Ear Candy
Joyce DiDonato takes the stage at the Granada Theatre
Written by Lorie Dewhirst Porter
Opera lovers worldwide adore and admire the expansive, expressive voice and bravura acting skills of award-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who will grace the Granada Theatre stage on January 24 with EDEN, a production that fuses music, movement, and theater. (There’s also a CD on Erato.) With accompaniment by early music ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro, EDEN encompasses four centuries of music, including a new commission from Rachel Portman, the first female composer to win an Academy Award (for Emma in 1996). Online music scribe Joseph So calls EDEN “a meticulously curated classical program with a serious message.” That message is hope; and it underlies DiDonato’s stated mission, which is to “bring the transformative healing power of music to as many people as I can—whether on stage, in prisons, refugee camps, or the classroom.” artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.
