I am endorsing, albeit half-a-decade late, Joyce DiDonato's sublime 2005/2006 release of art songs by Bernstein, Copland and Jake Heggie, The Deepest Desire. Set to the exquisitely composed, heartrending poems of Emily Dickinson and Rilke, among others, this disc shows off the mezzo's plush, never-cloying mezzo to compelling effect. Deeply felt. Lush. Velvety. As only Joyce can be.
