SONGS OF LOVE THROUGH THE EYES OF A WOMAN. The acclaimed American mezzo-soprano and activist Joyce DiDonato, regarded as one of the most dynamic opera performers of her generation, returns to the Megaron after her captivating appearance in the international project Eden in 2023. This time, she presents a recital exploring love as an experience, seen through the lens of a woman. Accompanying her is the American pianist Craig Terry. The program features Debussy’s Three Songs of Bilitis, which recreate a pagan world of lost sensual pleasures. Pierre Louÿs presented his original poems as translations of surviving verses by the ancient poet Bilitis from Pamphylia, a friend and lover of Sappho. Although Gustav Mahler discouraged his wife, Alma, from composing, when he learned of her affair with the young architect Walter Gropius in 1910, he helped her publish five of her songs. These works sensitively set romantic poems from the late Romantic era to music.
The myth of Ariadne’s abandonment by Theseus on Naxos has inspired many composers. In Haydn’s cantata, the princess of Crete dies, driven mad by grief.
The program concludes with a song cycle by American opera composer Jake Heggie, inspired by the tumultuous relationship between sculptor Camille Claudel and her mentor and lover, Auguste Rodin.
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