“Prince Dimitri, is played by tenor Matthew Vickers, who can portray both youthful, ardent love in Act I and genuine remorse by the end of Act III. Here is a formerly callow lover who really wants to make it up to her. Vickers, a tall, strapping man, is even able to sing the climax of the Act I duet while carrying Duprels in his arms.” -Opera News “Matthew Vickers certainly manages to hold up his end of the dramatic situation, and his plangent voice is a real asset in his extended remorse in the final two Acts; the character is, and should be, much more than a simple heartless seducer or a thoughtless adventurer like Pinkerton… She is well matched with Matthew Vickers’ Dimitri: there is something innately warm and tender in his singing and he conveys, at every stage, the essential niceness of the character, which is essential to Alfano’s conception, though not to Tolstoy’s. These two characters so dominate the opera that the rest of the cast are effectively all supporting roles” -MusicWeb International “Matthew Vickers displays a bright lyric tenor as Dimitri” -Limelight Magazine “This 2020 Florence, Italy, production is kept aloft by Rosetta Cucchi’s spry direction, the excellent leads—soprano Anne Sophie Duprels as the heroine Katyusha and Matthew Vickers as her love Dmitri” -The Flip Side “the excellent tenor Matthew Vickers as a perfect acting and singing partner. With hardly a moment in which he is not partnering Duprels in extended duets, Vickers still shines vocally with a lovely lyric voice that can deliver heft when heft is needed. And he is an honest actor, utterly convincing as Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Nehlyudov.” -Raphael’s Music Notes

"Matthew Vickers displayed a ringing tenor in his company debut as Malcolm" - Chicago Classical Review "Tenors Joshua Guerrero and Matthew Vickers both make fine Lyric debuts as Macduff and Malcolm, respectively, lifting the tone of the opera’s second half to something rather more heroic." - Stage and Cinema

"RICHARD STRAUSS'S ELEKTRA is all about primal screams, death cries, dissonance and angst. Silent movies are soundless, if often loudly emotional, affairs. Minnesota Opera combined the two in a provocative new production of Elektra that opened on October 5 at the Ordway Music Theatre in St. Paul. Stage director and production designer Brian Staufenbiel put Strauss’s opera in a new frame, creating a parallel story that overlaid the familiar opera version of the Greek tragedy. . . Among the brilliant strokes of this production (which included enlisting David Murakami for the video and projection design and Mathew Lefebvre for costumes) was putting the orchestra on stage. . . The orchestra pit was covered to extend the Ordway's modest stage and hold seating for more than one hundred orchestra musicians. Lang, played by actor Justin Cook, introduced the show, telling the audience that this was to be a live shoot for a “new” Lang movie, a sequel to a short feature about the murder of Agamemnon, one of the Greek chieftains in the Trojan War. That movie was quickly screened, looking remarkably authentic as a pre-talkie classic, to provide the backstory.Then the Lang character reminded audience members to turn off their "illuminated devices" and called, "Action!" He and the camera operators, grips and other crew members prowled around the stage and mingled as the opera played out. The singers stepped off stage to relax and have a smoke between scenes. There often were live camera shots projected above the stage, as well as backstage footage of what the audience couldn't see. . . Baritone Craig Irvin, who made his Minnesota Opera debut in Kevin Puts’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night in 2011, was superbly cast as Orest, Elektra's long-lost brother. Orest gets one scene, but what a scene—Irvin and Hogrefe were mesmerizing and entirely convincing as they slowly recognized each other and embraced this moment that both have been awaiting. . . This new take on Elektra makes the characters less mythic and more human. It also adds occasional comic relief, in a tasteful way, and some useful onstage action in an opera that doesn't have much. " -Opera News Read full review.

“Katrina Thurman brought a bright, facile sound to the role of Musetta, along with the theatrical depth to create a character that was both insufferable in her behavior and deeply loyal and compassionate with her friend Mimi.” - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “All four principals and the two comprimario players harmonized throughout under the watch of conductor Joseph Rescigno and stage director William Florescu. ... Katrina Thurman makes an attractive Musetta, but Thurman and Florescu chose to accent her cleverness and force of personality rather than her flirty sexuality. She's brisk and clear in her singing and acting and not at all kittenish. She knows the score and plays by her own rules; I like this Musetta a lot, and I like Thurman.” - Tom Strini Writes

Flora will make her Houston Grand Opera debut this fall as Peter in The Snowy Day. Ezra Jack Keats’s award-winning, ever-popular work from 1962, The Snowy Day , was the first mainstream children’s book to feature a Black boy as its protagonist. The story comes to life for the holidays in this anticipated world premiere opera from the brilliant creative duo of composer Joel Thompson and librettist Andrea Davis Pinkney. Join Peter, a young boy out exploring the city alone for the first time, as he experiences the delights of crunching, sliding, and playing in a fresh snowfall and, along the way, learns some truths about life. HGO Studio artist and soprano Raven McMillon takes on the role of Peter, and director Omer Ben Seadia brings the wonder and magic of the boy’s wintry world to life. HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers conducts.

