Classicalite's Liner Notes for Joyce DiDonato's 'ReJoyce'

It's been over a month since we first alerted you to Joyce DiDonato's brilliantly crowd-sourced campaign, #JoyceAndMe.

That first round was all about the title, and Classicalite came out swingin'--landing on the right side of what her Best Of would be called.

Rejoyce, we did indeed, when The Yankee Diva called out a certain Classicalite editor by name. (FYI: Fast-forward to about three minutes in.)

Feeling invincible, we soldiered on to the next round, where Joyce was most concerned about the record's tracklisting. From Monteverdi to Mendelssohn, Handel to Berlioz--both Rogers and Hammerstein--we just knew we had picked the perfect running order.

After all, DiDonato, herself, was in our corner.

We had even made our own album art.

Alas, Classicalite was wrong; Joyce DiDonato had gone with someone else's list.

Disappointed, we needed to lick our wounds--going so far as to sit out the #JoyceAndMe photo round entirely. Given the astute, amazing and all-out adorable pics that made it into the final gallery, we were probably wise to do so.

Hardly undeterred, Classicalite was lying in wait for the final liners round, anyways.

And speaking of such notes, DiDonato writes thusly:

"This is a 48-hour launch, where I invite YOU to help write some of the content for the ReJoyce booklet! However, considering the amazing number of you who are participating in this, it must be brief: one to two sentences (I know it's challenging) about why you love this music, a particular aria, a particular album, etc. You are writing for people who perhaps are established fans, or complete newcomers. Use your imagination, write in your own language, make it concise, but powerful!

Without further ado, Classicalite is pleased to present two sentences on its absolute favored Joyce DiDonato album:

Regarding Diva, Divo: Not since Tiresias, in Thebes, has a gender-bend been more dramatically wrought. Humble, never haughty, wethinks the pride of Prairie Village, herself--Kansas' native mezzo Joyce DiDonato--still puts on her breeches one glorious aria at a time.

(Had we a few more lines, we'd be sure to mention her sense of humor, too.)

With or without Classicalite's lines, ReJoyce will be released worldwide (September 2 in the United Kingdom, September 3 in the States) to coincide with DiDonato's highly-anticipated performance at the BBC's Last Night of the Proms.

An exclusive Virgin/EMI Classics recording artist, Joyce DiDonato has recorded five acclaimed recital albums (including the Grammy-winning Diva, Divo and last year's Drama Queens), five complete operas and two concert recordings. She was also featured on conductor and arranger John Wilson's chart-topping Rodgers & Hammerstein at the Movies, as well as Emmanuelle Haïm's Lamenti project.