"Furore" is American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato's first solo album. It's a collection of "mad scene" opera and oratorio arias depicting both insanity and intense emotion written by George Friderich Handel. Although the mad scene was not really used commonly in opera until the Romantic era , the arias here vividly describe loss, despair, fury, and downright madness vivdly.
In this intense first solo recording, Joyce DiDonato shows that she is indeed a brilliant artist capable of both a wide range of emotion and intense dramatics. However, I feel that she is perhaps a little overzealous at times and that she needs to think about recording differently from acting in some cases.
Tracklisting:
1. “Crude furie” (from
Serse)
2. “Dolce riposo!” (from
Teseo)
3. “Ira, sdegni, e furore ... O stringerò nel sen” (from
Teseo)
4. “Morirò, ma vendicata” (from
Teseo)
5. “L’angue offeso mai riposa” (from
Giulio Cesare)
6. “Orride larve” (from
Admeto)
7. “There in myrtle shades reclined” (from
Hercules)
8. "Hence, hence, Iris hence away” (from
Semele)
9. “Sorge nell’alma mia” (from
Imeneo)
10. “Scherza infida!” (from
Ariodante)
11. “Gelosia, spietata Aletto” (from
Admeto)
12. “Desterò dall’empia Dite” (from
Amadigi)
13. “Cease, ruler of the day, to rise” (from
Hercules)
14. “Where shall I fly!” (from
Hercules)
Here we get a sampling of Handel at perhaps his most descriptive - the music here blends perfectly with the emotions and pictorial elements in the texts (which are thankfully provided, even if some are originally in English). The arias are extremely varied, from delicate lyric moments such as "Dolce riposo" and "There in myrtle shades reclined" to outright madness, such as "Where shall I fly!" Joyce DiDonato has definitely chosen a spectacular recital of dynamic and diverse works, and I think that the contrast between them is really effective. Even better, they all contribute to the theme of "madness" - in terms of grief, fury, or insanity.
DiDonato does an excellent job onstage portraying heroines such as these tormented ones - for example, her Dejanira from Handel's "Hercules" is fantastic. However, on this disc, I find that she is too dramatic and over-zealous - and her tone suffers, which is unfortunate. This is particularly evident in recitatives and fiery moments of fury, such as in "Crude furie" and “Morirò, ma vendicata”. In the higher register too, her tone tends to get harsh in general, and the Handelian nature of the work is not really evident - it becomes less like singing. Her vibrato gets really quick and the tone becomes unpleasant.
I think that she should save more of the drama for the stage and find ways to express the emotions of the text without ruining the auditory experience when she's recording music like this for a CD. I think that she just needs more time with this virtuosic, faster, more furious repertoire to make it really convincing without sounding harsh. In "Where shall I fly", it's evident that she's familiar with this role of Dejanira because she is convincingly dramatic while maintaining a rounded, pleasing tone in general and shaping phrases excellently (such as at the word "shades"), so I think a few years' time will definitely benefit her portrayal of the other more intense arias.
This isn't to say that I think Handel's music should sound prim and proper; just that singing should still sound like singing, which is to say it's different from speaking - it still must sound like music even if it is expressing the most powerful of sentiments. It's still in a somewhat confined medium, and she can't lose control over her voice completely. I think she needs more time to refine and polish her voice as well, to make it both dramatic
and pleasant to the ear in these fast, angry Baroque arias - instead of one
or the other.
However, the lyrical tracks on this disk, like "Dolce riposo", "There in myrtle shades reclined", and "Cease, rule of the day, to rise" are sensitively and musically done, with exquisite phrasing and the use of a vibrato-less voice at times on sustained notes - a superb effect. What's done here is really great, with a lot of attention to detail.
So, I'm split on this disk with DiDonato's approach - it's amazingly sensitive on the lyrical arias, yet not careful enough on the faster, angrier ones.
Technically, Joyce DiDonato has a great voice though - the colouratura and bravura are well-sung, and confidently so. However, as above, it gets forced and harsh at times, especially in intense arias like “Desterò dall’empia Dite” and the recitatives. Her trills are quite amazing - almost like delicate quivers in quiet arias and more like a tremelo in more vigorous arias. Her cadenzas and embellishments are sometimes disappointing - they don't really add beauty or emotional effect and are not very inventive. In “Desterò dall’empia Dite”, for example, I find the additions in the "da capo" somewhat annoying and not very well thought-out. The cadenzas are almost identical in "Crude furie" and "Where shall I fly", which I guess brings them together as they are the first and last arias. However, it also shows that she is not perhaps a very creative or spontaneous in this respect. Building on a motive or motives and incorporating some colouratura into cadenzas would really showcase her capacity as a musician, not just a singer.
So all in all, I'd have to say 3 and a half stars, because the technique is there and the lyrical moments are well-articulated with much sensitivity, but there seems to be a lack of sensitivity and control in the more furious arias and a general lack of creativity and originality in the cadenzas and ornamentation. However, Joyce DiDonato is an engaging artist on stage and made a tremendous effort on this disc to convey the diverse emotions, which is commendable, so I definitely want to hear her attempt this repertoire once she has polished her tone and approach to the spectacular "furore" arias. She is definitely technically competent to sing this technique, although the extreme registers of her voice tend to sound strained.
So for me, an interesting and dynamic first disc, but probably a little too much "furore"...let's see if some more years will help her find a bit more restraint and control - then her singing will be absolutely flawless, because she's already got the "raw materials" and passion for a superb singing career - she just needs to refine her singing a bit more in my opinion for her to be truly successful in singing this very difficult Baroque "mad" music.
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