Corinne Winters's 2017 Traviata Trifecta
"Opera is alive, and exists only from the downbeat until the curtain falls." The soprano sings Verdi's tragic heroine in productions at Seattle Opera, San Diego Opera, and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden this season.
February 7, 2017
This season, soprano Corinne Winters sings Verdi's doomed La traviata in debuts at Seattle Opera and San Diego Opera, and in her return to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.
Winters, who considers Violetta her life's work, spoke with Bachtrack, Opera Sense, and Opera Wire about her signature roles, major house debuts, and why she identifies with the titular courtesan.
For performance dates, visit www.corinnewinters.com.
Photo by Fay Fox
Barton's Role Debut as Jezibaba Bewitches Audiences
"It’s hard to find adjectives superlative enough to describe her voice: huge and sumptuous, but with such broad possibilities of color that the singer can chill the blood with just a glint of steel in the tone. Lurching, heaving and writhing nonstop, she looked as if she might any moment explode out of sheer malevolence." Jamie Barton returns to the Metropolitan Opera in a new production of Rusalka.
February 4, 2017
Mezzo Jamie Barton, fresh from being named winner of the 2017 Beverly Sills Artist Award, makes her role debut as Jezibaba in a new production of Rusalka at the Metropolitan Opera.
Directed by Mary Zimmerman and conducted by Mark Elder, Dvorak's Czech fairy tale stars Kristine Opolais in the title role, Brandon Jovanovich as the Prince, and Eric Owens as the Water Sprite.
Performances run through March 2, and tickets can be purchased via the Met website. The February 25 performance will be streamed live in cinemas worldwide via the Met's Live in HD program.
Read reviews:
“What makes this show bearable, if not indeed indispensable, is the presence of the magnificent mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Jezibaba. It’s hard to find adjectives superlative enough to describe her voice: huge and sumptuous, but with such broad possibilities of color that the singer can chill the blood with just a glint of steel in the tone. Though I didn’t care for the jokey take on the character Zimmerman imposed on her, I was flabbergasted at how passionately Barton threw herself into the performance. Lurching, heaving and writhing nonstop, she looked as if she might any moment explode out of sheer malevolence. If everyone involved in this Rusalka were operating at Barton’s level, the Met would have its biggest hit of the decade. As it is, the company might be better off condensing the opera to a single hour-long act called Hello, Jezibaba!”
New York Observer
“The real marvel of the cast was Jamie Barton, who was absolutely sensational as the sorceress Ježibaba. Her voice was a wonder in itself, a full, shady mezzo with harrowing power, and fierce fire in her chest. Of everyone in the cast, she had the most success in navigating the cartoonish aesthetic of the production, hamming it up just enough to embrace the comic elements of the role, but never forgetting its essential darkness. Barton brings tremendous presence to the stage, coupled here with a specific and deliciously wicked vocal characterization.”
New York Classical Review
"As Jezibaba, Jamie Barton, in a wonderful spiderweb dress, blended comedy and cruelty, her pungent mezzo taking on a fierce brightness."
Wall Street Journal
“Barton is a lot of fun here. Her low mezzo is irresistibly rich and colorful, epic in size and effortless. (I’ve seen a lot of Rusalkas and hence a lot of Jezibabas and she is the best by a large margin.) She also shows real comic flair in a villain mode.”
Likely Impossibilities
“Jamie Barton, a recent winner of the Beverly Sills Artist Award, is a delightfully campy villain as the witch Jezibaba. Her meaty mezzo is wonderfully deployed, especially during the transformation set piece, in which Zimmerman likens Rusalka’s metamorphosis to a surgical intervention. The only drawback is the role’s brevity in a rather long evening, leaving the audience craving more of Barton’s superlative work.”
Parterre Box
“Barton, a mezzo from Georgia who is becoming a Met mainstay, is wickedly devious as Jezibaba.”
Huffington Post
“Jamie Barton as Ježibaba was gloriously demented as the wily witch. She gets to play some delicious comedy and sings with such skill, you feel like she is really capable of casting spells with sound.”
