Jamie Barton's Fricka Has 'Vocal Balls of Steel'
“Wheedling, cajoling, commanding, she can play the kitten, gently twitting her husband’s nose, but in this relationship it is she who is determined to wear the palazzo pants. The voice is still creamy, but when the top notes fly, the audience are pinned to their seats.” Jamie Barton sings her first complete Ring cycle at San Francisco Opera.
June 18, 2018
Photo by Cory Weaver
““Jamie Barton, singing so beautifully in Das Rheingold, proves she has vocal balls of steel as well, delivering a Fricka of power and considerable subtlety. 1930s-Wotan may have moved on, but she has absolutely no intention of letting morals slide. Wheedling, cajoling commanding, she can play the kitten, gently twitting her husband’s nose, but in this relationship it is she who is determined to wear the palazzo pants. The voice is still creamy, but when the top notes fly, the audience are pinned to their seats. For a woman who seems the up-and-coming bel canto mezzo of the moment, she’s one hell of a versatile singer.””
Mezzo Jamie Barton sings her first complete Ring cycle, as Fricka in Wagner's Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, and as Waltraute and 2nd Norn in Götterdämmerung, alongside a starry cast led by Donald Runnicles at San Francisco Opera. Three cycles play through July 2, with tickets available via SFO.
Read more reviews:
"Barton brought verve and tonal warmth to the role of Fricka, Wotan’s strong-willed, though often sensitive, wife."
SF Examiner
“A stentorian yet humane performance."
San Francisco Chronicle
"Softening the usually harsh edges on Fricka (Mrs. Wotan), Barton gave sympathetic insight and gorgeous voice to a difficult character."
Bay Area Reporter
“I would not want to anger Jamie Barton’s fierce Fricka…”
Bachtrack
“More vocal honours are due to…Jamie Barton’s sumptuous Fricka, blessed with razor-sharp diction and an instinctive way with the words. Barton’s appealing performance makes the Queen of the Gods into a preternaturally dim society matron – the kind that used to harry poor old Groucho Marx… With her flexible, creamy mezzo you’d have to go a long way to hear the role more beautifully sung.”
Limelight Magazine
“Barton, who has become one of the finest Wagner singers of her generation, sounded first-rate.”
The Mercury News
“A terrific, formidable Fricka, rolling her Rs with relish as she laid down the law.”
Classical Voice North America
“Completely convincing... Barton’s rich, warm voice portrays a woman who has gained self-confidence and who asserts her power. Barton’s Fricka plays with the emotions of Grimsley’s Wotan, exuding a combination of charm, anger and logic to derail Wotan’s long-term plans for recovering the cursed Nibelung Ring.”
Opera Warhorses
“Barton takes one of the thorniest challenges in all of the Ring’s demands. In Act II she manages a mesmerizing, searing turn in straightening out her wayward husband without a descent into caricature.”
Out West Arts
“Barton was a molten-voiced goddess of marriage, determined to uphold the tradition, as Wotan’s wife Fricka.”
SF Examiner
“Barton brought power, nuance, and beauty to Fricka, Waltraute, and the Second Norn, particularly her hurt, yet commanding, Walküre Fricka. That performance seemed to single-handedly raise the heat level on stage considerably.”
San Francisco Classical Voice
“Traditional morality could have no more eloquent a champion than Barton, whose Fricka was a dynamo of implacable reasoning delivered in lusty, full-throated tones.”
San Francisco Chronicle
“Zambello’s Norns (Ronnita Miller, Jamie Barton and Sarah Cambidge) are the hapless ghosts in this machine and they couldn’t be better sung. Impeccable diction and voices of real substance get the opera off to a tremendously powerful start… Previously impressing mightily for both power and beauty of line as the cycle’ Fricka, Jamie Barton delivers an equally radiantly sung Waltraute.”
Limelight Magazine
“Barton ranged from heroic pride to deflated grief as she described the felling of the ash tree as the Second Norn, and later served as a compelling Waltraute… She showed a great sense of pacing as she led the soft brass and timpani accompaniment in the orchestra, and a rich warmth as she told Brünnhilde of Wotan’s wish that the ring be returned.”
Parterre Box
Jamie Barton Is Stellar in HGO Götterdämmerung, World Still Goes Down in Flames
"An international phenom with that dazzlingly creamy voice and commanding stage presence. With power to spare, she soars over the lush orchestration...to penetrate the wrenching heart of her tale." Mezzo Jamie Barton returns to Houston for the final installment of Wagner's epic Ring cycle.
April 25, 2017
Photo by Lynn Lane
Mezzo Jamie Barton returns to Houston Grand Opera for Götterdämmerung, the thrilling conclusion of Wagner's Ring cycle. Appearing as both Waltraute and 2nd Norn, Barton joins an all-star cast featuring Christine Goerke as Brünnhilde, Simon O'Neill as Siegfriend, Meredith Arwady as 1st Norn, Heidi Melton as 3rd Norn, and Andrea Silvestrelli as Hagen. Conducted by Patrick Summers, the production is the final installment in an artistic marvel designed by La Fura dels Baus.
Performances run through May 7; tickets can be purchased via the HGO site.
Read reviews:
"Mezzo Jamie Barton is already an international phenom with that dazzlingly creamy voice and commanding stage presence. As Waltraute, she shines most bright. Her account of father Wotan's fall into despair is an achingly beautiful mini-scene that displays her glorious voice to full effect. With power to spare, she soars over the lush orchestration...to penetrate the wrenching heart of her tale. It's a glorious performance from this gifted young artist."
Houston Press
"A fleet of extravagant women joins Goerke in this final installment, beginning with the three Norns—Meredith Arwady, Jamie Barton and Heidi Melton—who twist the strands of fate in the prelude with opulence and ease."
Houstonia
“Goerke and her Valkyrie sister Waltraute, sung by Jamie Barton, are two strong women, two strong dramatic singers, matching each other in anguish and intensity in a memorable scene.”
Arts+Culture Texas
“The central couple was surrounded by compelling portrayals. Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, a powerful Fricka earlier in the Ring, made an equally formidable Waltraute. Not only did her voice well up commandingly when her monologue foreshadowed the final catastrophe, but she brought weight and intensity even to the quietest moments.”
Texas Classical Review