Stella Di Napoli / Joyce Didonato

Bellini: Dopo l'oscuro nembo (from Adelson e Salvini) second version, 1828/29 Tu sola, o mia Giulietta... Deh! tu, bell’anima (from I Capuleti e I Montecchi) Carafa: L’amica ancor non torna...Oh, di sorte crudel (from Le nozze di Lammermoor) Jean-Michel Bertelli (clarinet) Donizetti: Par che mi dica ancora… Fuggi l'immagine (from Elisabetta al castello di Kenilworth) Morgane Fauchois (glockenspiel) Io vi rivedo alfin...Deh! Tu di un’umile preghiera (from Maria Stuarda) Mercadante: Se fino al cielo ascendere (from La vestale) Pacini: Ove t’aggiri, o barbaro (from Stella di Napoli) Héloise Mas (Marta) Saffo Flutto che muggi…Teco dall’are pronube…L’ama ognor qual io l’amai (from Saffo) Rémi Mathieu (Faone), Héloise Mas (Climene) & Nabil Suliman (Alcandro) Rossini: Riedi al soglio (from Zelmira) Nabil Suliman (Polidoro), Rémi Mathieu (Ilo) Valentini, C: Lasciami... Se il mar sommesso mormora (from Il sonnambulo) Héloise Mas (Sofia)

Following the success of her crowd-sourced ‘Best Of’ collection “reJoyce” and her electrifying ‘Drama Queens’ album of Baroque arias, Joyce DiDonato returns to her heartland repertoire to celebrate the birth of Bel Canto opera in 19th c. Naples. On Stella di Napoli (Star of Naples), the American mezzo-soprano’s creamy tone and dramatic prowess breathe new life into little-known arias by Mercadante, Michele Carafa (a student of Cherubini and close friend of Rossini), Carlo Valentini and the prolific opera composer Giovanni Pacini, whose Stella di Napoli (1845) gives the album its title. Joyce worked closely with Italian conductor Riccardo Minasi (whose previous projects include Bellini’s Norma with Cecilia Bartoli) to bring three unjustly neglected arias to light in new editions and world premiere recordings. Alongside these little-known gems, Joyce presents a sumptuous Bel Canto banquet with music by the three greats — Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti — including the latter’s Maria Stuarda: a tour-de-force DiDonato signature role. Ms. DiDonato won a 2013 Grammy for her last Bel Canto album “Diva, Divo,” declared “an ideal vehicle for her glorious mezzo voice in which the most fiendish coloratura ornaments and trills sound effortless”. (The Observer)

Price: $22.98