Opera's coolest soprano is back with Diva

Here, the 21st-century 'diva' is captured on disc, singing her trademark Handel and Mozart arias, a stunning duet with the mighty Bryn Terfel as well as a World Premiere - a new work written especially for Danielle by the award-winning composer Karl Jenkins.


1 Handel / Morgan Pochin: Lucrezia (based on Handel's aria "Già nel seno")Lucrezia is based on four bars of an aria from Handel's cantata La Lucrezia which tells the tragic story of the dishonoured Roman matron. Composer James Morgan writes: "His need to move the drama forward meant that there was not time for Handel to expand on these two beautiful bars of music. But I felt that they could and should be turned into an aria."

2 Handel: "Lascia ch'io pianga" from RinaldoHandel's Rinaldo is set during the era of the first Crusade (1096-99). The heroine, Almirena, is the daughter of the Christian commander Goffredo. She has been captured by a sorceress, and forced to endure the unwelcome attentions of the Saracen king of Jerusalem. In this well-known aria she begs him to leave her alone with her sorrows.

3 Karl Jenkins: "Exsultate Jubilate" (based on Palladio)Karl Jenkins originally scored his 1995 concerto grosso Palladio, a homage to the great 16th-century architect, for string orchestra. Here he adapts the middle movement for the voice of Danielle de Niese, using the anonymous Latin words of Mozart's famous motet.

4 Alessandro Marcello (arr. James Morgan & Juliette Pochin): "Pace non trovo"Alessandro Marcello's popular Oboe Concerto (originally attributed to his brother Benedetto) has been transcribed for other instruments many times, perhaps most famously by J. S. Bach who re-wrote it for solo harpsichord (BWV 974). James Morgan and Juliette Pochin here adapt it for voice, using a sonnet by Petrarch as the text.

5 Handel: "Da tempeste" from Giulio CesareCleopatra, the queen of Egypt, has been defeated by her treacherous brother Tolomeo (Ptolemy) in a civil war and faces incarceration. Her Roman ally and lover Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar) arrives and rescues her, and she sings this aria full of joy and hope.

6 Handel: "Piangerò la sorte mia" from Giulio CesareCleopatra's army has been defeated by that of her brother Tolomeo, and he orders her to go to prison. She laments her pitiful fate, and dreams of haunting her cruel sibling after her death.

7 Mozart: "Exsultate, jubilate" from K. 165

8 Mozart: "Alleluja" from K. 165Mozart was 16 when he was commissioned to provide a sacred vocal work for a Milanese church. The result, composed in January 1773, was Exsultate, jubilate, a masterful setting of an anonymous Latin text which has endured from that day to this. It was originally written for a castrato but today is sung by sopranos. Danielle here performs the motet's first and third movements.

9 Mozart: "Là ci darem la mano" from Don Giovanni (duet with Bryn Terfel)Don Giovanni (Don Juan) encounters Zerlina and Masetto, a newly wed country couple. Immediately attracted to the bride, Giovanni manages to send the bridegroom away and begins to court the young woman. At first Zerlina half-heartedly refuses his advances, but then the fickle girl has a change of heart and agrees to come to his castle for some fun.

10 Mozart: "Ah! fuggi il traditor" from Don GiovanniThe noblewoman Donna Elvira has come to Seville to find her errant seducer Don Giovanni. When she sees him trying to win the affections of Zerlina, a young country girl, Elvira steps in and warns her of Giovanni's real motives.

11 Handel: "Myself I shall adore" from SemeleThe goddess Juno is jealous of the relationship between her husband Jupiter and Semele, a young mortal. Pretending to be a friend, she gives Semele a mirror and hints that she could use her loveliness to win immortality. Semele, smitten with her own reflection, sings this delightful aria.

12 Handel: "Endless pleasure, endless love" from SemeleSemele is a human princess in love with Jupiter, king of the gods. She is about to marry - somewhat reluctantly - a local prince, but Jupiter assumes the form of an eagle and snatches her away to Mount Olympus. Once there, the delighted Semele sings of the unending sensual pleasures she now enjoys.

13 Mozart: "Laudate Dominum" from Vesperae solennes de confessore K. 339Mozart's 1780 Vesperae solennes (Solemn Vespers) is a set of five psalm settings (plus a Magnificat) for soloists, chorus and orchestra. The hauntingly beautiful Laudate Dominum (Psalm 117) is often performed as a stand-alone concert item.