SFist Interviews Joyce DiDonato

You have a wonderful blog and interact quite directly with your audience, which is great. Did anyone ever mention that you use a lot of exclamation points!?!!!

NO!!!! Do I?!?!?! I never noticed!!!!!!!!! (I think I'm easily excited!)

How would you describe your SF recital Program?

Knowing that I haven't had too many chances to bring a recital to San Francisco, I wanted to do something that was very representative of who I am as a recitalist. And for the moment, that means Spanish and Italian! I have toured a lot with some of these Spanish songs (even recording them), and they are pieces I'm passionate about, so those were a must. And then I'm preparing for a large European tour of 3 Centuries of Italian love songs, so I thought I would preview a few of those sets, as well! I think it's a good window into my musical and dramatic temperament!

How is it possible that this is your first SF recital? Is it, really?

I actually was invited, when I was a student, to sing a Schwabacher recital back in 1998. That was my debut, but I was still a student at that point, so I see this as my first professional recital. How IS that possible? But I cannot wait, because SF holds such a special place in my heart, and I think it will be like singing for family.

You described, about a master class you taught, the relation between the character and the music. For instance: "Does Donna Elvira need to convince herself that she will REALLY tear off Giovanni's face when she sees him (hence the need for the wayward, yet driving ascending scales at the end of "Ah, chi me dice mai?)" Which comes first, the musical analysis, or the character analysis? How do you communicate with your accompanist, who would come from a stricty musical analysis, we assume.

Oh, that's tricky. From a technical standpoint, I sit at the keyboard and begin to learn the notes, and I translate as I go along as well. Once the notes are learned, then I begin to play - and paint the colors, and experiment, and study so that when I actually open my mouth to sing, on any given night, I have a whole Kaleidescope of choices to chose from. I want the evening to feel very spontaneous, but that's only possible with a tremendous amount of work which comes first. And I am very hard on my collaborators, I'm afraid - because I play the piano (not terribly well, but just well enough to be dangerous), I have very strong ideas of phrasing and color. I often have a strong idea of the story I want to tell, and so through dialogue and lots of rehearsal, we hopefully can create the magic together.

Someone wrote about you: "in recital banter, she's more Joan Rivers than Joan Sutherland." What do they mean?

I actually don't know - you'll have to ask her!! I suppose it has to do with my inhibition to joke a bit on the stage? I want the audience to feel comfortable and welcome and at ease so they can enter into the experience all the more. But it's a tricky balance, because there is also a formality that is expected on the recital stage. My sense (although I could be off base!) is that audiences are a bit relieved when they are invited to laugh and relax a bit. But naturally, it depends on the repertoire on hand - I wouldn't invite the laughter during an introspective Schubert set, that's for certain!

We read you were a yoga aficionado. How does yoga help you with singing (physically, mentally, musically)? Also, you're on the road a lot, do you map yoga studios and yoga teachers in your schedule (we recommend Rusty Wells in SF)?

I do find that yoga is a GREAT resource for me. I know that once the overture starts, the adrenalin will be there. Personally (and each singer is different), I sometimes need to dial down the adrenalin, because that can be just as dangerous as nerves - you can have too much excitement, and then the voice starts flying off the charts. But yoga is a very calming, invigorating and challenging thing that I can do anywhere, and I find that it has been a great thing for my mental and physical health. (Although I don't recommend starting out in yoga in a foreign country - my first classes were in Paris, and boy, was that a challenge!)

You planned on being a teacher before your career took off. We think we'd be intimidated all the same if our audience was 20 kids or 2,000 opera goers. Do you see any similarities?

I think in many ways a classroom full of kids can be terribly intimidating - they are often a much more demanding audience than regular subscribers! But I think to win both kinds over, there has to be honesty present - audiences of both kinds are very discerning, and I think they can tell the difference of when you are being an honest, sincere performer, and when not.

You were in the Houston Grand Opera Studio program in 1996-98, and during the 1999-2000 season, you performed the role of Meg in the world premiere of Mark Adamo's Little Women. Mark Adamo is currently writing a new show for SF Opera, and you must know SF Opera general director David Gockley quite well from his time in Houston? Will we see you back on SF stage soon?

I hope I will be! We have talked about a number of possibilities, and I believe we have something quite exciting lined up!

You were Grace Kelly in the world premiere Jackie O? Did you get to drive the Royce-Rolls off the Corniche?

AAAAhhh, I wish! But I was "Grace Kelly", as in a hippie who decided she would play "Grace" for the day. Sadly, I wasn't actually playing the Royalty. Wow. That was a flashback!