The Crossroads Project Lauded by Boston Globe
"At this point, environmentally oriented performances are nothing new, but this music is deep enough to engage on its own." Read more from the Boston Globe on the Fry Street Quartet's latest project.
December 16, 2016
“Its modes hop from inviting post-minimalism to electrifying dissonance to twisted nostalgia, ending with a pensive ascent. The Fry Street Quartet plays fluently and fluidly, with remarkable unity in unintuitive passages.”
The Fry Street Quartet's new release on Navona, The Crossroads Project, is featured in the Boston Globe.
Last month, a “king tide” brought Boston Harbor up to the sidewalk of Long Wharf, seawater flowing through cutouts in the concrete barriers. For those few hours, the border between the built and the natural shifted, creating a sense of dislocation and, for some, wonder. This liminal zone is the territory of the Fry Street Quartet’s recent release on Navona, “The Crossroads Project.” The Utah-based group performs commissions by American composers Laura Kaminsky and Libby Larsen. Both pieces center on themes of nature and sustainability, and are accompanied by topical narration and visuals when performed live; at this point, environmentally oriented performances are nothing new, but this music is deep enough to engage on its own.
Photo by Andrew McAllister
Jamie Barton Is The Cover Story in Opera News Magazine
"Jamie Barton channels her mezzo superpowers" and lands on the cover of the January 2017 issue!
December 15, 2016
“Jamie Barton’s voice is a vast, enveloping sound, the sort of thing soprano Carol Vaness calls “a voice that blankets.” This is true whether she is offering a Dvorák song in recital or holding the stage as Waltraute. But nowhere was it more in evidence than at the Glimmerglass Festival last summer. After her opening group of Turina songs, the heavens opened, and a major storm pelted the roof. Returning to the stage for a group of Ives songs, Barton merrily chirped, “Hi! It’s raining!” (It is hard to think of a singer readier than Barton to smile in a lieder recital or giggle offstage.) She then proceeded to override the storm with her voice, never losing quality of sound and never giving the slightest sign that she might be at her limits.”
Jamie Barton "channels her mezzo superpowers" and lands on the cover of Opera News magazine's January 2017 issue!
The Atlanta Opera Scores Artistic And Business Wins
The Atlanta Opera’s Silent Night “revealed a company unafraid to move in bold new directions, and with more than enough talent on hand to take a captivated audience along with it into the 21st century."
November 11, 2016
“The Atlanta Opera’s Silent Night revealed a company unafraid to move in bold new directions, and with more than enough talent on hand to take a captivated audience along with it into the 21st century.”
The Atlanta Opera's bold artistic and business moves are earning notice:
- General and Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun was nominated for an ArtsATL Luminary Award, a commemoration of the passionate, creative and innovative spirit of Atlanta's arts community.
- Behind the scenes, TAO reached a three-year labor agreement with its orchestra, ensuring that the company's growing quantity and quality of productions can be sustained.
- Onstage, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night was 'a stirring and ambitious performance (ArtsATL), at once 'heart-rending' and 'unforgettable' (AJC.com).
Jamie Barton Receives Raves on U.S./U.K. Tour
"She brought enormous power, rich colours and perfect intonation to the vocal line. This was highly emotional and yet beautifully restrained singing that really got beneath the skin of the music.” Jamie Barton's recent recital tour with pianist James Baillieu was 'ecstatically acclaimed' by audiences and critics alike.
October 23, 2016
“Barton has an excellent technique, evenly spanning a cavernous lower register and a gleaming top; her breath control is apparently effortless, she sings perfectly in tune. There’s something of Marilyn Horne about the silver sheen and focus of the tone, but the voice is bigger and broader than Horne’s, and more than capable of firing the big guns demanded by Verdi and Wagner. She is also a born communicator, smiley and chatty and radiating infectious pleasure in the glorious noise she makes.”
Jamie Barton's recital tour with pianist James Baillieu has been met with raves around the United States and United Kingdom, culminating in what The Telegraph dubbed an 'ecstatically acclaimed' Wigmore Hall debut in London.
Read more reviews:
"Although winners of the prestigious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition have recently shown an alarming tendency to vanish without trace, the 2013 laureate Jamie Barton is clearly here to stay."
The Telegraph
“I remember watching Jamie Barton’s performances during the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2013 and I was impressed with the amazing consistency she demonstrated through a wide range of repertoire. In Barton’s Wigmore Hall début, her operatic credentials were fully on display and she brought enormous power, rich colours and perfect intonation to the vocal line. This was highly emotional and yet beautifully restrained singing that really got beneath the skin of the music.”
