JOYCE DI DONATO: IN WAR & PEACE – HARMONY THROUGH MUSIC (2 LPS) WARNER CLASSICS

Vinyl LP pressing. 2016 release. One of opera’s most outspoken and impassioned personalities, Joyce DiDonato reminds us with her album In War and Peace that music “soothes turmoil, threatens power and the status quo, and gloriously exalts the spirit”. Her selection of arias demonstrates how powerfully Baroque opera explores the extremes of human nature – from the tumult of Handel’s ‘Scenes of Horror, Scenes of Woe’ to Purcell’s descent into despair, ‘Dido’s Lament’. Joyce’s longtime partners, the spirited Italian Baroque ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro, join her on this unique journey through sublime, challenging music; through chaos transformed by the eternal search for serenity.

– Disc 1 –
1 Jephtha, HWV 70, Act 1: “Some Dire Event Hangs O’er Our Heads Scenes of Horror, Scenes of Woe” (Storge)
2 Andromaca, Act 1: “Prendi Quel Ferro, O Barbaro!” (Andromaca)
3 Giulio Cesare, HWV 17, Act 1: “Vani Sono I Lamenti… Svegliatevi Nel Core” (Sesto)
4 The Indian Queen, Z. 630, Act 3: “They Tell Us That You Mighty Powers Above” (Orazia)
– Disc 2 –
1 Giulio Cesare, HWV 17, Act 1: “Figlio Non E Cara Speme” (Sesto)
2 Agrippina, HWV 6, Act 2: “Pensieri, Voi Mi Tormentate” (Agrippina)
3 Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626, Act 3: “Thy Hand, Belinda… When I Am Laid in Earth” (Dido)
4 Rinaldo, HWV 7, Act 2: “Lascia Ch’io Pianga” (Almirena)
– Disc 3 –
1 Bonduca, or the British Heroine, Z. 574: “Oh! Lead Me to Some Peaceful Gloom” (Bonvica)
2 Rinaldo, HWV 7, Act 1: “Augelletti Che Cantate” (Almirena)
3 Attilio Regolo, Act 2: “Sprezza Il Furor Del Vento” (Regolo)
4 The Indian Queen, Z. 630, Prologue: “Why Should Men Quarrel?” (Girl)
– Disc 4 –
1 Attilio Regolo, Act 1: “Par Che Di Giubilo” (Attilia)
2 Susanna, HWV 66, Act 2: “Lead Me, Oh Lead Me to Some Cool Retreat… Crystal Streams in Murmurs Flowing” (Susanna)
3 Il Ritorno D’ulisse in Patria, Act 5: “Illustratevi, O Cieli” (Penelope)
4 Giulio Cesare, HWV 17, Act 3: “Da Tempeste Il Legno Infranto” (Cleopatra)