The great American coloratura mezzo Joyce DiDonato singing the wonderfully layered aria ‘Non piu di fiori’ from Mozart’s opera La Clemenza di Tito.
I posted Joan Sutherland’s version yesterday, but this is a rendition much more adhering to the context and fach of this highly demanding Mozart piece. Such a wealth of vocal diversity and colouring from Joyce. The middle of her voice is so warm and engaging, extending to a bright, opulent upper register, and yet has total ease down in the lower register, easily plummeting to rich, luxurious chest tones, almost like a contralto.
The command of registers combined with impeccable agility, gorgeous legato skill, highly emotive expression and studious shaping of text probably confirms DiDonato as one of the most accomplished operatic artists of the last decade.
An exemplary talent.
She is an extremely intelligent and musical performer. She adheres to the text, but the adherence isn’t boring - she takes the musical directions and makes it her own. My teacher once told me that musical intelligence is in the nuances. Two people can do the exact same crescendo, but one will sound better than the other. Even the way someone polishes the crescendo at the end of the phrase will affect the quality. When I follow along her performances with a score, I usually can’t help but giggle a little bit because the way she interprets the music is just so damn smart.
