Jamie Barton Makes Mainstage Debut at Opera Frankfurt

February 12, 2016

Photo by Barbara Aumüller

Nearly a decade after singing a winning "Priva son d'ogni conforto" during the finals of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Jamie Barton is making her much-anticipated debut as Cornelia in Giulio Cesare.

Critics are praising Barton's ability to "cast a spell with her heartfelt mezzo" (Frankfurter Neue Presse), as well as her "big voice, expressivity, and charisma." (Opera Nederland)

Barton is joined in the Oper Frankfurt production by a stellar cast that includes Andreas Scholl in the title role, Louise Alder as Cleopatra, Nina Tarandek as Sesto, Matthias Rexroth as Tolomeo, and Simon Baily as Achilla.

Performances run February 12 through March 26; tickets are available through the Oper Frankfurt site.

Read reviews:

“Jamie Barton vibrates the room with her phrasing.”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

“The American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton got the biggest applause of the evening. Her big voice, expressivity and charisma gave great expression to Cornelia’s sadness and her stately figure offered the noble grandeur of Pompeo’s widow.”
Opera Nederland

“Also debuting is Jamie Barton as Pompeo’s widow Cornelia, who cast a spell with her heartfelt mezzo.”
Frankfurter Neue Presse

Amanda Majeski Returns to Lyric Opera of Chicago in Der Rosenkavalier

February 9, 2016

Photo by Cory Weaver

““In the key role of the Marschallin, Lyric is blessed with the presence of soprano Amanda Majeski. Her work here is sheer perfection. She has clearly mastered the character’s many moods, from her flirtatiousness with Octavian following their liebesnacht in her bedroom at the start of the first act to her gracious philosophical resignation in the trio of the last. Majeski has a voice of both warmth and power, enabling her to make herself heard over Strauss’s large orchestra while still floating ethereally over more intimate scenes. She simply could not be better in this role.” STAGE LEFT”

Amanda Majeski has returned to her home company, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, for her first U.S. performances as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. Majeski debuted the Strauss role in Frankfurt in 2015 to rapturous reviews; now Chicago critics are praising her "seamless lyricism" (Chicago Sun-Times) and "golden sound" (Chicago Theatre Review), as well as her "creamy tone and ravishing pianissimos." (Chicago Tribune)

Der Rosenkavalier, conducted by Edward Gardner and also starring Sophie Koch, Alice Coote, and Matthew Rose, continues through March 13; tickets are available through the Lyric website.

Read reviews:

"As the Marschallin, Amanda Majeski revealed just the type of glowing soprano voice with which Strauss had a lifelong love affair; Majeski has an ample, pungent instrument with the ability to soar above the staff in long, arching lines and fine down to a thread of pianissimo with seeming effortlessness."
Opera News

"Soprano Amanda Majeski was an intriguing Marschallin, projecting gracious authority while struggling with the painful fact that her youth was forever past and gone. An Illinois native and alumna of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center training program, she sang with a strong, bright, expressive tone. Her seamless lyricism in the opera’s introspective moments conveyed the Marschallin’s essential goodness of heart. In Act III, disgusted by the crude Baron, Majeski’s low vocal line brimmed with scorn."
Chicago Sun-Times

"The singer who would succeed at Strauss must possess the freedom of tone necessary to brave the rapidly-shifting musicality of his phrases and the buoyant athleticism of their leaps, while maintaining a narrow delineation of pitch. In the plum role of The Marschallin, Chicago-favorite Amanda Majeski makes short work of this challenge. In the Act I Monologue, “Da geht er hin,” the Illinois-born soprano threads her golden sound fearlessly, with a flawless vibrato like a flicker hovering over a carefully-controlled flame."
Chicago Theatre Review

"Majeski was exemplary, riding Strauss’s long lines with gleaming tone and confidence. She brought a dignified sadness to her long Act I soliloquy musing on her fading beauty with touching expression. The soprano was ideally poised and affecting vocally and dramatically in the final trio as she yields her young lover to a woman his own age."
Chicago Classical Review

"What redeems the production is the pathos of seeing performances fresh as dewdrops imprisoned in a dusty mausoleum. Amanda Majeski, who triumphed as the Countess Almaviva in Figaro earlier this season, sings with such tenderness as to render the German language beautiful."
Chicago Stage Standard