NY Theatre Guide
"Jamie Barton’s devilish Ježibaba was the highlight. Surrounded by half-human/half-animal henchmen, Barton brought such electric charisma that it was hard not to find affection for the wily sorceress."
Classical Source
"The extraordinary Jamie Barton is the vocal star of this production and outshines even Eric Owens, just as she outshone Plácido Domingo in the Met’s Nabucco this winter. Barton and her critters are terrifying: Her cackle froze the auditorium’s giblets."
New Republic
“As the crusty witch Jezibaba, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton dug into her lower range with some dramatically appropriate guttural effects, but more than her predecessor Dolora Zajick, maintained grace and musicality no matter how nasty her sentiments.”
Operavore
Jamie Barton Receives 2017 Beverly Sills Artist Award
The $50,000 prize is awarded annually by the Metropolitan Opera to one of its most promising young singers.
January 31, 2017
“I am truly humbled to be receiving an award given in honor of Beverly Sills, whose lively presence helped opera shine even where classical music previously felt unreachable and elite. Her offstage commitment to cultivating and celebrating homegrown American artistry and her onstage collaborations with people from all walks of art – from “Sills and Burnett at the Met” to “The Muppet Show” and “The Tonight Show” – helped make opera accessible to all and addictive to many. Her ability to communicate an unfolding story with every vocal nuance continues to inspire me – it’s that kind of artistry that moves me as an audience member, and it’s the kind of storytelling I strive for in my own performances. To be not only honored by the Metropolitan Opera but also to become part of a legacy that includes such strong advocates for our art form is one of the greatest honors I can imagine.”
Photo by Jonathan Tichler
See what the New York Times had to say, and read an excerpt from the Metropolitan Opera below:
Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton has been named the winner of the 12th annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera. The $50,000 award, the largest of its kind in the United States, is given to extraordinarily gifted singers between the ages of 25 and 40 who have already appeared in featured solo roles at the Met. The award, given in honor of Beverly Sills, was established in 2006 by an endowment gift from the late Agnes Varis, a managing director on the Met board. Barton, who came to prominence as a winner of the Met’s National Council Auditions in 2007, has distinguished herself in recent seasons with acclaimed Met performances of Adalgisa in Bellini’s Norma, Giovanna Seymour in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, and Fenena in Verdi’s Nabucco. She is currently in rehearsals for her role debut as the witch Ježibaba in Mary Zimmerman’s new staging of Dvořák’s Rusalka, which opens February 2.
The Sills Award was created to help further recipients’ careers, including funding for voice lessons, vocal coaching, language lessons, related travel costs, and other professional assistance. Sills, who passed away in 2007, was well known as a supporter and friend to developing young artists, and this award continues her legacy as an advocate for rising singers. The 35-year-old Barton is the 12th recipient of the award, following baritone Nathan Gunn in 2006, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in 2007, tenor Matthew Polenzani in 2008, bass John Relyea in 2009, soprano Susanna Phillips in 2010, mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard in 2011, soprano Angela Meade in 2012, tenor Brian Hymel in 2013, tenor Michael Fabiano in 2014, baritone Quinn Kelsey in 2015, and soprano Ailyn Pérez in 2016.
Corinne Winters Stuns in Return to Konwitschny Traviata
"Corinne Winters is an especially compelling Violetta, alternating power with subtlety...as heartbreaking as any I have ever seen." Corinne Winters appears as Violetta at Seattle Opera.
January 16, 2017
Corinne Winters returns to Peter Konwitschny's intermission-less La traviata in her Seattle Opera debut, alongside Joshua Dennis as Alfredo and Weston Hurt as Germont.
Winters triumphed in her European debut as Violetta in the same production at English National Opera, earning her both critical acclaim and a coveted Opera Magazine cover in the UK.
Performances run through January 28; tickets can be purchased from the Seattle Opera website.
