Welcome to Heidi Melton – Acclaim

Acclaim

 

Brünnhilde in Siegfried with Jaap van Zweden and the Hong Kong Philharmonic

 

“The vocal highlight was undoubtedly American soprano Heidi Melton’s realisation of the great Brünnhilde.  From the moment she walked on stage (her character technically still asleep at that point) she commanded the auditorium as she brought her vocal gifts to the challenging role.  Melton was committed to expressing Brünnhilde’s emotional delemma: to embrace the advances of Siegfried or to remain alone  her vocal qualities are staggering – pure in the lower register and breathtakingly powerful in the upper register.”

 

– Dirk Newton, South China Morning Post, January 20, 2017

 

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Isolde in Tristan und Isolde at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe

 

 

 

“It is amazing how sovereignly Heidi Melton sings Isolde — not only the plump middle voice and her effortless high notes, the depths of her soprano is without end. Inspiring. This was an amazing role debut for a young singer….you hardly need to be a prophet to predict that Heidi Melton will have a great career.”

 

-Thomas Weiss, Badisches Tagblatt, March 29, 2016

 

 

 

“Melton sang her first monologue with vocal richness of detail. She also sang pianissimi with incredibly lyrical qualities, displaying the diversities of her gorgeous and nuanced soprano. In unusual beauty, the voice unfolded in heartfelt emotion with the passage “Er sah mir in die Augen”. Without blemish, flourishing in tone, dynamically dramatic outbursts, overpowering the orchestra with sonorous, stunning volume, coupled with dreamlike piani and in the love duet, she displayed an all-embracing, overwhelming vocal focus. Brimming soft, glowing arches gave Heidi Melton the final Liebestod an almost mystical transfiguration.”

 

-Gerhard Hoffmann, Der neue Merker, March 28, 2016

 

 

 

“The formidable role was performed effortlessly by Heidi Melton.  Not only convincing vocally but theatrically.”

 

-Bernhard Doppler, Deustchland Radio Kultur, March 27, 2016

 

 

 

“The standout of the evening was Heidi Melton, who in her role debut as Isolde sang with a colorful, pleasing and voluminous middle and low voice and reached the highest notes without any effort.”

 

-Isabelle Steppeler, Badische Neue Nachricht, March 29, 2016

 

 

 

“The young American Heidi Melton was Isolde: She has an extraordinary voice. Powerful and yet supple. The top of her voice, solid, radiant, luminescent.”

 

-Thomas Rothkegel, Rhein-Neckar, March 30, 2016

 

 

 

“..the vocally grandiose Heidi Melton as Isolde plays the role not as a woman who sacrifices her life to save a man, but as a woman who sacrifices herself for an ideal that she and her beloved believed in.  So she sings the role this way and this is why it is so very convincing…The interpretation of the Love Duet, as envisioned by Wieland Wagner, was done great justice by Heidi Melton and Erin Caves in an impressive manner.  Tender lyricism and powerful eruption were highlighted in Heidi Melton’s interpretation… the exceedingly voluminous Heidi Melton sang with much expressiveness and a very secure top.  Rightly so, the lovers were showered with a gale force of premiere cheers from the public.”

 

-Alexander Walther, Der neue Merker, March 27, 2016

 

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“Immolation Scene” with the Vienna Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev

 

 

 

“Melton, who was outstanding singing Brünnhilde alongside Eric Owen’s Wotan with the New York Philharmonic in January, was superb again. She sang with a ringing, vibrant tone, and a way of phrasing that was natural and ideal. Her characterization was full of human, rather than grandiose, dignity.”

 

-George Grella, New York Classical Review, February 28, 2016

 

 

 

“And so it went with the rest of the weekend’s Wagner: compelling excerpts from “Götterdämmerung” on Saturday, with the soprano Heidi Melton giving full, rich voice to Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene.”

 

-James Oestreich, New York Times, March 2, 2016

 

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Act 1 of Die Walküre with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra

 

 

 

“American soprano Heidi Melton was lustrous as his beloved Sieglinde, and a good actress, which is saying something given her lack of things to do in a concert setting.”

 

-Arthur Kaptainis, Montreal Gazette, May 31, 2015

 

 

 

“Nagano had surrounded himself with seasoned singers. The most surprising was Heidi Melton, who had worked her Sieglinde with a director or a particularly inspiring leader. She obviously knows every corner of the character’s mood, she sings with an impressive chest voice, but also a rare intelligence. This is a major incarnation, certainly one of the top three in the world currently.”

 

-Christophe Huss, Le Devoir, May 28, 2015

 

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Eglantine in Euryanthe at Oper Frankfurt

 

 

 

“Heidi Melton is the star of the evening: the singer has a strong stage presence suggested in the smallest flash of her eye. When she falls to her knees, she commands the stage. When she kisses Lysiart, the stage shakes. Melton’s voice – a lyric-dramatic – is made for the extremes of this role. A rumbling, deep chest voice combined with a penetrating, impeccably produced high voice. There is not a sound produced that is not beautiful.”

 

-Natascha Pflaumbaum, Deutschlandfunk, April 6, 2015

 

 

 

“In Frankfurt Opera the severe Eglantine is brilliantly played by Heidi Melton – with a vocal force that pins the entire society of men against the wall…”

 

-Volker Milch, Allgemeine Zeitung, April 7, 2015

 

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Sieglinde in Die Walküre at the Canadian Opera Company

 

 

 

“Melton’s crystalline soprano provided amazing intensity as Sieglinde, and the duet between the two, which is basically all of Act 1 of Walkure, was riveting. With an enormous orchestra blazing behind them, Melton and Forbis captured our full attention and sympathy.”

