Five questions for… Joyce DiDonato before her performance at the XII Baroque Opera Festival in Warsaw
The concert of the American star, accompanied by the Il Pomo d’oro orchestra, will inaugurate the 12th edition of the Baroque Opera Festival on September 2. Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of the Polish Radio will host Joyce DiDonato’s latest multi-faceted EDEN project, combining opera music with elements of education and ecology promotion. Agata Ubysz talks to the mezzo-soprano.
With this project, we’re trying to tell the story of perfection – this motto describes your EDEN project. What does perfection mean to you?
The beauty of our human nature, and that of the natural world around us, is that our imperfections are precisely what make us perfect. Part of EDEN’s aim is to remind our audience that we are a PART of this imperfect/perfect world, but we have become disconnected to all the moving parts around us. We can return to, or create anew, the “perfection” of Eden by reconnecting deeply to our wonderfully complex, flawed nature – and to align with the harmony and balance that exists – perfectly – in the natural world.
What are the challenges of such a complex project as Eden?
Absolutely EVERYTHING is challenging about EDEN! We are touring a show on the scale of some pop concerts, but with only a fraction of the resources. The musical program spans 4 Centuries, stretching all the musicians and myself to the thrilling edge of what is possible. The program is given without a break in the effort to create an almost hypnotic effect on the audience. We bring in a local children’s choir in every city and have very little time to rehearse with them and incorporate them into the show. It’s the most challenging and rewarding project of my career!
EDEN was presented at NOSPR in Katowice last year. Could you please share some memories of that performance?
It was an extraordinary meeting between myself and the wonderful children, and the incredibly warm public. It was my first time singing in Poland and I said directly coming off-stage that I simply had to come back. I remember standing around a newly planted tree that the children of Canto d’Oro had planted as part of the Eden Engagement program, and I felt the real spirit of community and creation that EDEN exemplifies in full force. It was a truly magical performance.
Can you tell us about your first encounter with opera music?
My Dad was always playing the Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts growing up, but it wasn’t until I was taking voice lessons myself that I began to understand and appreciate the complexity that opera demands and gives.
Think of someone who has never seen an opera performance. How would you convince them to go to the opera?
I would bring it to them! I’ve brought opera into elementary schools, prisons and refugee camps and each time I’ve introduced this incredible world to them, explaining in simple terms what they are about to hear, they inevitably jump to their feet and stand in astonishment. My experience is if people are welcomed into the marvel that is classical music and opera, and given a bit of context of what they will hear, they often relish the experience.