Photo by Jacob Lucas
Read reviews:
"Konwitschny’s pared-down production places the focus firmly on Violetta, and Corinne Winters is theatrically and vocally the ideal fit for Konwitschny’s vision. An intensely compelling presence, Winters’ Violetta is by turns angry, vulnerable, and gritty. Fascinatingly, she was at her most desperately moving in the first act, showing compassion for Alfredo’s humiliation and physically shielding him from the taunting chorus. Vocally, her rich soprano best suits the spinto outbursts of Act II, though she ably navigated the Act I coloratura with fearless brilliance and a ringing E flat. Best of all, her nuanced shading and projection of the text eliminated the need for the projected supertitles."
Bachtrack
"Corinne Winters, as Violetta, brought her character to life with a rich, commanding soprano that gripped the audience from the first moment to the last. Her 'Sempre libera' shone through the starkness of the production to conjure up the demi-monde with her youth, beauty, lush voice, and passionate performance."
Seattle Gay News
"Soprano Corinne Winters, also in her Seattle Opera debut, as Violetta, ranges convincingly from sharp and fiery to meek and broken as bodily illness and social rejection catch up with her."
The Stranger
"On opening night the singers were in excellent voice, with Corinne Winters an especially compelling Violetta. She is a talented actor as well as singer, alternating power with subtlety; her performance of Violetta’s final aria was especially touching, as heartbreaking as any I have ever seen."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"Corinne Winters' Violetta is a sublime blend of fiery and fragile. Plus she has a gorgeously clear soprano voice, progressing with eloquent ease from fierce to desperate to seriously ill, on even the highest notes."
Queen Anne News
"Winters was the opening evening’s star as she performed a flawless Violetta. Winters achieved a convincing portrayal due to her terrific technique and her tasteful approach to the character... Hurt’s bronze-like voice combined magnificently with Corinne Winters’ fine vocal nuances in their duet of the Second Act, in the best moment of Saturday’s performance."
Opera World
"The young and slender Winters looked and acted the role superbly. She has the voice too, beautiful, expressive, and able to sing softly and expressively including on the highest notes, as she gradually fades to death in the last act."
The SunBreak
"From beginning to end, the opera is all Violetta’s. Winters sang Violetta in the original Konwitschny production at the English National Opera in 2013, and her familiarity with the role allowed her to perform it with full-blown confidence. With so many arias and duets – many when Violetta is taken down by her worsening consumption and sings on the floor or in other compromised positions – her secure strong soprano resonates. She does everything right in the role. Winters embraced Violetta so thoroughly that we don’t pity her. We are sad that she has to die, that she loses her true love, but she goes out with dignity, backing away triumphantly into those red curtains."
Oregon ArtsWatch
"What’s more vital is the singing, and here the show satisfies. To her sure-footed performance of her showpiece 'Sempre libera,' Corinne Winters brings a hint of a hard edge, making audible the desperation in her assertion to remain unencumbered following Alfredo’s declaration of love. That this was a choice and not a vocal given she demonstrated later in her satiny, quiet opening phrases in 'Dite alla giovine' and in the headlong passion of her farewell declaration, 'Amami, Alfredo.'"
Seattle Weekly
"On the plus side, there’s the singing, chiefly that of Corinne Winters in the title role. She is a beautiful and fearless Violetta, capable of both power and subtlety, and able to leap onto the lone chair during one of the most feared of all soprano arias, “Sempre libera.” An affecting actress, she made Violetta’s exuberance, despair, and inexorable decline in health all very clear."
Seattle Times
All Who Wander Is A Hit
"It’s the sort of instrument you could listen to all day, in any sort of repertoire." Jamie Barton's debut album is receiving critical acclaim from San Francisco to London.
December 31, 2016
“No one who has heard Jamie Barton in action is in any doubt about the American mezzo-soprano’s gifts. She boasts an expansive, robust vocal sound, tinged with richly varied colors, and she deploys it with a distinctive combination of heroic power and tender intimacy. So the splendors of her debut release don’t exactly come as a surprise. But that hardly diminishes the joy of listening to Barton’s expressive, full-throated performances.”
Jamie Barton's debut album, released November 11 on Delos Music, is earning rave reviews from San Francisco to London.
Accompanied by pianist Brian Zeger, All Who Wander features lush, romantic melodies by Mahler, Dvorak, and Sibelius.