“The other major players were also truly immersed in their respective interpretations of the famed opera, including the richly balanced voices and acting of the father, Justin Austin, and mother Flora Wall.” – Opera Wire

"THERE WERE SURPRISES on July 14 with Kristine McIntyre’s emotionally shattering mounting of Alban Berg’s seminal twelve-tone masterpiece Wozzeck. . . Baritone Michael Mayes created a magnificently rendered portrait of the bedeviled protagonist that was heart-wrenching in its volatility and desperation. The poignant Marie of Sara Gartland was something of a revelation. Gartland delivered the character through a gleaming column of sound that remained incisive yet consistently beautiful throughout the range up to the top C. . . Robert Watson was a narcissistically brutal Drum Major. . . McIntyre and her creative team (all-female, including the fight director) conceived a hostile, totalitarian environment of regimented movement, sadly drab clothing and a series of mobile steel panels from designer Vita Tzykun that eerily resembled chopping blades as they successively revealed each scene. The opera’s pitiful characters didn’t stand a chance. Some may doubt that Wozzeck would be a hit in the Midwestern cornfields, but the ovations were staggering. This was easily one of the most satisfying experiences I have had in an opera house." -Opera News Read full review.

"DMMO has hitched its wagon to the sublime talents of soprano Sara Gartland and the annual outcome could not be happier. Having been heard at Des Moines in past seasons as a compelling Jenufa, ravishing Rusalka, and highly affecting Marie in 2019’s Wozzeck, Ms. Gartland proved once again to be a perfect fit for the role at hand, the torn, lovelorn, and fatally frustrated Lisa. Her radiant, full-bodied soprano was made for the passionate outbursts required by the tortured heroine, and she gave such consistent pleasure that one only wished Tchaikovsky had given her more to sing." - Opera Today "Sara Gartland graced the stage in the role of Lisa, the Countess’s granddaughter and Gherman’s beloved. Gartland sang with passion and finesse, displaying Lisa’s progression from innocent infatuation to desperate obsession. . . Gartland’s vocal delivery in Lisa’s tragic third act aria was heartbreaking and beautiful" - Schmopera "We are also treated to another outstanding performance by Sarah Gartland as Lisa. Her powerful voice takes the audience on a poetic journey through both of her ariosi. Her performance leads to one of the most poetic deaths I've ever seen staged, which relied heavily on the actress's capability to tell this character's story." - BroadwayWorld

"The main reasons to see Santa Fe’s Marriage of Figaro, a timeless comedy of errors, are soprano Ying Fang as Susanna, the faithful servant, and mezzo Megan Marino as Cherubino, the infatuated pageboy... With her attractively flexible timbre, and rich chest voice, Marino expresses Cherubino’s ardor. Her “Voi che sapete” is simply delightful." - The Dallas Morning News " there are plenty of funny moments throughout the production, particularly courtesy of the scene-stealing mezzo-soprano Megan Marino as the count’s lovesick and mischievous page Cherubino" - Santa Fe Reporter

"Megan Marino sang the role of Feodor with swagger and playfulness. She gave the character a bright mezzo voice at the beginning but as her father’s tragedy grew, the voice obtained a darker timbre and her movements became more restrained and hesitant." — Operawire

“It is obvious that soprano Laura Claycomb has “lived” with the Brentano Lieder for some time. She sang them with MTT and the Symphony in 2005, and everything about her performance last week showed a deep awareness and understanding of both the text and the music. From the way her posture and demeanor changed with every song to the effortless way in which she blended lyricism with virtuosity, Claycomb captured and conveyed the essence of Strauss’ five Brentano Lieder” -San Francisco Classical Voice Read full review. “But first, there was the opportunity to savor once again Claycomb’s shimmery, elegant and versatile way with Strauss’ vocal music. . . And the performance was nothing short of magnificent, a virtuoso display of silvery tone and effortless technical agility. These are the qualities that drive much of the composer’s writing for soprano, and Claycomb’s performance seemed to revel in her ability to negotiate the music’s demands without breaking a sweat. The little bursts of notes that punctuate the melody of “Ich wollt’ ein Sträusslein binden” (“I wanted to gather a bouquet”) emerged as colorful sprays, the sonic analog to the flowers in the poem’s text. Similar stretches of rapid-fire coloratura, extended over a longer span, informed Claycomb’s delivery of the final “Amor” (“Cupid”) — an irresistible picture of fluttery wings and quickening emotion. But there were subtler and no less important strokes of brilliance at work as well, including the sepulchral colors and moody phrasing of the opening “An die Nacht” (“To the night”) and the boldly forthright way Claycomb shaped the rhetoric of “Als mir dein Lied erklang” (“As your song rang out to me”). This artist’s treatment of Strauss has that requisite touch of magic, and we don’t hear her nearly often enough around these parts.” -SF Gate.com Read full review.

“Soprano Laura Claycomb exudes both passion and pride in her portrayal of Hester Prynne, an archetypal character whose punishment for adultery gives the story its title. Claycomb effortlessly negotiates the coloratura lines Laitman constructed for her and makes clear distinctions between her public and private interactions, particularly those with Hester’s concealed lover, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. . . Tenor Kyle Erdos Knapp and baritone Daniel Belcher (a beloved fixture at Opera Colorado) are excellent as representatives of the (literally) puritanical, judgmental community.” -Daily Camer Read full review. “Opposing that coolness is the go-for-broke singing of Laura Claycomb, Dominic Armstrong, Malcolm MacKenzie and Margaret Gawrysiak in the featured roles. These singers were cast for their ability to deliver the kind of melodic drama Laitman constructs and there’s no holding them back.” The Denver Post Read full review. “Highlights are Claycomb singing a lovely aria to her infant, her coloratura voice hitting high notes flawlessly: “I’ll earn our bread by handiwork, my skilled embroidery, and you shall grow, the daughter of a love kept secretly. Nothing will come to harm you, Pearl, as long as I’m alive. May you live long and thrive.” Herein lies Prynne’s strength and courage.” -The Examiner Read full review.