Seen and Heard International
“Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and pianist James Baillieu certainly know how to begin a recital at Wigmore Hall, filling it with the warm, bold sounds of Joaquín Turina's Homenaje a Lope de Vega. Unrestrained, yet without sacrificing beauty of sound...their picks of Brahms Lieder, Dvořák's Gypsy Songs, and sets by Charles Ives and Jean Sibelius all seemed to give Barton the room her voice craves (and suited Baillieu's grounded, symphonic sound at the piano); yet they never missed an opportunity for subtlety. She...conjured up a real world of American warmth, with tight hugs and loud conversations. It's notable that Barton never stepped into the world of opera for this recital - though it would have been a sure hit if she had. It's exciting when a singer has enough tools and expertise at her disposal, and still earns ovations without the slam-dunk of a Verdi aria.”
Schmopera
“American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton has a wonderful, characterful voice, with apparently effortless and even tone production and control. She seems to be able to spin out a quiet phrase – and just hold it forever. The fascination of witnessing Jamie Barton develop as a singer of the song repertoire promises to be a fascinating journey.”
The Arts Desk
Jamie Barton to Release First Solo Album on 11/11/16
All Who Wander features songs of Mahler, Dvořák and Sibelius, accompanied by pianist Brian Zeger.
October 19, 2016
Hailed by Alex Ross in The New Yorker as a “once in a generation talent,” mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton shares her deep appreciation for the art song repertoire, a cornerstone of her career, in her solo recording debut.
To be released by Delos Music on November 11, 2016, and featuring pianist Brian Zeger, All Who Wander includes selections by Gustav Mahler, Antonín Dvořák, and Jean Sibelius that speak to an adventurer’s spirit – savoring and reckoning with all of life’s experiences.
“All Who Wander is inspired by something that lives within all of us – the desire to step out of our ordinary lives, or society’s rules, and explore the world,” Barton said. “These songs share personal memories and thoughts, but the emotions they express are universal.”
Riders of the Purple Sage Featured in Etched Magazine
Craig Bohmler's world premiere at Arizona Opera is featured in the Fall 2016 issue.
September 1, 2016
"In just the first few pages of Zane Grey’s classic novel, Riders of the Purple Sage, fearless gunslingers and men on horseback tear through unforgiving mountains as emotions become as extreme as their surroundings: jealousy looms like a fatal precipice, and love ignites like a brushfire.
It’s a fitting opening for a story where the land and its inhabitants are inextricably linked, where every action takes its cue from the rough terrain, the lush plant life that thrives in spite of challenges, the rhythms of horse hooves and the crashing of storms.
It’s also a perfect beginning for an opera."
Riders of the Purple Sage, by composer Craig Bohmler, will receive its world premiere at Arizona Opera February 25 – March 5, 2017. Featuring baritone Morgan Smith, soprano Karin Wolverton, and tenor Joshua Dennis, the world premiere will be conducted by Keitaro Harada, directed by Fenlon Lamb, and feature set design by world-famous Southwest landscape artist Ed Mell.
Learn about the opera, based on Zane Grey's most famous Western novel, and purchase tickets.
The Atlanta Opera Opens Its Boldest Season Ever
The Atlanta Opera opens its largest, most innovative season yet, featuring new repertoire, a new Young Artist Program, smart collaborations, and must-see talents.
September 30, 2016
Image of "Winterreise" by Raftermen for The Atlanta Opera
The Atlanta Opera's expanded 2016-17 season features new repertoire, a new Young Artist Program, smart collaborations, and must-see talents.
Under the leadership of General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, this season will be the largest and most wide-ranging in the company’s history. TAO will stage four mainstage works, including a U.S. premiere production of 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner Silent Night, and two site-specific Discoveries series productions, including a collaboration with New York’s On Site Opera. The season includes a total of 27 performances, including 16 on the mainstage, 8 in the Discoveries series, and the annual Opera with an Edge season preview, Holiday Concert, and new work creation event 24-Hour Opera.
This season marks the launch of The Atlanta Opera’s first young artist program, The Atlanta Opera Studio. Four singers, one pianist, and one stage director on the cusp of major careers will receive in-depth training in performance skills, foreign languages, and career development. In addition, they will participate in masterclasses with leading artists and perform alongside international talent in mainstage productions. They will also star in the Studio Tour, which reaches more than 10,000 students, and in a variety of community events throughout the metro-Atlanta area.
In his fourth season, Zvulun affirms his commitment to new and rediscovered works. On the mainstage, he will direct a U.S. premiere production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell. A co-production with the Wexford Festival Opera and the Glimmerglass Festival, it was awarded the Audience Choice Award and Best Opera Award at the Irish Times Theatre Awards in its 2014 Wexford premiere.
Successfully launched in 2014 under Zvulun, the Discoveries series – which emphasizes new works, new ideas, and fresh perspectives – returns for its third season with an expanded offering of nine performances. This year, the series brings opera to communities throughout the Atlanta area with site-specific productions of Maria de Buenos Aires by composer Astor Piazzolla, and Mozart’s The Secret Gardener.
