Joyce DiDonato Stars in New Met Production of Rossini’s Le Comte Ory

Gramophone's Artist of the Year Joyce DiDonato returns to the Metropolitan Opera to make her role debut as Isolier in Rossini's Le comte Ory, which opens tonight, Thursday, March 24. Directed by Bartlett Sher, this new production stars Diana Damrau as Countess Adèle and Juan Diego Flórez as the title character. Didonato's April 9 performance will be broadcast around the world as part of the Met's "Live in HD" series; encore broadcasts will be presented in the U.S. on Wednesday, April 27, and in Canada on Saturday, May 7 and Monday, June 13.

DiDonato's return to the Met follows a busy winter, which included an eight-city recital tour, the world premiere of a song cycle by renowned American composer Jake Heggie, about which the New York Times exclaimed, "The piece ebbed and flowed beautifully, its whispered nuances and soaring arches rendered with utter conviction by Ms. DiDonato," and the role of Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking at the Houston Grand Opera.

Following Le comte Ory, DiDonato makes her second Met role debut this season when she sings the role of the Composer in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos (May 7-13). For those who cannot make it to see DiDonato in Strauss's beloved opera, they can listen to a track from it on her new record, Diva, Divo. According to BBC Music's Christopher Cook, Diva, Divo features "singing that restores your faith in human nature". Mike Silverman of the Associated Press recently wrote in his review of the album, "One of today's most accomplished singers, American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato has it all."

For her second tour of the season, the mezzo takes on her next major Handel challenge, crossing Europe in the dramatic title role of Handel's Ariodante in performances with Il Complesso Barocco and conductor Alan Curtis. The tour - which celebrates Virgin/EMI's May release of an Ariodante recording with DiDonato, Curtis, and company - starts on May 20 in Baden-Baden, Germany, with stops in Paris and London.

DiDonato closes the season with a July 5-16 run in the title role of Massenet's Cendrillon, conducted by Bertrand de Billy, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Joyce DiDonato's spring engagements

March 24 & 29; April 2, 5, 9*, 14, 18, & 21
New York, New York
Metropolitan Opera / Maurizio Benini
Rossini: Le comte Ory (Isolier - role debut)
* "Live in HD" international broadcast

March 26
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita Grand Opera Gala

May 7, 10, & 13
New York, New York
Metropolitan Opera / Maurizio Benini
Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (Composer - house role debut)

May 20
Baden-Baden, Germany
Festspielhaus
Handel: Ariodante (title role)
Il Complesso Barocco / Alan Curtis

May 23
Paris, France
Théatre des Champs-Elysées
Handel: Ariodante (title role)
Il Complesso Barocco / Alan Curtis

May 25
London, England
Barbican Hall
Handel: Ariodante (title role)
Il Complesso Barocco / Alan Curtis

July 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, & 16
London, England
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Bertrand de Billy
Massenet: Cendrillon (title role)

July 18, 21, 24
Baden-Baden, Germany
Festspielhaus
Mozart: Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira)
Mahler Chamber Orchestra/ Yannick Nézet-Séguin

www.JoyceDiDonato.com