So, my fangirling universe has expanded in the past 6 months or so. I discovered opera, the marvel that is mezzo sopranos, and among them particularly the amazing Joyce DiDonato.
What took me so freaking long? I don’t know, and right now I can’t even remember the details of how I got here. I might have been one of those YouTube rabbit hole-situations where you start out looking for info on French braiding and end up learning about the development of the runic alphabet. It might have been through Una voce poco fa, perhaps - I’d long since favorited a version of this with Elina Garanca (and I still really like that one), but Joyce brought something else to it and I got curious.
However I got there, I got sucked in - Parto, parto from “La clemenza di Tito”. Tanti affeti from “La donna del lago”. Non piu mesta from “La Cenerentola”. And so on. I’ve watched masterclasses, interviews and vlogs. I went to the Live in HD “Cendrillon” this spring (it was amazing). And I’ve acquired a number of CDs and DVDs of her performances.
Holy crap, you guys. Why can’t I find any real fangirling about this woman other places than on tumblr? She’s just about the hottest thing I’ve ever seen or heard. She’s smart, dedicated, kind, and a great teacher. Her voice does things I can’t even begin to describe in technical terms, and even less so what it does to me. I just… melt. Or get shivers. Or both at the same time.
Additionally I think she’s ridiculously hot, both in general and on stage. She wears the heck out of Cendrillon’s dress (arms, anyone??), but is almost hotter in Isolier’s long, red leather jacket (Le comte Ory, Met opera 2011) or Romeo’s suit (I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Zurich 2015). *Swoon.*