The Spanish-language Maria de Buenos Aires follows the seductive title character, who falls in love with tango dancing in the heart of the Argentine capital. Composed and first presented in 1968, Maria de Buenos Aires makes for a vibrant evening of opera by combining sensual tango music with a surreal, adventurous story.
The Discoveries series partners with On Site Opera to bring Mozart’s The Secret Gardener to life in a new co-production tailored to its botanical setting. Now in its fifth season of producing immersive site-specific opera, On Site Opera has been praised by BBC News as "innovative" and The New York Times as a "vital" and "visionary company.”
The Discoveries series’ 2015 productions of contemporary operas Three Decembers by Jake Heggie and Soldier Songs by David T. Little were highlighted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Best of 2015 list. This season, The Atlanta Opera’s celebrated production of Soldier Songs will be restaged at San Diego Opera. The company will collaborate again with the Wexford Festival Opera as a co-commissioner of the world premiere of William Bolcom’s Dinner at Eight, along with the Minnesota Opera, where the work will receive its premiere in March 2017.
Corinne Winters Makes Much-Anticipated ROH Debut
"'Come scoglio' (Like a rock) applied rather more correctly to Winters’ singing technique than to Fiordiligi’s constancy.” Winters makes her Covent Garden debut as Fiordiligi in a new production of Mozart's Così fan tutte.
September 22, 2016
“A great actor, Winters had a regal calmness about her, which suited the gorgeous, rich warmth in her sound. Her ‘Per pietà’ was phenomenal, paced beautifully; she always found room for her best sound, and still she had lovely agility saved for the end. Winters negotiated extraordinarily long lines in a slower-than-necessary quintet. [Her] singing is top-notch, full of style and individuality…”
Photo by Stephen Cummiskey
Corinne Winters makes her much-anticipated Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut in her adopted hometown as Fiordiligi in a new Jan Philipp Gloger production of Mozart's Così fan tutte.
Conducted by Semyon Bychkov, the production also stars Angela Brower, Alessio Arduini, and Daniel Behle. The production will be simulcast in cinemas around the world on October 17, with future showings throughout the season.
Read more reviews:
“Winters has a very pretty soprano voice, with warmth, real character and not a hint of wobble: her Act I aria “Come scoglio” (Like a rock) applied rather more correctly to Winters’ singing technique than to Fiordiligi’s constancy.”
Bachtrack
“This success is no doubt also down to a shining cast: Corinne Winters’s rich-toned Fiordiligi…”
The Stage
"Corinne Winters is superb in Fiordiligi’s famous aria “Per pieta” as she falls in love with the man who in real life is her sister’s fiance."
Daily Express
“Corinne Winters’s superbly conflicted Fiordiligi and Angela Brower’s more easy-going Dorabella — are well aware that they are falling for each other’s men.”
The Times
“Così is nothing if not an ensemble piece, and this cast is unusually well-matched vocally. Even so, there are standouts in the shape of Daniel Behle’s volatile Ferrando, and in the sheer spirit with which Corinne Winters’s by that point almost suicidally troubled Fiordiligi attacks every note of Per Pietà.”
The Guardian
“Winters is a splendid tormented Fiordiligi and sings her two highpoint arias with panache.”
Plays to See
“Winters’ Fiordiligi is indeed as ‘steady as a rock’ vocally: she has a bright, ringing top and she agilely leapt through ‘Come scoglio’.”
Opera Today
“American Corinne Winters was an indecisive Fiordiligi with a warm and beautiful soprano. She was particularly good in the arias ‘Come scoglio’ and ‘Per pietà’, delivered with touching sensitivity and sadness. Fantastic.”
Fanáticos da Opera
“Probably the best sung Così that I have ever seen. With American soprano Corinne Winters glorious as Fiordiligi…it produces a wonderful evening.”
Daily Express
“When Fiordiligi (Corinne Winters) pours out her torment in “Per pietà” and then succumbs to the rapture of forbidden love in the duet “Fra gli amplessi”, it’s clear Mozart isn’t being ironic but the staging doesn’t quite support this emotional truth. With her impressively weighty voice, Winters isn’t perhaps an ideal Fiordiligi, but she has a thrilling stage presence and offers an intriguing and detailed performance.”
Blouin Art Info
“As the two with the most stage time, Dorabella (Brower) and Fiordiligi (Winters) have the most daunting of vocal tasks. But carry it they do, with Winters’ mastery of melisma and technical delivery being particularly noteworthy. This is a young cast, but one that carries the mantle of Mozart’s great work without strain.”
