Joyce DiDonato stuns in Wagner
DiDonato is radian; and to have Il Pomo d'Oro offering the orchestral contribution like a newly-restored painting makes this very special indeed
This is unusual in our coverage because it is a digital EP available through Apple Music. It has been available before, bu to a select few, as the "b" side to the LP formatting of DiDonato's EDEN project disc. We also met Joyce DiDonato in the Berlioz Roméo et Juliette and Cléopatre on Erato with John Nelson and his wonderful Strasbourg orchestra (here).
Here we have Richard Wagner's Wesendonck-Lieder (Fünf Gedichte für eine Fauenstimme, WWV 91). With an important difference, While we have the standard orchestrations (Felix Mottl for Nos. 1-4, Wagner for No. 5), the orchestra is a period instrument one. This is not a unique approach - there is an ongoing Wagner Ring in Dresden under Kent Nagano, for instance, and the Das Rheingold last year was simply stunning (see my report in Opera Now). But to have it enshrined in sound here is a gift indeed.
One can immediately hear the extra clarity from this approach in the first song, "Der Engel" (The Angel). The power of the fourth, “Schmerzen,” is all there, too, both from the orchestra and from DiDonato in full flow, almost giving Jessye Norman a run for her money! (this from the Eden album):
There is so much to enjoy here. The urgency of “Stehe still” (and the way she relishes the very first syllable); the intensity of “Im Triebhaus” (In the Greenhouse, subtitled ‘Study for Tristan’). One can hear how DiDonato relishes the words: the long "s" on "Sonne" that opens “Schmerzen” is a good example. Each word matters, but each is subsumed within the broader line; and listen to how the orchestra is as intense as any of the great large symphony orchestras and yet everything is laid bare.
The almost whispered string opening to “Träume” on strings is magnificent; a keening oboe wails quietly above with its suspension before the voice enters. This is some of the finest Wagner singing out there; DiDonato is the epitome of tenderness and Innigkeit, so that when her voice opens out it is phenomenally powerful on an emotional level. And to have Il Pomo d'Oro offering the orchestral contribution like a newly-restored painting makes this very special indeed.
You can buy this new Wesendonck-Lieder at Apple Music