"Amanda Majeski regally embodies the Marschallin. Her tall, slender figure and fair skin are a natural fit for the role, but it is her exquisite tone and vocal technique that makes the performance so absolutely enchanting. When Koch and Majeski are joined onstage by Christina Landshamer’s Sophie for Der Rosenkavalier’s finale, the resulting trio is heavenly and sublime."
Stage and Cinema

"Majeski has a way of sliding languidly into notes, letting them come upon her in a way that projects immense self-assurance. Her creamy tone sits beautifully atop Edward Gardner’s direction of the orchestra."
BachTrack

"Strauss specified that his heroine, the Marschallin, be no older than 32.  Matching her real-life age to that of the character, soprano Amanda Majeski (who's 31) sang beautifully as the Marschallin, aka the Princess von Werdenberg, wife of a field marshall in Imperial Vienna. The Illinois-born Majeski carried herself with great poise and grace as she lofted creamy tone and ravishing pianissimos into the stratosphere, and she was touching in her character's rueful monologue about the passage of time. She earned herself an extended ovation Monday."
Chicago Tribune

2016 Tucson Desert Song Festival Delivers World-Class Talent to Sonoran Desert

February 8, 2016

Photo by Mike Sultzbach

““Few music festivals can claim the leadership position or forward thinking of the Tucson Desert Song Festival (TDSF). In a modern world in which classical music is facing a tough battle for continued funding, it is the TDSF that is giving smaller regional organizations an opportunity to thrive.” LATIN POST”

By attracting vocal stars from around the world to the stunning Sonoran Desert each winter, the Tucson Desert Song Festival is earning a reputation as a destination arts festival.

The 2016 Festival featured 23 performances over 18 days, including those by Grammy winner Sasha Cooke and BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and Richard Tucker Award winner Jamie Barton, pictured here.

Barton and soprano Amber Wagner, as well as husband-and-wife team of mezzo Daniela Mack and tenor Alek Shrader, were presented in duo recitals by Arizona Opera, which also produced Carmen. Barton, Wagner, and Shrader were all winners of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, which were captured in the 2009 documentary "The Audition".

Cooke joined tenor Richard Cox for "Mahler and Martial Arts" with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, while guitarist Adam del Monte and baritone Bernardo Bermudez collaborated with Ballet Tucson and the Tucson Guitar Society on "Rhythms of the Americas".

Other guest artists for the fourth annual TDSF included the Grammy-winning a capella group Cantus, The Broken Consort, Marie-Josée Lord, and a quartet of young artists from the Ravinia Festival's Steans Institute.

See what the press are saying:

“Whether you’re an opera fan, a devotee of early music, or you enjoy everything symphonic, the Tucson Desert Song Festival will give you plenty of reasons to stand and applaud.”
Tucson Lifestyle Magazine

“Living in Southern Arizona, we don’t often experience some of the world’s best classical vocal talents live, and in person. This dilemma was addressed in 2010 with the founding of Tucson Desert Song Festival.”
Zocalo Magazine

“The Tucson Desert Song Festival is a bonanza of gorgeous music. Arts groups and the fest folk have teamed up to bring us internationally known talent, as well as rising stars in the art song field."
Arizona Daily Star

Amanda Majeski Featured on Schmopera

February 4, 2016

Amanda Majeski is featured in a Schmopera Spotlight interview.

American lyric soprano Amanda Majeski was named "Best Breakout Star" by Chicago magazine, and she's living up to the title. Roles like Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito, Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Countess Madeleine in Capriccio have kept her busy in recent years; last season she sang Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, a signature role of hers, at the Metropolitan Opera under the baton of James Levine, which was broadcast worldwide in HD.

Majeski is set to sing the Marschallin in Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Der Rosenkavalier, opening February 8th. She managed to find some time to give Schmopera a beautiful interview about singing, the importance of being multi-lingual, and her enormous dedication to her work.

Read more >

Jamie Barton Featured in Special Report

February 4, 2016

Jamie Barton is featured in Musical America's special report on competitions.

Jamie Barton is one of the fastest-rising stars in the opera world today, earning rave reviews for her keen musicality and voluptuous, richly colored instrument. The Atlanta-based mezzo-soprano has also become something of an expert on the current competition scene, having ridden a wave of wins. Musical America spoke with Barton on the West Coast in December, where she was singing Adalgisa in Los Angeles Opera’s Norma and making her San Francisco recital debut at San Francisco Performances.

