Joyce DiDonato: EDEN
2023 Grammy Nominee for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Joyce DiDonato, executive producer and mezzo-soprano
Il Pomo d’Oro
Zefira Valova, conductor
Marie Lambert-Le Bihan, stage director
John Torres, lighting designer
A Cal Performances Co-commission
| IVES | The Unanswered Question |
| RACHEL PORTMAN | The First Morning of the World |
| MAHLER | “Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft,” from Rückert-Lieder |
| UCCELLINI | Sinfonia à 5, No. 3, Op. 7 |
| MARINI | “Con le stelle in ciel che mai,” from Scherzi e canzonette, Op. 5, No. 3 |
| MYSLIVEČEK | “Toglierò le sponde al mare,” from Adamo ed Eva |
| COPLAND | “Nature, the gentlest mother,” from 8 Poems of Emily Dickinson |
| VALENTINI | Sonata in G Minor, Enharmonic |
| CAVALLI | “Piante ombrose,” from La Calisto |
| GLUCK | Dance of the Furies, from Orfeo ed Euridice “Misera, dove son! …Ah! non son io che parlo,” from Ezio |
| HANDEL | “As with rosy steps the morn,” from Theodora |
| MAHLER | “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen,” from Rückert-Lieder |
ENCORE: |
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| HANDEL | “Ombra, mai fu” from Serse |
From the expansive musical mind of Joyce DiDonato comes EDEN, the renowned mezzo-soprano’s project exploring the majesty, might, and mystery of the natural world. As in her well-received Cal Performances program In War & Peace: Harmony Through Music, DiDonato is joined by longtime partners, the early-music ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro. The theatrical, semi-staged concert features music from the 17th to 21st centuries by Handel, Gluck, Cavalli, Mahler, Ives, and Copland. Oscar-winning British composer Rachel Portman contributes a new work written specially for the project, setting a text by American poet Gene Scheer for The First Morning of the World. “It’s a riveting show, superbly executed, by turns movingly hymning the wonders of nature… and blazing with conviction” (The Evening Standard).
Major support provided by The Bernard Osher Foundation.
Run time for this concert is approximately 90 minutes, with no intermission, but not including any possible encores.