WINTERREISE – JOYCE DIDONATO

In this CD, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and conductor-pianist Yannick Nézet-Séguin offer us Schubert’s Winterreise (Winter Journey), considered for many as the most brilliant song cycles ever written. DiDonato, however, gives a personal approach on this beloved cycle of 24 songs in telling their story from the perspective of the woman, the lost love.   

Vocally, Joyce DiDonato is superb, with a full, enameled timbre; and with a song rich in colors and accents. It is truly a luxury to hear such a wonderful voice and admire her technique and intelligence. 

Her pianist is the outstanding conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin with who she’s been working for long time. In fact, she had never considered taking on such a challenging project, but it was Nézet-Séguin who persuaded her.  

When “Gute Nacht” begins it is instantly clear what sets her performance apart from others; what stands out is the deep emotion that she carries with her voice, as she plays with the syllables enlarging them and enhances her tone at times. With her contrasts she achieves to transmit great emotions, communicating a from a cold emptiness in the opening of “Gefrorne Tränen,” to a gradual growth of her emotions that lead to a vehement proclamation. 

“Der Lindenbaum” gives DiDonato the perfect opportunity to show the impressive control she has over her instrument, which she can modulate at will to change the entire timbre of her voice. She can go from a crystal clear top voice in “Irrlicht”  to a firely chest voice, moving fast and graciously from one to the other, and back. 

DiDonato’s voice stands out and makes up for what the most exigent listeners have described as: various too loud high notes and some too weak potentially expressive consonants and vowels not perfectly pronounced.  

With this CD Joyce DiDonato has undoubtedly proven once again that she is a great artist.