Read more >

Jamie Barton to Debut at New York Philharmonic, Return to Houston Grand Opera

February 3, 2016

In the 2016/17 season, Jamie Barton will make her Wigmore Hall recital debut in London, and return to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for Mahler's 3rd Symphony. 

Barton will also debut with the New York Philharmonic as Fricka in a semi-staged production of Das Rheingold, a role she first sang at Houston Grand Opera.

An alumna of the HGO Studio, Barton will return to Houston in April and May of 2017 for Götterdämmerung, in which she will perform Waltraute and Second Norn alongside Simon O'Neill as Siegfried, Christine Goerke as Brünnhilde, and Andrea Silvestrelli as Hagen. 

Photo by Lynn Lane

Jamie Barton Interviews Frederica von Stade

January 31, 2016

Jamie Barton talked to Frederica von Stade, the legendary mezzo-soprano, about storytelling, breaking through standard fach boundaries, and Julie Andrews.

February is the month of the mezzo-soprano here at Lincoln Center. Jamie Barton takes center stage February 5 as this year’s Richard Tucker Award winner in From Bocelli to Barton: The Richard Tucker Opera Gala on Live From Lincoln Center, and Frederica von Stade returns February 18 in Ricky Ian Gordon’s opera-in-concert A Coffin in Egypt at American Songbook. Between performances, Barton interviewed von Stade — one of her idols — about music and her multifaceted career.

Read more >

Jamie Barton Featured in Live from Lincoln Center Promo

January 26, 2016

Ahead of their telecast of the 2015 Richard Tucker Opera Gala, Live from Lincoln Center has released a video showcasing Jamie Barton's work with Sing for Hope, an organization devoted to ensuring that the arts are available to everyone.

A long-time volunteer for Sing for Hope, Barton's recent collaborations include an outreach concert at United Cerebral Palsy New York City and the "An Aids Quilt Songbook" album, which also featured Joyce DiDonato and Yo-Yo Ma.

Watch the video >

Tucson Desert Song Festival Makes Cover of Caliente

January 21, 2016

Artwork by Tammie Graves for Arizona Daily Star

The Tucson Desert Song Festival is featured as the Arizona Daily Star Caliente cover story, including breakouts on TDSF's collaboration with the Ravinia Festival's Steans Institute to honor Robert Shaw, guitarist Adam del Monte's musical upbringing in the caves of Spain, and a "TDSF by the Numbers" breakdown.

Read more >

Tucson Desert Song Festival and Jamie Barton on KGUN-9's Morning Blend

January 20, 2016

Jamie Barton and TDSF Director George Hanson joined the Morning Blend for an interview and performance television appearance.

Watch segment >

Jamie Barton to Appear on Television's "Live from Lincoln Center" across U.S.

January 14, 2016

Photo by Dario Acosta

Jamie Barton, winner of the 2015 Richard Tucker Award, will star in "From Bocelli to Barton: The Richard Tucker Opera Gala” on PBS Stations this February. Audio excerpts, hosted by Deborah Voigt, will air on WQXR on February 1 before the "Live from Lincoln Center" telecast, which will be hosted by Audra McDonald on February 5. Check your local listings to confirm air date and time.

The star-studded gala features past Tucker Award-winners Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, and Stephen Costello; soprano Nadine Sierra, and tenors Piotr Beczala and Andrea Bocelli, in works by Berlioz, Donizetti, Gounod, Puccini, Rossini, Verdi, and others.

Update: The episode can now be viewed online!

Tucson Desert Song Festival Featured in Zocalo Magazine

January 5, 2016

Photo by Dario Acosta

““The power of voice in music is indisputable. The popularity of song is undeniable, from classical circles to pop music and even popular culture, thanks to such shows as “The Voice.” But living in Southern Arizona, we don’t often experience some of the world’s best classical vocal talents live, and in person. This dilemma was addressed in 2010 with the founding of Tucson Desert Song Festival...” ZOCALO MAGAZINE”

Read more >

Corinne Winters to Debut at Seattle Opera in 2016/17

January 4, 2016

Corinne Winters will make her Seattle Opera debut in the 2016/17 season as Violetta in the Peter Konwitschny La traviata – the same production that launched her international career and landed her on the cover of Opera magazine in the UK.

