Joyce DiDonato

Top Classical, January 2021
Joyce DiDonato (maiden name Flaherty) has claimed her place as one of the most compelling and committed performing artists of her generation. Critics have described her technique as “fearless”. Mezzo-soprano DiDonato began her career with a string of critically acclaimed debuts, including at La Scala and Covent Garden, as well as triumphs on concert and recital stages. She rose from virtual anonymity in 1999 to international stardom by 2002, becoming one of the most sought-after coloratura mezzo-sopranos of the early 21st century.  

In fact, her own story would itself make for a very compelling opera. She grew up in a Midwestern Irish Catholic family. Her late father, Donald Flaherty, was an architect whose own father had disparaged his singing ambitions. But though he encouraged his daughter to make a go of her dreams, she was told by seasoned instructors in Houston, Philadelphia, and Santa Fe that she had little talent and would never make it. Nevertheless, she persisted and eventually proved them all wrong. 

Some of her greatest successes have come in Baroque repertoire, particularly the operas of Handel, such as Alcina, (Hercules), Elmira (Floridante), and Sesto (Giulio Cesare), and in Italian bel canto operas. She is capable of projecting great power, as in Handel’s Alcina, but is also excels in roles of lightness and humor, such as the heroines in Rossini’s comedies. She has also sung many Mozart roles, including Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro) and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), and her repertory includes Berlioz, Bellini, and contemporary composers like Michael Daugherty.

Joyce’s acclaimed discography also includes Grammy-Award-winning Diva Divo, Drama Queens, ReJoyce, and Stella di Napoli (Erato/Warner Classics). Other honours include the Gramophone Artist of the Year and Recital of the Year Awards, three previous German ECHO Klassik Awards for Female Singer of the Year, an induction into the Gramophone Hall of Fame, and Best Female Singer of the Year at the 2016 Spanish Opera Awards Premios Líricos Teatro Campoamor. 

DiDonato is unparalleled as a singing actor. And though much of her great prowess on stage is founded on years of study and practice, she says there’s no teacher quite like life experience. 

“It’s all temporary. It’s fantastic, and it’s a wonderful moment to live, and I give myself full permission to breathe it in and say, “Great.” And then, the next morning, you have to wake up, and life goes on. There’s going to be another Joyce DiDonato coming, and another recording, and another Rosina. Okay, great, fantastic.” 

In many ways DiDonato represents a new wave of American opera singer — and not just because of her toughness. The stereotype of opera divas has long been women who are serious, stout and secretive — who like to be adored only from afar. DiDonato could not be more different. She’s svelte, as cheery in person as she is as Rosina, and has no interest living her life behind a veil of PR, spin and celebrity hauteur.

Janine Jansen

A truly exciting and versatile artist

Top Classical, December 2020
Born January 7, 1978 in the Netherlands, Janine Jansen is one of the world’s great violin players. She began to study the violin at age 6 under the influence of her family: her father is an organist and harpsichord player (as is one of her brothers), her mother is a singer, and another brother plays the cello in a Dutch radio orchestra. Her uncle is the renowned bass Peter Kooy.

Ever since her Concertgebouw debut in 1997, Janine Jansen has been a huge star in her native Holland. Today she is internationally recognized as one of the great violinists. Her London debut in November 2002, accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, was quickly followed by invitations from some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker and the New York Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the great orchestras of London, Paris and Munich. She has worked with such eminent conductors as Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev or Paavo Järvi among many others. 

 In 1993 she founded the International Chamber Music Festival in Utrecht, which continues to take place every year. 

Janine Jansen has an exclusive recording contract with Decca (Universal Music).  In 2009 Jansen released her recording of the L.v. Beethoven and Benjamin Britten Violin Concertos with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the London Symphony Orchestra. Both orchestras were conducted by Paavo Järvi. Jansen said that recording these concertos together was a long-standing desire of hers, as she sees these two works as among the greatest concertos in the current repertoire. Nowadays, she sees a recording session as being “like the biggest lesson I have every year, just by listening back to yourself in such a critical, detailed way.” “You learn a lot from it.” 

Jansen is the recipient of numerous prizes, including four Edison and three ECHO Klassik awards. She was awarded the 2003 Nederlandse Muziekprijs (Dutch Music Prize) and the Concertgebouw Prize in January 2013. She is also the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist Award. 

Since 2000, Janine Jansen has played the 1727 Barrère Stradivari. “I know it so well, I love it. It has so many possibilities. It’s not a typical dark instrument or a typical strong instrument, but I feel that I can do what I need to get there. It’s very colourful.”said the artist during an interview for Strings Magazine. 

Janine next tour date is at Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, after that she will be at Philharmonie de Paris in Paris.

Jessye Norman

Pure power and poetry

Top Classical, November 2020
Owing a powerful voice that allowed her to explore various genres, from sacred music to opera, Jessye Norman has been one of the most successful American singers. She won five Grammy Awards, four for her recordings and one for her career, and in 2009 she received the National Medal of Arts from Barack Obama. Thanks to her starring roles in classics such as Carmen and Aída and her performances at the Met, the Royal House and La Scala, she achieved world fame. 

Born September 15, 1945 in Augusta, Georgia, Norman grew up surrounded by music as one of five children in a family of amateur artists. She was introduced to gospel at age four, and as a young girl began listening to radio broadcasts of performances at the Metropolitan Opera, where she would eventually become legend. 

At a very young age, she began singing on the churches and her voice became soon noticed: she obtained a scholarship at Howard University in Washington (DC.) and completed her studies at Peabody University and the University of Michigan. 

She established herself in Europe in the 1970s, making her operatic debut in Berlin in 1969 before charming elsewhere on the continent including Italy. The first appearance was a performance at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. Norman played Elizabeth brilliantly in the opera “Tannhäuser”. Then she was invited to La Scala Theatre, the Royal Opera House in London and the Salzburg Opera House Festival. The singer is known as the greatest soprano of the era. Her voice has been praised for her wideness, crystal-transparency, and great musicality. The audience was delighted with the bright temperament and distinctive appearance of the opera heroine. 

After conquering Europe, Norman returned home, where she performed brilliantly at the Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Opera. She was not limited to classical arias, but she also excelled in the most demanding works composed by Strauss, Berlioz, Stravinsky, Meyer and Bartok. She devoted much of her musical life to singing Lieder recitals, symphonic and spiritual music. Her recording of Strauss’s Vier Letze Lieder (Four Last Songs), under the baton of Kurt Masur, is one of the best CD performances of this work. Her voice also graced the songs of Schubert, Mahler, Brahms, Janáček, Ravel, Poulenc, Schumann, Strauss, Wolf and Schoenberg. 

Norman has been one of the most decorated American singers. She won five Grammy Awards, four for her albums and one for her musical career. She received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor in 1997 (she was the youngest person to receive it) and the National Medal of Arts in 2009. She holds a slate of honorary doctorates from prestigious schools including Juilliard, Harvard and Yale. Besides her impressive stature, musical accomplishments she also served on a half dozen boards such as The New York Public Library, The Elton John Aids Foundation, NYC Meals on Wheels and the Lupus Foundation.  She started a music school in her hometown of Augusta, Georgia where students can study for free. 

The American soprano passed away on September 30, 2019, at the age of 74. Her priceless voice and her footprint for her great social implication will remain forever.