Read reviews:
"The voice is rich, generous and vibrant, big but beautifully controlled, impeccably smooth throughout its range. It’s the sort of instrument you could listen to all day, in any sort of repertoire. This really is an exciting talent, and a terrific disc."
Gramophone
"Barton’s grand and rich voice is perhaps as big as Flagstad’s, Farrell, and Nilsson’s, with tone as beautiful and unforced as the first two singers’. Its compass extends from the bottom of the mezzo range to an easy, room-shaking high C. But as easily as Barton can envelop you with sound, she can also grab you by the gut, and propel you deep into the emotional heart of music’s great mysteries. It is the emotional depth of Barton’s artistry that sets her apart from other singers blessed with exceptional voices. She has the power to render you breathless and at her mercy. I expect that you, too, will marvel at how, as Barton expands her voice to huge proportions, her sound and heart also expand to encompass every emotion of a woman lost in memories of a great, lost love."
Stereophile
“Jamie Barton has one of the great voices in the world today. Sumptuous, flexible, and capable of light and shade, her sizeable mezzo pours forth seamlessly. Barton’s voice at full cry is thrilling to behold but the majesty of her instrument never overwhelms the songs. Her ability to lighten her tone, especially in the tricky upper middle voice, notably allows her to sing with expressive freedom. All Who Wander is everything a song recital should be. Delivering both familiar and unfamiliar fare in beguiling interpretations, Barton and Zeger take the listener into the world of each song with deft musicality and emotional sincerity.”
Parterre Box
“A rising star, Barton seems as comfortable on the concert platform as the opera stage. In these art-songs admirable throughout is Barton’s alluring tone and gorgeous phrasing. My highlight is Mahler’s magnificent Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, a multi-faceted score full of world-weary introspection. In this intensely melancholic writing, Barton communicates a real sense of yearning to moving effect, which felt extremely spiritual. The text that aches with emotion in Um Mitternacht (At midnight) is enchantingly sung, maintaining an intense expression that adds to the dream-like quality of the writing and concludes with a sense of resignation.”
Music Web International
"Barton is the most important American mezzo-soprano since Stephanie Blythe, another phenomenon capable of singing everything, and very well. Instead of Bellini’s Adalgisa and Wagner’s Fricka, which are her calling cards on opera stages around the world, the singer opted for a more intimate and very demanding repertoire. Barton has been given a voice and that abundance of means could betray her; fortunately those fears are unfounded. Her instrument is a column of generous, opulent sound that dominates to the point of allowing her to completely abandon herself to the chosen material in order to concentrate on the interpretation."
El Nuevo Herald
"We listened to All Who Wander on a rainy afternoon in London; Barton’s singing is just as much a warm hug on a cold day as it is a refreshing breeze in the heat.”
Schmopera
"Barton’s voice is delicate throughout, a sound that the audiences are not accustomed to hearing in the opera house where her potent mezzo soprano exhilarates with its brilliance and forwardness."
Opera Wire
"Perhaps the song on the record which encapsulates best what Barton can do is Sibelius’ “Säv, säv, susa”. She conveys its arched structure from repose to violence and back again with real conviction, and the final long vowels are unbelievable.”
The Arts Desk
"She is emphatically her own artist. All Who Wander is a testament to Barton’s artistic individuality—and, equally importantly, to the depths of her talent. No, the Twenty-First Century has given us no Flagstad or Callas, but what a gift we have been given in Jamie Barton."
Voix des Arts
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.
New Website Launched for Visionary Fry Street Quartet
The Fry Street Quartet are working on the vanguard of collaborative classical music.
August 11, 2016
Verismo Communications announces the launch of a new website for the visionary Fry Street Quartet, who are working on the vanguard of collaborative classical music.
The FSQ's signature is an interdisciplinary collaboration joining science and art. The Crossroads Project aims to inspire reflection, foster engagement and incite action at a pivotal moment for our environment. In the live performance experience, and now on the album to be released this fall, the Fry Street Quartet brings together commissioned works by Grammy winner Libby Larsen and Pulitzer Prize nominee Laura Kaminsky to create a thought-provoking, viscerally affecting exploration of global sustainability.
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.