Of that performance, The Spectator wrote, "Corinne Winters gives a performance of genius, with a wonderfully supple voice...Her ‘Amami Alfredo’ was the most heart-rending since Renata Scotto. This Violetta is perfectly poised between Lulu and Mimì." The London Times raved, "Winters is the best ENO Violetta in decades" and BBC Music Magazine wrote, "Corinne Winters delivered a performance of white­-hot intensity and consummate control."

Winters will sing opposite Stefano Secco's Alfredo under the baton of Stefano Ranzani, a regular at La Scala, the Vienna Staatsoper, and the Metropolitan Opera.

Also next season at Seattle Opera, Winters will sing her first performances of the title role in Katya Kabanova. Oliver von Dahnányi will conduct a new production by Australian director Patrick Nolan.

Tucson Desert Song Festival Featured in Tucson Lifestyle Magazine

January 1, 2016

Photo by Simon Pauly

““Whether you’re an opera fan, a devotee of early music, or you enjoy everything symphonic, this annual event will give you plenty of reasons to stand and applaud.” TUCSON LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE”

Read more >

Verismo Clients Featured in "Best of 2015" Round-Ups

December 31, 2015

Verismo clients are popping up in several "Best of 2015" Year in Review lists:

BroadwayWorld.com Best of New York Opera in 2015
Jamie Barton
"Jamie Barton in EVERYTHING and ANYTHING. I was taken with mezzo Barton's velvety, cavernous voice the first time I heard it and it has only become more appealing with every performance, particularly as Anna Bolena's rival Giovanna Seymour."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Year in Review for Classical Music
Corinne Winters
"Canción Amorosa: Songs of Spain. Corinne Winters began her career as a Gerdine Young Artist at OTSL and has built it internationally with the company’s support. This recording is a beautiful selection of miniatures in characteristically Spanish styles."

Chicago Tribune's Best of 2015 in Chicago Classical Music
Amanda Majeski
"Crime and punishment on the operatic stage: Mieczyslaw Weinberg's powerful, Holocaust-themed "The Passenger," [starring Amanda Majeski] in its Midwest premiere at Lyric Opera." 

Jamie Barton Makes San Francisco Recital Debut

December 17, 2015

Jamie Barton with the San Francisco Girls Chorus

““Hearing American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton in her San Francisco Performances recital Wednesday evening, at least one listener had to ask: Is there anything this artist can’t sing?” SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS”

Jamie Barton has made her San Francisco recital debut alongside pianist Robert Mollicone with San Francisco Performances. The pair were joined by cellist Emil Miland for the West Coast premiere of Jake Heggie's The Work at Hand, written for Barton and originally premiered at Carnegie Hall.

Special guests at the performance were members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus, who met with Barton backstage after the show.

Read reviews below:

"Hearing American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton in her San Francisco Performances recital Wednesday evening, at least one listener had to ask: Is there anything this artist can't sing?

Music lovers who have witnessed the Georgia-born singer's mercurial rise to opera stardom -- marked by prizes at the 2013 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and, earlier this year, the prestigious Richard Tucker Award -- could hardly have been surprised. Barton first wowed Bay Area audiences in 2014, stepping into the role of Adalgisa as a last-minute replacement in San Francisco Opera's production of "Norma." Her richly colored, voluptuous voice made an indelible impression in Bellini's opera. But that was just one role.

Wednesday's magnificent program, a local debut recital presented at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, demonstrated an even wider range of Barton's artistry. Accompanied by pianist Robert Mollicone, she sang in Spanish, French, German, Czech and English, sounding fluent and completely assured in each selection.

The program's centerpiece was the West Coast premiere of "The Work at Hand," a three-song cycle by San Francisco composer Jake Heggie. Scored for voice, piano and cello, the work sets texts by poet Laura Morefield, who died of cancer in 2011. By turns somber, defiant and transcendent, this enveloping 20-minute cycle traces the narrator's journey from turmoil to acceptance, and Barton gave it a captivating, fully committed performance.