Exeunt Magazine
“Three performances stand out in particular, and the first is that of Corinne Winters as Fiordiligi. This may be her Royal Opera debut, but she seems totally at ease as she ensures that ‘Per pietà, ben mio, perdona’ becomes a definite highlight of the evening. Her voice is extremely rounded so that the high notes almost do not seem to be because they feel so rich and full.”
musicOMH
“Both Corinne Winters and Angela Brower give delightful accounts of the young women. Winters in particular sings a Fiordiligi of rare range and beauty, with surprisingly strong mezzo notes as well as a radiant upper range.”
What’s On Stage
Fry Street Quartet Launches #MakeItYours, Releases 'The Crossroads Project'
Alongside an album of environmentally conscious new works by Grammy winner Libby Larsen and Pulitzer Prize nominee Laura Kaminsky, the visionary Fry Street Quartet has launched the #makeityours campaign to encourage personal responsibility for global sustainability.
September 9, 2016
Today, the visionary Fry Street Quartet releases The Crossroads Project on Navona Records: a captivating recording blending art and science to address global sustainability, featuring new works by Pulitzer Prize nominee Laura Kaminsky and Grammy Award winner Libby Larsen.
The Crossroads Project exemplifies the FSQ’s intellectual and musical curiosity and collaborative spirit. The album commemorates the ensemble’s signature multimedia performance of the same name, created in collaboration with physicist Dr. Robert Davies, which has toured to 20 cities for a total of 30 performances.
“The FSQ has always been motivated by the goal of relevancy, in matters big and small. We feel it’s critical that we bring our artistic voices to bear on a topic vital to human society,” says Fry Street Quartet cellist Anne Francis Bayless.
“The arts, and music in particular, have long been instrumental in social change movements,” adds FSQ violinist Robert Waters. “The simpler goal of this recording is to generate a wider audience for these two fantastic new works. Our larger goal, though, is to spread awareness of the work of The Crossroads Project and, by extension, its call to action for each of us to work, as quickly as we can, to change our path away from environmental destruction and toward a sustainable world.”
To help spread that awareness, FSQ has launched the #makeityours social campaign, which encourages each of us to pick a way to contribute toward a more sustainable world. To date, the stop-motion video introducing the campaign has been viewed more than 17,000 times on Facebook.
Corinne Winters Featured in Opera News
Her 2016/17 season is highlighted in September's "Noteworthy & Now."
August 15, 2016
Soprano Corinne Winters is featured in the September issue of Opera News magazine, appearing alongside Renée Fleming in the "Noteworthy & Now" section.
The spotlight includes a rundown of Winters's 2016/17 season, including her Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut as Fiordiligi in a new Jan Philipp Gloger production of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte. Her season also includes a trio of La traviata runs – her Seattle Opera debut in the controversial Peter Konwitschny production, her San Diego Opera debut in Marta Domingo's 1920s-set production, and a return to the Royal Opera House in the iconic Richard Eyres production. Winters will also make her role debut as Katya Kabanová at Seattle Opera.
Jamie Barton Makes 'Powerhouse' Glimmerglass Debut
"As her voice leaps across the extremes of range and emotions, Barton remains solid as a rock." Jamie Barton sings Elizabeth Proctor in Robert Ward's haunting The Crucible, directed by Francesca Zambello.
July 24, 2016
Photo by Karli Cadel
““Imbuing Elizabeth Proctor with both staunchness and fragility falls to mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, whose marvelous timbre and expressive delivery never falter.” NEW YORK UPSTATE”
Mezzo Jamie Barton makes her Glimmerglass Festival debut as Elizabeth Proctor in Robert Ward's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Crucible, based on Arthur Miller's play about the 1692 Salem witch trials.
She joins baritone Brian Mulligan, tenor Jay Hunter Morris, and bass-baritone David Pittsinger, in a Francesca Zambello production helmed by Nicole Paeiment. Performances run through August 27, with tickets available on the Glimmerglass website.
Read more reviews:
"The mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, whose voice is majestically plush yet somehow always articulate, even conversational, made much of Elizabeth’s hurt and dignity."
The New York Times
"Powerhouse mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton is Elizabeth Proctor, the faithful wife wounded by her husband’s sole indiscretion. She sang gloriously, whether pathos or outrage."
Blasting News
"Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, as Elizabeth Proctor, has a sweeping scene in which she pledges devotion to her husband but also demands his faithfulness. As her voice leaps across the extremes of range and emotions, Barton remains solid as a rock."
Albany Times Union
“Jamie Barton and Brian Mulligan play Elizabeth and John Proctor, and they bring their seasoned powers to the opera. The two singers sing beautifully and their acting is so very truthful and heartbreaking they convince us that these two are worlds apart. In every musical phrase and pause they portray the moment-to-moment yearning of these two souls who cannot express their love or heal the brokenness of their dreams.”
