Joyce DiDonato: “Eden”

From the expansive musical mind of Joyce DiDonato comes Eden, the renowned mezzo-soprano’s latest 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, Wagner, Mahler, Ives, and Copland. Oscar-winning British composer Rachel Portman composes a new work specially for the project, setting a text by American poet Gene Scheer for The First Morning of the World. “Joyce sings and the world is suddenly brighter. She compels us to listen actively, to hear things anew” (Gramophone).