Joyce DiDonato Essentials

This modern mezzo-soprano star has it all: a lyric instrument, thrilling coloratura technique, and dramatic presence within every sung line. Even on a recording, you can hear the acting chops that have made her a draw for the world's top opera companies. Listen for the way she breaks off a trill for comic effect, or the way she changes timbral colour to indicate a character's psychological twist. (You'll get the arc even if you don't speak the language she's singing.) DiDonato's good-humoured gameness serves her well in the American songbook, too, as you'll hear at the close of this guide.