REVIEWS: “A cogent introduction to an auspicious new voice. Munger not only explores rare Mozart repertory and performs it very well; she also wrote her own erudite and perceptive program notes.” - Opera News
"Marie-Eve Munger’s new recording is a tour de force of scholarship and artistry. …and shaped them with shimmering virtuosity, all the while revealing in a young composer of astonishing accomplishment. […] Amid the pensive sentiments are contrasting episodes of fierce emotions and vocal pyrotechnics sung to the literal heights by Munger, a coloratura soprano who savors every challenging passage even as she caresses the dulcet phrases. She collaborates with the vibrant period-instrument ensemble Les Boréades de Montréal, as if on a mission - which of course, she most fervently is." – Gramophone
"Marie-Eve Munger, qui a conçu cet ambitieux programme, le défend avec aplomb. Dès son premier air, la métaphore maritime lui permet d’abattre ses cartes et sa Constanza virtuose s’impose. Le charme, la coquetterie, l’ardeur juvénile sont là. Mais, c’est bien évidemment, dans les airs d’Aspasia et de Giunia que la soprano peut montrer l’étendue de ses moyens.
La voix est longue, atteignant facilement les notes les plus élevées, le phrasé est rigoureux, et la technique suffisamment sûre, pour se lancer dans d’étourdissantes vocalises et affronter des feux d’artifices de notes piquées, trilles et autres ornements; et l’urgence des récitatifs ne lui échappent pas."
– Opéra Magazine
"Munger has an exquisite control of her light and clear soprano voice, and she responds keenly to the words and to shifts in harmony. I would say that she is among the most accomplished coloratura sopranos around right now. And among the best educated and most literate: she wrote the detailed and perceptive booklet-essay…" – Artfuse
"Munger, already known as a skilled and musical Mozart interpreter, continues to impress… Throughout Maestrino Mozart, Munger’s voice is warm, her technique is flawless and the coloratura light and agile. Her attentive musicological research is shown in the intelligent and careful consideration with which she brings Mozart’s various characters and stories to life… Maestrino Mozart not only please Mozart enthusiasts, it is worthy of both discovery and further performance."
– Whole Note
"But this young Canadian soprano sings with such verve, musicality and technical accomplishment that I was quite stunned. Where she impressed most of all was in the three arias from Mitridate; in Pallid‘ombre her intensive dramatic singing is a revelation. Glorious singing! Every Mozart fan should invest in this disc without delay."
– Musicweb International
"Munger’s soprano has bloomed and taken on added shades and allure. As the goddess of constancy, what sounded in 2012 like a virtuous, creamy tone has gained some heat and body… There’s never a dearth of Mozart recital albums, but Munger’s is a winning combination of curatorial intelligence and artistic conviction." – Van Magazine
12th on the 2022 list of favorite Canadian classical albums
"Munger meets its challenges without batting an eye… A bonus: Munger's notes on the repertoire are fun and enlightening."
– CBC
"… this CD shows not only that Mozart was already a great composer at a young age, but also that Munger has a real Mozart voice. With a warm core and silvery contours, she shines with technical solidity and precision, agility and the power of her projection. The lightness of the coloratura is particularly impressive. In addition, there is an unerring creative imagination that gives character to the figures with many nuances and colors."
– Pizzicato Luxembourg
More information:
For her second collaboration on the ATMA Classique label, soprano Marie-Eve Munger releases Maestrino Mozart, an album devoted to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s rarely-heard arias composed between the ages of 10-16. Maestrino Mozart, out September 16, 2022, features Munger alongside Les Boréades de Montréal and conductor Philippe Bourque.
It presents a program curated to contradict any assumption that Mozart’s earliest works are merely simple or juvenile through sparkling performances of a varied mix of repertoire, from the most charming pastoral to the most difficult bravura arias, and through dramatic and emotionally powerful works such as Mitridate and Lucio Silla.
“My own journey into this repertoire began at the start of my career, when I was lucky enough to be offered a role in Il sogno di Scipione in New York. I had thought I knew the composer a little, but quickly realized my ignorance when I learned that Mozart had written no fewer than eight dramatic works before he reached the age of 17! My curiosity was piqued. During the last few years, I have collected what I thought to be his most exceptional arias and recitatives for soprano, written between the ages of 10 and 16. I hope to take the audience on a musical journey to try to gain some insight into the development of this incomparable phenomenon.”
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