The reviews keep coming in so fast it’s hard to keep up with them. If you don’t already have the acclaimed Radvanovsky Sings Verdi album, perhaps all of these reviews of her performing an opera which is included on the album will FINALLY convince that you are SERIOUSLY missing out. Also, we just like to brag about the amazingness of our artists!
From OperaWarHorses.com (An appreciation and analysis of the ‘Standard Repertory’ of opera):
“In time, possibly the not too distant future, Sondra Radvanovsky, the Amelia, will be respected as one of the greatest Verdian sopranos in history. Her voice is rich throughout its range, exhibiting a beautiful vocal technique. Like so many of colleagues of the present day, she is an intelligent actress, always absorbing the audience’s attention.”
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
“Chicago area native soprano Sondra Radvanovsky…communicates the pure-hearted Amelia at every moment and delivers fully in her third-act plea to her anger-blind husband, ‘Morro, ma prima in grazier.'”
From the Chicago Tribune:
“Radvanovsky has moved to the forefront of reigning Verdi dramatic sopranos…because of its fullness and her ability to switch from spinto heft to lyrical warmth over a wide compass. She breathed dramatic life into Amelia’s increasing desperation, culminating in a poignant “Morro, ma prima in grazia,” in which she begged her implacable husband to see their son a final time.”
From the Opera Chanteuse blog:
“There are few sopranos today whose lungs are powerful enough to encompass the role’s vocal challenges without straining herself. Sondra Radvanovsky is one of those sopranos. She brought out the inherent sadness and desperation that inflames Amelia’s conflicted heart without resorting to diva antics…From her first tentative utterances in Ulrica’s cavern, she perked up my ears. By the time she arrived at the gallows to sing the taxing aria, “Ma dall’arido stelo divulsa”—a five-minute soliloquy that unmasks and reveals the soprano’s technique, stamina and everything else in her arsenal—she grabbed me by the throat. Verdi, as though testing the singer’s ability, demands breathtaking legato passages, inexhaustible breath control, ample volume, and if that’s not enough crowns the aria with a daring high C. Ms. Radvanovsky passed the test…She did not seem to caress Amelia’s exquisite music so much as glide through them from note to note. The searing “Morrò, ma prima in grazia,” in her delicate phrasing, was a heartfelt plea devoid of histrionics yet infused with just the right amount of pathos.”
From NewCityStage.com:
“The real star of this production is soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, the reigning Verdi soprano of the moment whose voice is large enough to fill the cavernous Civic Opera House. Yes, it would be great if she would scale back a touch during her Act II love duet with Lopardo, who even singing full out cannot match her, but then, this is one of the foibles of having a stage director who was not only a singer (Renata Scotto), but a well-known soprano who actually sang this role. Here, it is the soprano, not the tenor, who stops the show in her Act III pleading to see her son a final time before her husband plans to murder her for perceived unfaithfulness.”
From Opera.in:
“The appeal of Sondra Radvanovsky is obvious. She is tall with a beautiful face and a body that will fit into many costumes; and has a recognizable tone quality tinged with pathos. I understand why so many fans have invested their hope in her Verdi heroines. The voice has an even vibrato from top to bottom and there is no problem hearing her in the second-largest opera house in North America. When she needs to switch to the next gear, she proves that she has sound in reserve.”
Make sure to get your copy of Radvanovsky Sings Verdi today! (the album contains the Un ballo in Maschera aria “Ecco l’orrido campo… Ma dall’arido stelo divulsa”)