DC Theatre Scene
“Glimmerglass cast it powerfully, with Brian Mulligan and Jamie Barton in redoubtable vocal form as the Proctors…”
Washington Post
"Ward’s portrait is built on incisive musical character development. Glimmerglass fielded a superb cast. Two powerhouse singers, Brian Mulligan and Jamie Barton, anchored the piece as the beleaguered John and Elizabeth Proctor.."
Wall Street Journal
Amanda Majeski Sings Strauss Heroine at Santa Fe Opera
"Majeski sings this touchstone Straussian role with gleaming, resonant tone and insightful musicianship..." Amanda Majeski returns to Santa Fe Opera as the Countess in Capriccio, opposite Susan Graham's Clairon.
July 24, 2016
Image via Santa Fe Opera
““Majeski sings from the heart in a role that’s a semi-composite of the composer’s great heroines, the Marschallin and Ariadne. It’s a limpid, lucid portrayal, nowhere more distinctive than in the searching final monologue, Strauss’ most enraptured.” SANTA FE REPORTER”
Soprano Amanda Majeski returns to Santa Fe Opera as the Countess in Capriccio, the opera Richard Strauss called his "conversation piece for music." She is joined by the legendary mezzo Susan Graham, as well as bass-baritone David Govertsen, tenor Ben Bliss, and baritone Joshua Hopkins.
Conducted by Leo Hussain in a new Tim Albery production, performances run July 23 through August 19, 2016. Tickets can be purchased on the Santa Fe Opera website.
Read more reviews:
“Everything revolves around the Countess. Soprano Amanda Majeski portrays her with casual charm and sincere warmth, creating a character in control of her world and secure in her situation. Politesse is so deeply imbued in her character that she carries it without the slightest self-consciousness. Majeski’s soprano is tightly focused, her intonation is spot-on and her delivery rolls forth with conversational naturalness. Her timbre is pure, sometimes approaching a “white sound” that allows prominence to head resonance. Her vocalism harks back to a kind of singing we don’t encounter much today. If you heard her pure timbre and pristine diction on a recording, you might guess it was an opera star of the 1940s or ’50s — and a fine one. Her singing has a reined-in quality that proves apt for the portrayal she has crafted. A slight quiver enters her voice now and again, adding a quality of wistfulness. It adds to the vulnerability she allows herself to display in her touching final scene, where she recognizes that her aesthetic elegance is a barrier to her own emotional fulfillment — an acknowledgment she bares to herself alone, out of view and earshot from anyone else. [Some] had trouble being heard in a couple of climactic phrases, though not Majeski, whose tone penetrated the texture without sacrificing its beauty."
Santa Fe New Mexican
"The rising soprano Amanda Majeski sings this touchstone Straussian role with gleaming, resonant tone and insightful musicianship..."
Financial Times
"Amanda Majeski seems pre-destined to play the Countess. Her cool, secure, limpid soprano is just what Strauss had in mind when he endowed the role with lovely conversational passages, airy flights above the staff, and haunting musings on the philosophies of art and music. Ms. Majeski’s pure tone and knowing, fluid delivery harkens back to great Strauss interpreters of the last century, a direct connection to a revered roster of interpreters. Her traversal of the Countess’s last great monologue was a thing of great beauty, infinite variety, and sublime vocalization. Moreover, Majeski has a regal and poised presence, her carriage leaving no doubt that she is “royalty.” Her achievement is such that she may just be unequalled in this part at the moment."
Opera Today
“In the lead role of Countess Madeleine, Illinois soprano Amanda Majeski provided the vocal power required to complement Strauss’s soaring melodies and the elegance appropriate for the gentler music of Madeleine’s introspective moment.”
Opera Warhorses
"As the Countess, Amanda Majeski sang her long phrases with free flowing tones that kept their focus as they blossomed out over the audience. A fabulous Strauss singer whose sound recalls German sopranos of the previous era such as Elizabeth Schwarzkopf and Irmgard Seefried, she she portrayed the noble lady as a refined heiress with consummate good taste."
Bachtrack
“Amanda Majeski turns in a sparkling performance as the glamorous Parisian Countess Madeleine. [The voice] has an exceptional flexibility, easily enough to traverse the many vocal hurdles of this difficult role. She gives the final scene, a last meditation on the question of words and music, a transcendent quality.”
Albuquerque Journal
"As Strauss’ multi-faceted, somewhat enigmatic Countess, Amanda Majeski provides a poised central figure. She’s played the vulnerable aristocrat in the past—Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s Figaro. Here Majeski sings from the heart in a role that’s a semi-composite of the composer’s great heroines, the Marschallin and Ariadne. It’s a limpid, lucid portrayal, nowhere more distinctive than in the searching final monologue, Strauss’ most enraptured."
