Joyce DiDonato Master Class January 2016: Mozart’s “Porgi amor” from Le nozze di Figaro 

Sadly there are many ‘armchair experts’ who delight in acidic punditry. Strangely they never seem to be able to direct anyone to their own RU-vid channels demonstrating examples of their excellence nor can they give references to their recorded medium.

​@@russellbaston974 Its refreshing to hear someone point this out. And as a singer myself its so exhausting and draining to read those sorts of responses to all these singers as a whole -it makes the art form feel nastier than it is, and more intimidating than it should. And I can not lie... the female singers really do get a hefty majority of these comments and I do feel like there is a certain sexism to them. A bizarre suggestion that some how we know literally less than nothing about our own artform, our own voices, bodies, and the music we've spent years studying and listening to. There's a strange sense of ownership at times almost, a weird entitlement that extends beyond the natural right to be critical to bashing and one-upmanship and some weird belief that these commentors own the ultimate truth as to who the single greatest or correct performer is and all others are trash --AND WE'RE ALL TOO STUPID to know we're are trash or that the highly trained singer we're listening to is trash despite being singers ourselves. That's it... yeah... that's it. It's their weird suggestion that this highly trained and still-in-training singer, is somehow IGNORANT and stupid with no "true appreciation" of opera. And that the incredibly successful artist teaching them is somehow stupid for not seeing/hearing what they think they should see/hear. Jeez! I almost never comment or respond to comments on these videos because I don't like tipping off these people. But the other day, for instance, I randomly responded to someone's comment that a famous singer's french diction was "dreadful" to say that, we operatically trained singers don't pronounce french the same way as it is spoken, droping tha majority of "N"s for instance. Next thing I got a response from the original commentor instructing me that Carmen is an "opera comique," what that means, and how this singer had failed to infuse it the passion, intimacy etc. Honest to god, i know they'd never have responded with this 101 lesson on one of the most iconic and popularly known operas with the tone of speaking to an ignorant child, if I hadn't made the mistake of using the word "we" -thus giving away the idea that I might be a singer. What the heck their response to me had to do with anything I'd said, is beyond me. They'd criticized her diction, I responded about diction. Saying nothing about anything other than diction, they leaped to some presumption I was ignorant as to the most basic aspects of one of the most universally well known operas and in dire need of correction when I'd not demonstrates any lack of this knowledge. Didn't even respond to the diction comment, apparently had no response to that. So just needed an opportunity to put me in my place. Dumb thing was, I'd not even delivered any opinion on the singer's performance, period. Not sure what they thoughtvthey were combating! 😂 Just amazes me sometimes.

mradoniszhao I like him 🥰

Mmhmm so charming~

He looks like he was teleported from an action movie

Right?! I didn't that was physically possible lol

Good comment

I agree with you. I am a classical soprano and also sing coloratura. I am trying to develop my opera side of singing, and discovered Joyce a short time ago (I am ashamed!). But I feel the little I have seen is prompting to push myself further and I have subscribed - pressing the "all" bell button, because I don't want to miss anything!

@@dianeshepherdlyricsoprano1394 best wishes to you darling

@@MaggieGueder Thank you so very much. You are really kind. All the best to you too xx

Not really as these aren't exercises nor methods that are firmly routed in the Bel Canto tradition.

She is not..

@@violetta47 you're not

Agree 100%

The question is why.

You’re too much

Someone is jealous!

And you are?

I wonder how she got selected for a masterclass like this in the first place. Not for her voice qualities at least. She just needs so much work to find her own voice

Such comment sections are always full with world-class singers who certainly know it better it seems. I wonder if its jealousy, internalized frustration with oneself or the much-mentioned and sadly sometimes true stereotype of widespread narcissism among singers. Maybe a combination of those things. Whatever it is, I really find it really depressing that some bitter people just can't help themselves and resort to insulting masterclass students on RU-vid, compensating for something lacking in their own life. I can't explain it myself any other way how people get so bitter, mean and unempathic. Really sad to see that over and over again.

People will not likr your comment, but you are right. This lady should be singing Susanna and not the Contessa. But the pianist is nice to see :-)

Some people need to understand that masterclasses are not a place to work on technique specifics. You have a professor/teacher for that. Masterclasses are there to teach/give pointers to things the average teacher can't teach. Some things you can learn from everyone and some things you can only learn from specific person X because they may have a level of career to look back on that the average teacher does not. And that's the whole point of masterclasses.