach.’ There I felt that he gave me permission to move to the dark side,” she said in an interview with The Guardian DiDonato, who is still captivated by that instinct of teaching and therefore continues to teach master classes. 

Her recent presentations include her participation in Cinderella and Norma at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, her return to the Royal Opera in London in Semiramids, under the direction of Antonio Pappano; the assembly of Dead Man Walking at the Teatro Real in Madrid and her presentation at the Barbican Center with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

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About Il Pomo D’Oro 

Il Pomo d’Oro © Julien Mignot

It is an orchestra founded in 2012 with a special focus on opera. It is directed by Maxim Emelyanychev, with whom he forms a set of exceptional quality, which combines stylistic knowledge, the highest technical skills and artistic enthusiasm. Il Pomo D’Oro, which is renowned for its interpretations of operas and instrumental works of the classical and Baroque periods, is a frequent guest at the most important concert halls in Europe and the United States, such as the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, in Paris; the Theater an der Wien, in Vienna; the Barbican Center, in London; Carnegie Hall, in New York, and the Berlin Philharmonic, among many others.