Joyce DiDonato and Antonio Pappano – at the piano rather than the podium – opened the 2014-15 season at London’s Wigmore Hall with a dazzling programme of song devoted to the duo's American and Italian connections. The first item was Haydn’s dramatic cantata Arianna a Naxos (which, back in 2003, also launched DiDonato’s debut recital at Wigmore Hall). Then come two songs by a composer who has played a defining role in Joyce DiDonato’s operatic career – Rossini, and four luscious late-Romantic numbers written in 1908 by the little-known Neapolitan composer Francesco Santoliquido. In the second half of the programme, the pair shift gears effortlessly for a sparkling set from the Great American Songbook and beyond. Recorded live on this 2-CD set, the two artists were hailed by The Times as “mezzo diva supreme” and “golden maestro and piano accompanist to the stars”.
Disc 1
01 Haydn: Arianna a Naxos, Hob.XXVIb: 2 - Joyce DiDonato
02 Rossini: Beltà crudele - Joyce DiDonato
03 Rossini: Les soirées musicales: No. 8 La danza - Joyce DiDonato
04 Santoliquido: I canti della sera: I. L'assiolo canta - Joyce DiDonato
05 Santoliquido: I canti della sera: II. Alba di luna sul bosco - Joyce DiDonato
06 Santoliquido: I canti della sera: III. Tristezza crepuscolare - Joyce DiDonato
07 Santoliquido: I canti della sera: IV. L'incontro - Joyce DiDonato
08 De Curtis : Non ti scordar di me! - Joyce DiDonato
Disc 2
01 Foster / Arr. Krane: Beautiful Dreamer - Joyce DiDonato
02 Kern: Leave it to Jane, Act 2: The Siren's Song - Joyce DiDonato
03 Kern: Oh, My Dear!: Go Little Boat - Joyce DiDonato
04 Nelson: 4 Irish Songs: I. Lovely Jimmie - Joyce DiDonato
05 Dougherty: Love in the Dictionary - Joyce DiDonato
06 Kern: Show Boat, Act 1: "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" - Joyce DiDonato
07 Moross: The Golden Apple, Act 1: "Lazy Afternoon" - Joyce DiDonato
08 Bolcom: Cabaret Songs, Volume 1: Amor - Joyce DiDonato
09 Villa-Lobos: Magdalena, Act 1: "Food for Thought" - Joyce DiDonato
10 Kern: Show Boat, Act 1: "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" - Joyce DiDonato
11 Rodgers: Babes in Arms: My Funny Valentine - Joyce DiDonato
12 Kern: Very Warm for May: "All the Things You Are" - Joyce DiDonato
13 Berlin: I Love a Piano - Joyce DiDonato
14 Arlen: Over the Rainbow - Joyce DiDonato