Heggie, as always, writes beautifully for the voice, and with the excellent cellist Emil Miland joining Barton and Mollicone, the first song, "Individual Origami," sounded vibrant; Barton's radiant singing floated attractively over Mollicone's finely etched playing and Miland's fiercely focused cello part. The central section, "Warrior 1" (named for the yoga pose), found Barton expressing the poet's will to live with an intensity that rose to a stunning cry of the heart. In the moving conclusion, titled "The Slow Seconds," the singer's luminous vocalism was gently underscored by Miland's arioso playing.

The program began with Joaquín Turina's "Homenaje a Lope de Vega" -- delivered by Barton with a mix of keen emphasis and sensual longing -- and ended with Dvorak's set of seven "Gypsy Songs." In Barton's performance, each of the Czech composer's miniature settings emerged a lustrous tableau; the fourth selection, best known in English as "Songs My Mother Taught Me," was especially lovely, with the singer evoking the music's heartfelt sentiment in ripe, glowing phrases.

In between, Barton sang three songs by French composer Ernest Chausson: "Le colibri" (The Hummingbird), "Hébé" and "Le temps des lilas" (The time of lilacs.) These fragrant works showed her shapely voice to pristine advantage, and she projected their qualities of drama and sensuality in equal measure.

Her readings of four Schubert songs, including the often-performed "Gretchen am Spinnrade" (Gretchen at the spinning wheel), also evoked an eloquent response. Once again, Barton's command of language and vocal dynamics were impressive. Still, what was most remarkable was her facility for communicating the dramatic essence of the texts. "Gretchen," "The King in Thule," Shepherd's lament," and "Restless love" -- each song invited comparisons with the great lieder singers of the past.

Barton and Mollicone returned for a single encore, Harry T. Burleigh's arrangement of "Swing low, sweet chariot," sung with a splendid mix of warmth and ease."
San Jose Mercury News

"The young American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton has been garnering extravagant praise on operatic stages for the past few years, for reasons that became clear to local audiences with her magnificent 2014 San Francisco Opera debut in Bellini’s “Norma.” She’s a remarkable artist, with great reservoirs of vocal power and agility wedded to an exquisite communicative gift.

Would anyone be surprised to learn that those qualities transfer splendidly to the recital stage as well? I didn’t think so.

The proof of that proposition was everywhere in evidence on Wednesday, when San Francisco Performances presented Barton’s local recital debut in the concert hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The same virtues that had so enlivened her appearance as Adalgisa — in particular her ability to channel a voluminous sound into detailed and richly expressive phrasing — shone through a program of varied and sometimes little-known repertoire.

And in perhaps the most exciting development of the evening, Barton — together with cellist Emil Miland and pianist Robert Mollicone, who provided stalwart accompaniment throughout the program — unveiled a truly magical new work by Jake Heggie, a 20-minute song cycle titled “The Work at Hand.”

Miland rose to the task admirably, with playing of sumptuous, lively elegance. Barton’s singing sounded both plush and keen, rising to two extended, climactic high notes that registered as a bold assertion of the primacy of life over death.

She and Mollicone followed that up with a vigorous and sensitively phrased account of Dvorák’s “Gypsy Songs” to close the program. She moved effortlessly among the shifting moods of this set, bringing rhythmic vitality to the group’s more extroverted songs and infusing the hushed lines of the third song (“All around me the forest is quiet”) with full-bodied warmth.

Barton opened her program with songs by Turina and Chausson, which called for — and mostly got — committed advocacy to make their mark. Among Barton’s most telling strokes were the quiet, almost disembodied intensity with which she delivered the second of the three songs from Turina’s “Homage to Lope de Vega,” and the unnerving luxuriance she lent to Chausson’s “Le colibri” ( “The Hummingbird”). A group of Schubert’s Goethe settings was notable for the pitiable fervor of “Gretchen am Spinnrade,” and the evening closed with a beautifully soulful encore, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” arranged by Harry T. Burleigh."
San Francisco Chronicle

"Jamie Barton introduced herself to San Francisco audiences last year as a last-minute substitute Adalgisa in Bellini’s opera Norma. It was an incendiary performance that displayed a rich voice and ability to plumb the depths of the mezzo soprano range with power, as might be expected from the top prize winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World. Her first recital here Tuesday underlined those attributes and displayed an impressive command of a wide range of musical styles, not to mention five different languages.

