- at the San Diego Opera

Women Wow on Handel's Stage: Led by Vivica Genaux, the Distaff Element Shines in San Diego's Ariodante "Genaux was a thrilling, vocally triumphant Ariodante."

The production in San Diego, by John Copley, was created by the Dallas Opera for exciting young singer Vivica Genaux. That alone should be attraction enough for San Diegans. An unknown when she made her debut with the company five years ago in Rossini's The Italian in Algiers, she immediately won over just about everybody and has been back often. Now, the world knows the agile 32-year-old mezzo-soprano as a rising star. Her singing Saturday was spectacular.
-Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2002

FLAWLESS!

Anyone who knows anything at all about music and singing will be thrilled by the level of excellence achieved by San Diego Opera's first venture into Handelian territory. Ariodante boasts a flawless assembly of seven -- count 'em seven -- principal singers, all of whom are perfectly cast. Some observers are saying this is the finest group of singers ever brought together on the stage at Civic Theatre.

Mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux is utter perfection as the work's eponymous hero who is driven to despair by the apparent infidelity of his betrothed. Fabulous! There is no other word for Genaux's performance. She looks fabulous and sounds fabulous. She actually makes you believe in her character - a phenomenal achievement for any woman singing a 'pants part.' It is worth a 1000-mile drive to hear her heartbreakingly sincere second-act aria, 'Scherza infida.' Elsewhere she dazzles with her musicianship, and on opening night her final duet with Ginevra had my seat companion blubbering like a baby.
-David Gregson, sandiego-online.com, February 2002

Genaux was dashing and endearing as Ariodante, a role she sang in Dallas in 1998. Her agility and breath control were often exceptional, as in the challenging aria 'Dopo notte,' which inspired 'brava's' from the audience.
-Valerie Scher, San Diego Union-Tribune, February 11, 2002


As she was at the 1998 premiere [of this John Copley production] in Dallas, mezzo Vivica  Genaux was on hand to do some of the best singing of her young career as the opera's eponymous hero.  Her musicianship proved virtually flawless, and she was able to negotiate the most complex passages as if they were not in the least daunting.  Most impressive was the way she seemed to believe in her character, as if this stereotypical Baroque 'trouser role' possessed a third dimension.  Her Act II aria, 'Scherza infida,' was heartbreaking, and elsewhere she looked and sounded dazzling.
-David Gregson, Opera News, May 2002

“Mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux returns to San Diego Opera in the pants role of Ariodante. It’s obvious why Genaux loves playing these baroque roles formerly sung by castrati, as they allow her to show off her astounding coloratura fireworks, particularly in the first-act closer, ‘Qui d’amor,’ and the second-act showpiece, ‘Scherza infida’.”
- Pam Kragen, North County Times, February 14-20, 2002

"Vivica Genaux, justly renowned for her coloratura ability, carried off this trouser role with excellent Handelian style, singing with incredible agility as she brought her character from a naive youth to a mature, resourceful leader. The second act aria, ‘Scherza, infida, in gremba’ was truly a gem that showed her ability to sing the most difficult ornamentation with apparent ease.”
- Maria Nockin, OperaJaponica.org, March 2002

“Although no one would believe that the beautiful Genaux was actually a man, her voice was up to the task to running this three-act marathon. Every aria she sang was breathtaking.”
- Tracy Landers, La Jolla Light, February 14, 2002


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- at Dallas Opera

“In the title role, 29-year-old Vivica Genaux, one of the new breed of daring coloratura mezzos-sopranos whose tribe includes Cecilia Bartoli and Jennifer Larmore, sang with power and clarity. Her voice is supple rather than rich and she convincingly conveyed Ariodante’s youthful ardor and love, doubt, rage and final contentment. In her great Act 2 aria, ‘Scherza infida,’ Ms. Genaux’s voice plunged, knifelike, from the top of its range to the bottom. The effect of such musicality reminds us that drama extends from sheer vocal production as well as from the words and their musical setting.”
- Willard Spiegelman, The Wall Street Journal, December 8, 1998

“The title role was sung by mezzo Vivica Genaux and her voice was exceedingly sympathetic; she was equally at home in flashing roulades as she was in long-lined legato phrases.”

- John Ardoin, The Dallas Morning News, November 22, 1998

“Mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux proved that she is capable of carrying an opera with her commanding interpretation of the title role in Dallas Opera’s production of Handel’s Ariodante. The slightly-built, 28-year-old Genaux is one of the rising stars on the opera scene. She made her Met debut last year and has developed quite a reputation for her work in Rossini’s canon, but the rarely performed Ariodante presents a whole new set of challenges for any singer.”
- Punch Shaw, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, November 22, 1998

“Without exception, the singers were excellent, handling the considerable demands of their vocal lines with aplomb. As the faithful, much beset Ariodante, Vivica Genaux matched [Juliana] Gondek’s vocal fireworks and then some, her rich flexible mezzo especially effective in ‘Scherza infida’.”

- John Briggs, Opera News, April 1999

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