We Can Create a Kind of Paradise Within Ourselves – Interview with Maestro Joyce DiDonato

The performance of the world-renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, a star of the opera stages in the USA and Europe, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, will inaugurate the 12th edition of the Baroque Opera Festival of the Warsaw Chamber Opera on September 2nd.

PAP MediaRoom: Your concert inaugurates another edition of the Baroque Opera Festival, but at the same time, you are concluding a multi-year concert tour related to the promotion of the album 'Eden'. With the knowledge of what has happened in the world since the release of the album, would you be inclined to keep its title unchanged, or rather to name it 'Paradise Lost'?

Joyce DiDonato (JDD): Never! The only thing I hope the audience leaves the concert hall with is a renewed sense of hope. I know it may seem uncertain and 'lost' at this moment, but this is not the first period of turmoil the world has endured. Nor will it likely be the last. But it is always hope that 'catapults' us from dark times. Rejecting blatant inequality, indifference, cynicism, and darkness is radical and revolutionary. 'Eden' reminds us that we can create a kind of paradise within ourselves. Being fully present in the moment that unfolds before us.

PAP MediaRoom: However, the longing for a lost paradise is palpable in almost all the compositions included on this album – both in the musical and textual layers. Was this intention behind the selection of the material?

JDD: I believe that both the threat of 'loss' of everything (disconnection) and the perspective of true paradise (true connection) are present in the material on the album in all compositions. It was crucial for me to maintain that feeling of light and darkness, day and night on the album, because we all have a choice at any given moment about which of these paths to take. There will always be cruelty, and there will always be joy. Nature can both kill us and prepare us for life. I believe that accepting all that we are points to where Eden is located. I have always turned to music and poetry to guide me through difficult times, and in the great masterpieces of music that I have sung over the years, I have found immense wisdom and insights about life. For the album, I wanted to choose music from different centuries, which calls people to a deeper connection with this vast, majestic, nurturing, and beautiful world around them.

PAP MediaRoom: In some pieces, you are accompanied by a children's choir. Such vocal ensembles perform with you during concerts. For these children, it is certainly a great artistic experience, but also educational – it seems to me that thanks to this, they learn more about nature than during lessons at school. But what do you learn about the new generation?

JDD: I know that the seeds of 'Eden' will accompany them throughout their lives. I am sure of it. I, thanks to this collaboration, have been filled with a deep sense of hope and inspiration. I believe that when the need arises in the future, these children will rise to the occasion. I see in them a HUGE desire and need to be given a chance to be heard. It is truly an honor for me to work with 3,500 children across four continents! I started singing in choirs like the ones we invited to the 'Eden Family' project, and without that, I would not be professionally where I am today. I want to nurture that sense of possibility in every child that has sung with us over the past four years!

PAP MediaRoom: Baroque music, of which you are an excellent interpreter, poses significant technical challenges for performers, but at the same time allows for a spectacular presentation to the audience. However, it has been and still is the case that performers, succumbing to the desire to showcase their skills, do so at the expense of the piece: the composer's intent and the message carried by the text become blurred. How to find the golden mean?

JDD: Of course, this is a subjective feeling. Some scholars consider various artistic choices to be 'period-appropriate' and 'acceptable,' while others will argue for a long time that they are unacceptable. And all based on the same phrase! I always try to remain true to the emotional core of the phrase within the conventions of the musical style, but I never hesitate to do something new.

PAP MediaRoom: In the introduction to the album 'Eden', you mentioned the 'astonishing balance' between the world of music and nature. You said: 'Both nature and music show us the way – a way dictated by harmony and balance.' And you asked the question: 'Will we answer this call?' Have you already found your answer to that question?

JDD: I know my answer. But it is a question that everyone must answer for themselves…

The performance of the world-renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato (winner of three Grammy Awards, a star of the opera stages in the USA and Europe, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York) accompanied by the orchestra Il Pomo d’Oro under the baton of Edson Scheid will inaugurate the 12th edition of the Baroque Opera Festival of the Warsaw Chamber Opera on September 2nd. The concert will take place at 7:00 PM in the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish Radio in Warsaw.

Source of information: PAP MediaRoom