Songs in Spanish (by Turina), French (Chausson), German (Schubert), English (Heggie) and Czech (Dvořák) touched on lyrical issues of love and death. Those may been the connecting threads, but Barton’s magnificent voice provided the fundamental bond. With total command of her vocal resources, she delivered a steady diet of shapely phrases, shading one with darker tone, the next with something lighter, rising in a crescendo to a shattering climax in one song, or in the next, falling in a diminuendo to an evanescent filament of sound. She can marshal extraordinary sonic power. At times she could sound almost like a baritone and, moments later, spin out a delicate strand in one long breath that ventured into the soprano range.

All that was on display in Jake Heggie’s The Work At Hand, written for Barton, who debuted it at Carnegie Hall in February. For this emotionally gripping cycle, Heggie was inspired after reading Laura Morefield’s poems, which she wrote after being diagnosed with colon cancer, and traced the wrenching process of saying goodbye to all those one loves. It makes for a rich and rewarding 20 minutes of music.

Barton has remarkable ability to focus her powerful voice into service for the words, which are alternately aggressive and heartbreaking, and ultimate affirm the primacy of life to the end. Heggie’s music underlines those aspects, and shades each line with an appropriate tone. This is a composer who believes in real melody and seldom strays far from familiar harmonies, but always makes the music feel unconventional and fresh.

The recital started with Turina’s Homenaje a Lope de Vega, the Spanish composer’s take on three sultry poems about sexual desire. Barton wove her supple voice around exotic melodic turns and delicately sensual rhythms. Three songs by Chausson traced the course of love from youthful ardor to—in “Le temps de lilacs”—the realization that death is near and sweet memories are all that’s left. Barton sang with consummate grace and poignancy.

Four Schubert songs concluded the first half. What made Gretchen am Spinnrade, stand out as the best was Mollicone’s delicately insistent tracing of Schubert’s allusion to the spinning wheel and the way Barton captured Gretchen’s anxiety at losing her lover. She reached a searing vocal climax at the finish, describing an imagined final kiss.

Dvořák’s Gypsy Songs included a gorgeous treatment by both Barton and Mollicone of the familiar “Songs My Mother Taught Me,” and ended the recital with flair, and a lone encore, Harry Burleigh’s simple and soulful arrangement of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” brought out Barton’s earthy edge. I would plan to hear her any chance I got."
Seen and Heard International

Tucson Desert Song Festival Subject of 3-Piece Feature in Latin Post

December 3, 2015

““Few music festivals can claim the leadership position or forward thinking of the Tucson Desert Song Festival. In a modern world in which classical music is facing a tough battle for continued funding, TDSF is giving smaller regional organizations an opportunity to thrive.” LATIN POST”

The Tucson Desert Song Festival's 2016 season is featured in a 3-part series in the Latin Post. The series discusses the festival funding model, as well as upcoming performances by Adam del Monte and Daniela Mack.

Part I: Tucson Desert Song Festival Paves the Way for Smaller Regional Organizations

Part II: Spanish Guitarist Adam del Monte Talks Tucson Desert Song Festival, Argentine Folk Music

Part III: Argentine-American Mezzo Soprano Daniela Mack Looks Ahead to Tuscon Desert Song Festival

Jamie Barton Makes LA Opera Debut to Rave Reviews

November 22, 2015

Photo by Ken Howard

““As Norma’s acolyte, Adalgisa, Jamie Barton made her L.A. Opera debut on Saturday night by providing an indelible demonstration of why the young mezzo-soprano has become the latest darling of the American opera scene. Her sound is the darkly creamy lager that poured forth from altos of yore. Yet she displays the craft of a superior modern singer, which includes accuracy of intonation, alertness to rhythm and fine articulation.” LOS ANGELES TIMES”

Jamie Barton has earned critical acclaim for her LA Opera debut as Adalgisa alongside Angela Meade's Norma, with critics praising her "luscious tone and caressing phrasing" (Orange County Register) and "vibrant, raw performance." (Bachtrack)

Conducted by James Conlon and directed by Anne Bogart, the cast also includes tenor Russell Thomas and bass Morris Robinson. Performances continue through December 13, with tickets available through the LA Opera website. 

