Grammy-winning opera star Joyce DiDonato joins the Minnesota Orchestra for its opening weekend of performances, sharing her magnificent vocal span, warmth and agility in a performance of Hector Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été (Summer Nights). Conducted by Thomas Søndergård, the orchestra wows in its performance of the Suite from “Der Rosenkavalier” (The Knight of the Rose-Bearer) by Richard Strauss, Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to “Candide” and an homage to H.P. Lovecraft by Guillaume Connesson.
After upholding the tradition of performing “The Star-Spangled Banner” for opening weekend, the orchestra performs Bernstein’s feisty “Candide” overture, played at a fast and sprightly clip. With its swirling strings, cartoonish percussive rhythms, whimsical winds and a lush melody halfway through introduced by the viola section, it’s a work that’s at once peppy and magnetic.
Three-time Grammy Award winner Joyce DiDonato performs with the Minnesota Orchestra on Sept. 18-19, 2025 at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, conducted by music director Thomas Søndergård. (Salvá Lopez / Minnesota Orchestra)
The program devotes the rest of the first act to Berlioz’s “Summer Nights,” a work the French composer set to six poems by his friend and neighbor Théophile Gautier. Ranging in tone from sweet vignettes and aromatic memories to deep anguish and loss, the songs evoke sweeping emotion channeled by the poised and confident DiDonato.
DiDonato and Søndergård made quite the pair standing next to each other — the singer facing the audience and the conductor facing the orchestra, in tune with each other as they brought Berlioz’s expressive music to life.
As a performer, DiDonato is expressive with both her resonant, articulate voice and her face and physicality. Gautier’s poetry is rich in imagery, as in “Le spectre de la rose” (The Ghost of the Rose), sung from the perspective of a dead rose plucked by a beautiful girl, its scent remaining on her breast.
There’s intensity and fierce drama as well, especially in the lament, “Sur Les Lagunes” (On the Lagoons), about a seaman mourning his dead lover. Displaying quite a vocal range in the tune, DiDonato’s voice becomes a piercing wail on the “ah! sans amour!” lines, producing chills. The sadness continues after that in “Assenza” (Absence), with the orchestra’s accompaniment, led by Søndergård, finding subtle nuance and richness.
Addressing the audience after performing the song cycle, DiDonato, a Kansas City native who makes her debut with the Minnesota Orchestra this week, gushed about the full house for an 11 a.m. performance.
“I celebrate you for having a full hall, for having a world class orchestra that shows up and plays with all their heart, and who leads and shows how to face difficult times,” she said. “We come together, we search out harmony, and we look for that place here that feels like home.” She closed with a luxurious encore: “Oh Shenandoah.”
After intermission, the orchestra performs the first movement of “Les Cités de Lovecraft,” titled “Céléphaïs,” by French composer Guillaume Connesson (2017).
The work brings to life a city created by the horror and fantasy writer H.P. Lovecraft’s “Dream Cycle” series. Splashing with a startling sound as it opens, the piece bursts with potent vigor. The strings sound like sirens at times, and skipping rhythms, competing melodies and ethereal wanderings make up for the densely packed music.
Finally, the orchestra performs the Suite from Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier,” a terrific piece that continues the build from the previous numbers, displaying a rich and delightful sound. The suite gives an abbreviated musical narrative to the larger opera, telling the story of two older characters vying for the affection of two younger ones, who fall for each other. The music brings out the theatricality of the story— from passionate love scenes, tender meet-cutes, to comic waltzes and a grand finish.
Altogether, the program made for an invigorating conclusion—story-filled, whimsical, anguished and exuberant.
If you go
What: Søndergård, DiDonato and Strauss
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis
Tickets: $55-$125; minnesotaorchestra.org
Capsule: Coloratura Mezzo-Soprano Joyce DiDonato joins Thomas Søndergård and the Minnesota Orchestra for a rousing season opener.
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