Santa Fe Reporter
Corinne Winters Makes Debuts in Italy, England in Summer 2016
"Deliciously phrased, Winters' Alice is the real deal, soaring in ensemble, sighing in mock adoration..." After role and house debuts in Rome and Birmingham, Winters joins Bryn Terfel and the Welsh National Opera Orchestra in concert at the Henley Festival.
July 14, 2016
Soprano Corinne Winters makes a series of role and company debuts this summer, beginning with her first Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, sung in concert under the baton of Semyon Bychkov at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Winters will make her Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut in the same role in fall 2016.
Winters also joins bass-baritone Bryn Terfel in concert with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra at the 2016 Henley Festival. The United Kingdom's only black tie festival, Glamour called Henley "the future of festivals."
The summer season concludes with a concert version of Verdi's Falstaff with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, led by Edward Gardner. Winters sings her first Alice opposite the world's leading Falstaff, Ambrogio Maestri.
Read reviews:
"Corinne Winters, in peachy voice, offered an impish Alice, leading Windsor's 'Merry Wives' in their plotting to teach Sir John a lesson or two. Deliciously phrased, Winters' Alice is the real deal, soaring in ensemble, sighing in mock adoration at Falstaff's clumsy courting."
Bachtrack
"Corinne Winters’s Alice and Justina Gringyte’s Meg were a fearsome pair: Winters’ soprano soared…"
The Guardian
"Gardner certainly knows how to assemble a cast. Corinne Winters, as Alice Ford, was a perfectly chosen foil for Maestri: all knowing smiles, flashing eyes and sassy self-confidence, with a voice as bright as it was expressive. Falstaff didn't stand a chance."
The Arts Desk
"Corinne Winters and Justina Gringyte were the sexiest Alice and Meg I’ve heard; watchful and witty."
The London Times
Rolando Sanz to Make Metropolitan Opera Debut
Sanz to appear in Mozart's Idomeneo, under the baton of Maestro James Levine. The production will be simulcast in cinemas worldwide via Met Live in HD.
June 24, 2016
Photo by Kristin Hoebermann
Tenor Rolando Sanz makes his Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2016/17 season in Mozart's Idomeneo, under the baton of Maestro James Levine. The production will be simulcast in cinemas worldwide via Met Live in HD.
Sanz returns to the Met roster for productions of Verdi's La traviata, Strauss's Salome, and Beethoven's Fidelio. Sanz also sings Beethoven works in concert as tenor soloist in the Mass in C Major and Choral Fantasy with Spoleto Festival USA and as tenor soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Asheville Symphony.
For tickets and more information, visit www.rolandosanz.com.
Jamie Barton Makes Acclaimed Royal Opera House Covent Garden Debut
"Jamie Barton is a first-rate Fenena." Barton joined operatic legend Plácido Domingo on BP Big Screens around the U.K. and smaller screens around the globe via a Royal Opera House YouTube live stream.
June 9, 2016
Photo by Catherine Ashmore for Royal Opera House
This month, mezzo Jamie Barton made her Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut as Fenena in Verdi's Nabucco, opposite Plácido Domingo in the title role.
The second performance was shown via live, free outdoor relays as part of the BP Big Screens initiative, and was watched by fans around the world via the ROH YouTube live stream.
The cast also stars Liudmyla Monastyrska, John Relyea, and Leonardo Capalbo. Conducted by Maurizio Benini, performances run through June 25. Tickets are available on the Royal Opera House site.
Domingo, Monastyrska, and Barton will also appear in the Metropolitan Opera 2016/17 production of Nabucco, conducted by James Levine.
Read reviews:
"Jamie Barton is a first-rate Fenena."
The Guardian
"Jamie Barton as Fenena reveals a rich and full mezzo-soprano that is also capable of displaying great sensitivity."
musicOMH
“Making her Royal Opera debut as Nabucco’s true daughter, the American mezzo uncovered a good deal more in Fenena, impressing with her warmth and richness of tone matched by a purposeful line and convincing dramatic engagement.”
Opera
"I wish the score had provided more opportunities for the young lovers Ismael and Fenena – what little Jean-François Borras and Jamie Barton did as Ismaele and Fenena was very fine."
The Telegraph
"Jamie Barton made a promising Covent Garden début as Fenena, showing good timbre and nice control of line. Fenena and Ismaile are considerably lesser roles than the other three, but Barton and Jean-François Borras made a good fist of them, particularly effective in ensemble."
BachTrack
"Jamie Barton and stand-in tenor Jean-François Borras play lovers Fenena and Ismaele; the former in beautiful voice…"
Londonist
"Making her debut with the Royal Opera, American mezzo Jamie Barton seizes her lyrical opportunities as Nabucco’s true offspring Fenena."