Read reviews:

"Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton brought a luscious tone and caressing phrasing to the part of Adalgisa, and in her several duets with Meade proved a perfect match."
Orange County Register

"The mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton sang the role of Adalgisa with elegant phrasing and a gleaming voice."
Opera World

"Last night in Los Angeles, Angela Meade, in the title role of the Druid high priestess, and Jamie Barton as Adalgisa sang Bellini’s bel canto masterpiece to sublime effect. Every Norma needs an Adalgisa who can match her vocal power and agility, and Meade was complemented superbly by Jamie Barton. Their Act II duet, “Mira, O Norma,” after Norma has pleaded with Adalgisa to flee to Rome with Pollione and become stepmother to her children, was the kind of music-making one dreams of. Elsewhere  ̶  in her earlier solo of Act I, in her duet with Pollione, and in her Act I scene with Norma when she confesses her love for Pollione  ̶  [Barton's] voice exuded a buttery warmth and sumptuous tone."
Seen and Heard International

"Norma requires three exceptional voices to make it sail, and L.A. Opera has gathered together a most impressive trio. Adalgisa is sung with dynamic strength by mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton."
Los Angeles Daily News

"The most beautiful voice in the performance belonged to debutante mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton who sang a creamy-smooth Adalgisa. It’s unfortunate that her character has no aria, but Barton showed her virtuosity in a most exquisite rendering of the duet 'Mira o Norma'."
Opera Today

"As Norma's acolyte, Adalgisa, Jamie Barton made her L.A. Opera debut on Saturday night by providing an indelible demonstration of why the young mezzo-soprano has become the latest darling of the American opera scene. Her sound is the darkly creamy lager that poured forth from altos of yore. Yet she displays the craft of a superior modern singer, which includes accuracy of intonation, alertness to rhythm and fine articulation. The greatest musical glory of "Norma" is found in the duets between Norma and Adalgisa, and the Meade-Barton amalgam is a sound so stunning that in the audience Saturday there were laughs of pure pleasure."
Los Angeles Times

“Adalgisa is played powerfully and wonderfully by Jamie Barton. When you see LA Opera’s Norma, you will hear Bellini’s music performed and interpreted in a most gorgeous and unforgettable way. Especially notable for their pure beauty are the soprano duets between Meade and Barton. Those performances alone are worth the price of admission.”
Splash LA

“Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton has been winning rave reviews across the country for her appearances. She was very impressive here, as well, with strong voice and great dynamic control, blending gorgeously with Meade in their duets.”
ArtsBeatLA

"Jamie Barton's extraordinary voice has a brilliant top and strength in the lower register. It is her voice’s lower range that often brings to mind a similar feature of the great mezzo voice of Marilyn Horne, one of the previous generation’s greatest Adalgisas. I have personally experienced such extraordinary Norma-Adalgisa pairs as Beverly Sills with Tatiana Troyanos (San Diego Opera) and Joan Sutherland with Marilyn Horne (San Francisco Opera) and believe that the Meade-Barton pairing appropriately belongs with this stellar list."
Opera Warhorses

"Adalgisa was Jamie Barton, a mezzo with a burnished sound that was an impressive fit with Meade’s... It is an exciting and singular sound, a future Amneris to be sure. Their musical sensitivies were especially impressive, highlighted in the duet "Mira, o Norma", the pair sang with outstanding balance, impressively in tune and in sync. Voices aside, these are two singers who have a distinct connection to the drama, diving in to their roles with determination, resulting in vibrant, raw performances on stage."
BachTrack

"Rome, Georgia, native Jamie Barton made quite the favorable impression as the young priestess, Adalgisa. This mezzo-soprano was well positioned in her lower tessitura, and her duet with Norma, “Oh! Rimembranza!”, sung in occasional thirds, was balanced, precise and heavenly."
ConcertoNet

"Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, as Adalgisa, is arguably the most exciting singer to emerge in recent years. Barton’s singing was characterized by its vocal allure, rich tonal production and sound vocal technique. Her round, ripe tone was a beautiful complement to Meade’s more brilliant delivery, and the jaw-dropping displays of virtuosity in the duets between the two made me wonder whether Barton-Meade may be the new go-to pairing for opera connoisseurs."
CNY Café Momus

"Angela Meade and Jamie Barton, are leading an excellent cast in Norma at LA Opera. The rich emotional content of the principal characters' relations with each other is fully conveyed by the extraordinary vocal performances. Meade as Norma and Barton as her unintentional romantic rival Adalgisa are wondrous to hear in the sublime second act duet of attempted reconciliation ("Mira, O Norma"). Though Norma is not an ideal "starter" opera for the uninitiated and this production is only serviceable, Meade and Barton really are singing like legends in it. That's never something to miss."
LAist

