“Dobson encapsulates a distinctly dark, sinister side”
“Alexander Dobson confidently captured my attention immediately as the story begins when he sings in his rich baritone voice. “Mr. Dobson encapsulates a distinctly dark, sinister side to The Master’s character which sent a chill down my spine.” —Read more at ONSTAGE BLOG
“Bach given uplifting treatment” by McGegan, Bragle, & Panthaki
“McGegan is a jolly man who clearly loves his work and engages with the performers and audience with utmost geniality. It is impossible not be drawn into the general air of ‘isn’t this all fun?’ that radiates from face, his demeanour, and his conducting. This very ‘up’ view of life spilled over into the music […]
Cummings’ “magnificent Saul”…Jurenas “a stunning DAVID”
“Cummings and the FOG had the audience in the collective palm of their hands… “Eric Jurenas was a stunning DAVID, with strong penetrating tone across his range and especially in the high notes, good flexibility, and judiciously deployed vibrato, not heard that often in countertenors, and great vocal expessiveness …delivering golden top notes…his reading of […]
Panthaki “handled high tessitura with ease” and Cooley’s “greasepaint sensibility”
“Thomas Cooley brought the greasepaint sensibility most pungently in his animated ‘A thousand, thousand ways we’ll find’ with the chorus. “Soprano Sherezade Panthaki handled the hushed dynamics and high tessitura of ‘See, even Night herself’ with ease…” —Read more at Chicago Classical Review
Panthaki’s “superhuman vocal stamina”
“Well-known throughout Baroque performance circles, Panthaki showed no fear of the space in the University Chapel, displaying a voice which soared into the Gothic architecture. It takes an unusual singer to fill the Chapel acoustic as a soloist, and especially in the upper registers, Panthaki’s voice was clear all the way to the last pew. […]
Kirkby is “delicate” and “detailed” in recital
“British soprano and early music icon Emma Kirkby’s performance of Italian, French and English Baroque lute songs, alongside lutenist Jakob Lindberg, was as delicate as it was detailed.” -Read more at Sydney Morning Herald.
Halls “a thrill to watch” in Mahler with Toronto Symphony
The TSO’s performance was arresting, reaching deafening peaks and eerie rustles. Perhaps there was a bit of improvisatory adrenaline, since British maestro Matthew Halls had stepped in on short notice to replace an ailing Juanjo Mena. Halls was a thrill to watch, the leader of all that onstage drama that Mahler writes into his score. […]
“Matthew Halls scored a triumph”
“…the results were profoundly inspired revelations of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony…Halls had a tall order placed before him and he didn’t flinch…the highlight of the night was Halls’ masterstroke of bringing the third, fourth and fifth movements together in an undifferentiated hymn to contemplation, of life and death, of meaning and mortality, and ultimately, of the […]
Butterfield’s “clarion tenor”
“Of course, the opening funereal measures of the Requiem had a sobering effect, but even here, Mozart did not neglect the element of theatricality. Dashon Burton’s thundering basso in “Tuba mirum” was a stunner, followed by Butterfield’s clarion tenor, Atkinson’s silky mezzo, and Colton’s sweet and airy soprano — in fact an entire progression of […]
LA Times: “Handel’s ‘Saul,’ not the ‘Messiah,’ with Nicholas McGegan in his element”
“Four years after “Saul,” Handel and the same librettist, Charles Jennens, would go on to produce that first true, most famous and still most lasting of all oratorios, meant for Easter (even if appropriated by Christmas). Instead Nicholas McGegan, the longtime music director of the Berkeley-based period instrument ensemble and as fine a “Messiah” master […]