The Stage
“Monastyrska’s Abagaille had a worthy rival for once. Admittedly Fenena is a sketchy role: Verdi had not yet fully realized the value of contrasting or opposing females, the structure that grounds Trovatore or Aida. But this Fenena was Cardiff Singer of the World in 2013 and the winner of last year’s Richard Tucker Award, the redoubtable Jamie Barton in her Royal Opera debut. This was luxury casting indeed, affording the extraordinary pleasure of watching and listening as, in the finale of the first act, each ‘sister’ anchored opposite sides of the stage and soared over the ensemble.”
Opera
Amanda Majeski Returns to Glyndebourne
“Amanda Majeski made the best Eva I have heard in years, true of pitch and pure of tone, comfortable in all reaches of the part and emotionally persuasive from beginning to end." Majeski returns to the rolling hills of Glyndebourne as Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
May 25, 2016
Photo by Tristram Kenton
““Amanda Majeski’s ravishingly sung Eva radiates disembodied beauty.” THE INDEPENDENT”
Soprano Amanda Majeski returned to the Glyndebourne Festival as Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, opposite Gerald Finley as Hans Sachs.
The handsome David McVicar production, in which Majeski had previously starred at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, also features Michael Schade, Jochen Kupfer, Alastair Miles, David Portillo, and Hanna Hipp.
Performances run through June 27; tickets can be purchased via the Glyndebourne site.
Read reviews:
“Amanda Majeski made the best Eva I have heard in years, true of pitch and pure of tone, comfortable in all reaches of the part and emotionally persuasive from beginning (fidgeting in the church pew) to end (despair at Walther’s initial rejection of the Guild). The radiant B flat with which she crowned the quintet was perfection.”
Opera Magazine
"Amanda Majeski’s ravishingly sung Eva radiates disembodied beauty under the cobbler-poet Sachs’s benediction."
The Independent
"Amanda Majeski is a lovely, silvery-voiced Eva."
Financial Times
"Amanda Majeski (Eva) and Hanna Hipp (Magdalene) both demonstrated those qualities [passion and ardor] abundantly towards Walther and David as the respective objects of their romantic affections; indeed, vocally, they were very similar in tone and excellence."
Classical Source
"Majeski’s voice has an inhaled ease to it, blooming with no obvious strain or overwork."
The Arts Desk
"Amanda Majeski’s Eva fulfilled most of the promise which she had shown as the Countess in the 2013 Le nozze di Figaro, her touching intonation and unaffected stage presence ideal for Wagner’s ‘little Ev’chen’."
musicOMH
"The American soprano Amanda Majeski was Eva. Reminiscent of Gundula Janowitz, she launched the quintet exquisitely and looked very pretty to boot."
The Telegraph
Jamie Barton Lands on Front Page of Wall Street Journal
Barton featured in "How Bugs Bunny and ‘Kill the Wabbit’ Inspired a Generation of Opera Stars."
May 20, 2016
““He picks up the wabbit and he thinks, ‘Oh, no, I’ve actually killed it.’ This is the wonderful thing about opera. It’s the musical embodiment of the whirlwind of emotions of human beings, right?” JAMIE BARTON”
Jamie Barton, along with three Washington National Opera Ring colleagues, appeared on the front page of this weekend's Wall Street Journal, discussing the influence of Bugs Bunny's 'What's Opera, Doc.' Barton was also featured in an accompanying video on the WSJ website.
Corinne Winters Makes Opernhaus Zürich Debut
"Winters exudes the fascination of a very exceptional woman in every moment." Corinne Winters sings Mélisande in a new, psychoanalytically inspired Dmitri Tcherniakov production of Pelléas et Mélisande.
May 10, 2016
Photo by Toni Suter
““Able to transport the hearts of the audience with intense, exemplarily restrained artistic power, and incredible vocal qualities and feelings throughout. Corinne Winters is the fragile Mélisande not only superficially, but is also in her timbre an ideal candidate for this traumatized, enigmatic being. Her direct and wonderfully easy and appealing soprano captivates with its evenness, with force or pale fragility according to the mood.” OPER AKTUELL”
Corinne Winters makes her Opernhaus Zürich debut this month as Mélisande in a new Dmitri Tcherniakov production of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande.
The psychoanalytically inspired production, conducted by Alain Altinoglu, also stars Brindley Sherratt as Arkel, Jacques Imbrailo as Pelléas, and Kyle Ketelsen as Golaud. Performances run through May 29.
Read more reviews:
"Altinoglu’s orchestra plays transparently and elegantly, and the singers on stage follow with corresponding expression and timbre. Above all, Corinne Winters, who, as an inconspicuous drug addict, exudes the fascination of a very exceptional woman in every moment."