Jamie Barton Honored at 2015 Richard Tucker Opera Gala

November 2, 2015

Photo by Dario Acosta

““Barton is a worthy winner of this prize—her mezzo soprano is rich and luscious. It definitely stands out among the hordes of slender lyric mezzos that populate the opera scene.” PARTERRE”

Jamie Barton, winner of the 2015 Richard Tucker Award, has joined past Tucker Award-winners Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, and Stephen Costello; soprano Nadine Sierra, and tenors Piotr Beczala and Andrea Bocelli, in a star-studded gala at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall.

Critics have praised her "glorious interpretation" (Latin Post) and "fiery and velvety range." (Broadway World Opera) The concert will be telecast on PBS in 2016.

Read reviews:

"This year's recipient of the award was mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton who recently wowed audiences in "Anna Bolena" as Giovana Seymour. Barton got four opportunities to showcase her brilliant talent and certainly was up to the task in every selection. For her opening, Barton impressed with her weight low range in "Acerba volutta" from Cilea's "Adriana Lecouvreur."

Her second selection was a soprano-mezzo duet from Ponchielli's "La Gioconda." Sung alongside the powerhouse soprano Christine Goerke (more on her later), this was the most potent duet on the evening with the two women trading guttural blows, their voices at their most violently powerful until they came together at the very end, closing as equals.

Barton came back late in the program with a glorious interpretation of Dido's final scene in "Les Troyens," her voice here a more mellow color. The heft and emphatic qualities of the early selections gave way to a more poignant lyricism, one that drew the audience in from one phrase to the next.

To close the night, Barton joined in on the heavily truncated "Triumphal Scene" from Verdi's "Aida," her voice ringing through the massive orchestra and New York Choral Society."
Latin Post

"This year's gala, at the newly rechristened David Geffen Hall, fulfilled the first object delectably, as it celebrated mezzo Jamie Barton. Barton performed splendidly. Her first aria, "Acerba volutta" from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, showed off her range, from fiery to velvety. Later in the program, she paired with soprano Christine Goerke (who won the Tucker in 2001), in "E un anathema" from Ponchielli's La Gioconda and the duo gave a good reason to revive this opera, which has fallen off the Met's radar for some time. It's a tough task keeping up with Goerke, who is a fireball these days, and this duet was no exception. She jumped into it, practically setting the stage on fire, but Barton gave her a run for her money."
Broadway World Opera

"The ostensible occasion for the gala was to celebrate the 2015 winner, mezzo soprano Jamie Barton. She is a worthy winner of this prize—her mezzo soprano is rich and luscious. It definitely stands out among the hordes of slender lyric mezzos that populate the opera scene. Barton had three selections—”Acerba voluttá,” a duet from La Gioconda, with 2001 winner Christine Goerke and “Je vais mourir” from Les Troyens. The duet with Goerke made me long for a Gioconda revival with these two ladies, and Didon showed off an artist ready for the greatest mezzo roles."
Parterre

Jamie Barton Featured on New Holiday Album

October 31, 2015

Jamie Barton is featured on Holiday Harmonies, a disc of holiday music by Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA that combines new arrangements of holiday favorites with original compositions by Jennifer Higdon and Nico Muhly.

The album can be sampled on YouTube and purchased via Amazon and iTunes.

Read reviews:

“Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, who rocked the house portraying Jane Seymour in Donizetti's Anna Bolena at the Metropolitan Opera, interprets Silent Night with touching sensitivity and fullness of voice. Likewise, in Reger's The Virgin's Slumber Song, Barton soothes the soul with her fluid, gently rocking quality.”
Broadway World Classical

"Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton’s voice soars with beautiful sincerity over a chorus of angels in 'Silent Night,' and she sways just as gracefully over a muted piano accompaniment in the lesser-known lullaby, 'The Virgin’s Slumber Song.'"
Second Inversion

“Tedd Firth and Judith Clurman’s arrangement of “Silent Night,” featuring the Metropolitan Opera’s Jamie Barton, starts out with a post-modern open feel that makes each note new as fresh snow covered in dark honey. Barton’s rubato feels graceful and grateful at once.”
[Q]onStage