Joyce DiDonato

everyone who cares about singing should promote it immediately to the top of their letters to Santa. Creamy, sumptuous, almost flawless - every adjective may be a cliché, but how else to describe... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2014, 5 out of 5 starsMore…

This Agrippina jostles for top place among the opera’s complete recordings. Joyce DiDonato is matchless in the title role, most other cast members likewise outstrip their rivals and their vocal... — BBC Music Magazine, April 2020, 5 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording)More…

DiDonato is magnificent as Dido, fully understanding how badly her story will end in her first aria as Purcell slides from minor to minor, then sumptuously sorrowful in 'When I am laid in Earth',... — BBC Music Magazine, October 2025, 5 out of 5 starsMore…

This is now the benchmark Theodora; it is optimally cast, dramatically intense and luminously beautiful. Its world-class principals use their fine vocal qualities to deepen their characters.... — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2022, 5 out of 5 starsMore…

It is perhaps no surprise that the various 18th-century works included find DiDonato on especially thrilling form...Yet DiDonato shines, too, in the more contemporary works…This is a highly... — BBC Music Magazine, April 2022, 4 out of 5 starsMore…

Nelson has a great feel for the weird structure of the piece, with its sudden lurches of pace and location...Nelson’s pacing is uncannily ‘right’; he’s not one to force Berlioz, period-style,... — Gramophone Magazine, December 2019More…

It is perhaps no surprise that the various 18th-century works included find DiDonato on especially thrilling form...Yet DiDonato shines, too, in the more contemporary works…This is a highly... — BBC Music Magazine, April 2022, 4 out of 5 starsMore…

Though the top of her voice is wiry under pressure, her coloratura is tightly sprung, her diction is flawless, and her phrasing of the often underrated poetry is sympathetic and sophisticated…Il... — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2016, 4 out of 5 starsMore…

Listening to it is an absorbing, even harrowing, experience...Puts’s music is tonal, broadly melodic and full of striking orchestral detail. His writing for the three principal female voices... — BBC Music Magazine, June 2024, 5 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording)More…

D'Arcangelo's full bass allows this Giovanni to register as a vocal heavyweight, a dominant male who's also an expert seducer...Nézet-Séguin supplies plenty of character, with effective tempos... — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2012, 4 out of 5 starsMore…