Deutschlandradio Kultur
"The two meet each other with an almost beastly, incorporeal hypersensitivity – Corinne Winters and Jacques Imbrailo, both debutants at the Opera House – acting and singing with touching delicacy and entirely skillful empathy for one another. Pelléas understands that a serious, unspoken trauma prevents Mélisande from physically loving even him. Winters plays this with distressing credibility."
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
"Lying on the couch with frightened eyes and a dark, glowing soprano is the American Corinne Winters, who reveals that she has experienced something terrible. Though Golaud increasingly loses his patience with her hints, short sentences, and non-answers, the audience who sees and hears her is fascinated: her acting could not be more on point."
Tages Anzeiger
"That this complex concept is so perfectly implemented by this highly balanced ensemble speaks not only of of their acting talent, but also of Tcherniakov’s extremely precise direction – he has found for each person their own body language. Corinne Winters is an ideal Mélisande, this traumatized young woman who – we imagine – experienced something terrible in her childhood. Here again the fabulous artist: Corinne Winters possesses in her clear voice a fine range of colorations that reflect her emotional state of mind. Once dreamy, delicate, velvety, then again disappointed, almost shouting, but never abandoning either the vocal tone or seeming true. Just great."
Der Neue Merker
"The manifestations of trauma are the meat here, and Corinne Winters (Mélisande) played that for all it was worth. She eventually even traded her casual black sweats for a rather unsightly Egyptian caftan; which was incongruous, but hardly as strange as the unkempt hair that made her more of a homeless person than a woman who might win hearts. Nevertheless, win hearts she did."
Bachtrack
“With her warm sounding soprano, Corinne Winters gives us a really impressive Mélisande and acts fantastically. She sings the highest notes with extraordinary ease. Her warm timbre fills the whole opera.”
Plays To See
“Winters can express such fragility with her inflection and ringing soprano.”
Vorarlberger Nachrichten
“Corinne Winters is dazzling. Defiant rejection and vulnerable fragility are equally present in the young American’s portrayal, and in her flexible voice the raw mixes with the seductive. In addition, she had superb diction, as did everyone in this very special, exquisite ensemble.”
Peter Hagmann
“Corinne Winters as Mélisande finds with her versatile soprano the balance between rebellious and helpless responses, her spiritual destruction and the slow extinction of her life force created with touching intensity.”
Beckmesser
“Happily, although there was not a single Frenchman among the cast, the Debussy style of language and voice as one was always there. Corinne Winters, a small, fragile person in a tracksuit, is a lithe and sensitive Mélisande, both childlike and sensual.”
Badische Zeitung
“The singers were very well placed in this colorful Debussy sound, especially the young American Corinne Winters as Mélisande, with many vocal variations and an intensely watchable portrayal of this rewarding soprano role.”
Musik und Theater
Conductor Christopher Allen Recognized by Solti Foundation U.S.
The 30-year-old maestro receives a 2016 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.
May 3, 2016
Photo by Gabriel Gastelum
Christopher Allen, John L. Magro Resident Conductor at Cincinnati Opera, and Associate Conductor at Los Angeles Opera, has been named as a recipient of a 2016 Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award.
Now in its twelfth year of assisting outstanding young U.S. conductors to further develop their talent and careers, the Solti Foundation U.S. is the foremost organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to helping young conductors.
The mission of the Solti Foundation U.S. is to identify, support and promote emerging young American conductors as they launch their classical careers.
Established in 2000 to honor the memory of Sir Georg Solti by lending significant support to career-ready young American musicians, the Foundation endeavors to seek out those musicians who have chosen to follow a path similar to that followed by Sir Georg himself.
American Western Opera Launches Digital Homestead
Riders of the Purple Sage, based on Zane Grey's iconic Western novel, will receive its world premiere at Arizona Opera in 2017.
April 29, 2016
Riders of the Purple Sage, an American Western opera composed by Craig Bohmler with a libretto by Steven Mark Kohn, will receive its world premiere at Arizona Opera in 2017.
Based on Zane Grey's most famous novel, the story of Riders is remarkably relevant today – tackling issues of women's independence, faith vs. fundamentalism, abuse of power, and guns in society. Complex issues are given human faces, with sharply drawn characters like Jane Withersteen, our morally incorruptible heroine, and Lassiter, the "John Wayne of Opera.”
Riders is a visceral experience that raises Big Questions and allows audiences to seek their own answers through the pure emotional experience of opera. The music style is influenced by Carlisle Floyd, Stephen Sondheim, and Kurt Weill, and utilizes the musical idioms of Western film soundtracks.
The world premiere production will star baritone Morgan Smith (Starbuck in Jake Heggie's Heggie's Moby-dick) as Lassiter, opposite the Jane Withersteen of Karin Wolverton (Anna Sorensen in Kevin Puts's Silent Night). Sets will be designed by famed Southwest landscape artist Ed Mell, with stage direction by Fenlon Lamb and Keitaro Harada conducting.