 

-Robert Harris, The Globe and Mail, February 1, 2015

 

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Brünnhilde in Siegfried (concert version) at Opéra National de Bordeaux

 

 

 

“Luminous timbre with immediate seduction; luminous emission of voice that, unlike her partners, pierces through the orchestral wall of sound; luminous interpretation that is fulfilling and sincere which introduced a welcome lyricism in a decidedly symphonic approach.”

 

-Christophe Rizoud, Forum Opéra, April 2014

 

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Amelia in Un ballo in maschera at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe

 

 

 

“To experience Heidi Melton in this challenging opera was the event of the evening. She struck the jackpot with the part- juggling, charming and touching. Here heart, mind, an excellent technique and much feeling were combined in the best possible way. She flawlessly sung with subtle shades and nuanced differentiations, Miss Melton sovereignly sung the treacherous approaches to the high B’s of the two arias and also bribed the listener with wonderful pianissimi. What a gorgeous voice- just la dream. “

 

-Neue Merker, April 2014

 

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Sieglinde in Die Walküre at Deutsche Oper Berlin

 

 

 

“Impressive singing resounded from the brother/sister roles of Siegmund (Peter Seiffert) and Sieglinde (Heidi Melton). She also took on Gutrune and Third Norn in Götterdämmerung. What a star! Her delicate and moving soprano voice was simply pure delight and her deep sadness matched her brother’s fate…”

 

-Tony Cooper, The Opera Critic, January 2014

 

 

 

“The success of Walküre’s first act depends largely on the strength of its Siegmund and Sieglinde and, on this evening, the performances were about as strong as they come… Equally magnificent was Heidi Melton’s Sieglinde. Although a reasonably young singer, Frau Melton’s voice in her earliest scenes had a mature weariness that immediately established the depths of Sieglinde’s suffering. Added to this was a wonderful, if chilling, moment where an affectionate advance from Siegmund was met with an instinctive recoil, which told you everything you needed to know about her marriage to Hunding (sung, on this evening, with understated malevolence by Reinhard Hagen). However, as Sieglinde’s confidence began to increase, so Frau Melton’s voice grew more radiant; her description of the wedding feast and the sword in the tree was one of the most captivating moments of the evening, and her eventual exclamation ‘Du bist der Lenz’ came close to matching Herr Seiffert in terms of pure ardour. Indeed, the final twenty minutes of the first act – which also featured some rapt playing from the orchestra – were an undisputed highlight, both of the evening and of the cycle as a whole.”

 

-Jesse Simon, Mundo Clasico, January 29, 2014

 

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Sieglinde in Die Walküre at Valencia’s Palau de Les Art under Zubin Mehta

 

 

 

“Several times in recent years I have had the good fortune to hear the young American soprano Heidi Melton and I thought then we were lucky to have her as Sieglinde…Her Sieglinde was excellent, worthy of any major opera house in the world.”

 

-José Mª. Irurzun, Seen and Heard International, November 9, 2013

 

 

 

“…and is memorably partnered by Heidi Melton’s grandly scaled Sieglinde.”

 

-George Hall, The Stage, November 7, 2013

 

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Elisabeth in Tannhäuser with the BBC Scottish Symphony at the BBC Proms

 

 

 

“But the star performance of the evening was Heidi Melton’s Elisabeth. You could sense the house holding its breath each time this young American soprano delivered an aria, so perfect was her sound, and so refined her artistry; her duet with Pohl, with the pilgrims’ chorus in the background, was beautiful beyond words.”

 

-Michael Chruch, The Independent, August 5, 2013

 

 

 

“Two singers – American soprano Heidi Melton as a warm, lyrical Elisabeth and Estonian bass Ain Anger as a firm Landgrave – were especially impressive, giving notice of Wagnerian voices to watch.”

 

-Richard Fairman, Financial Times, August 6, 2013

 

 

 

“Melton’s first appearance, when she greets the hall in which her beloved will soon sing again, was moving in its sheer joyfulness and her singing retained this simple radiance throughout the performance.”

 

-Jane Shuttleworth, BachTrack, August 5, 2013

 

 

 

“…and the ample-voiced Heidi Melton sang Elisabeth’s hymn to the Virgin of the Jungfrau with chaste nobility and shining tone.”

 

-Rupert Christensen, The Telegraph, August 5, 2013

 

 

 

“That said it was Heidi Melton’s Elizabeth which proved the highlight in vocal terms. Right from her greeting at the start of the second Act, she conveyed the joy yet also the poignancy of one who was previously betrayed and whose fear of betrayal is not easily overcome. Less wilful than Senta and less unworldly than Elsa, hers is the most conventional but also the most compassionate of Wagner’s earlier female roles – not least in her dialogue with Wolfram in the third Act, when the comprehension that Tannhäuser has not returned with the Pilgrims effectively seals her fate. In her assumption of the role, Melton amply secured the listener’s empathy – and as Wagner-singing per se, this was as good as it gets in the present era.”

 

-Richard Whitehouse, Classical Source, August 6, 2013

 

 

 

“Here in the Wartburg, cleverly paralleled with the Albertine colosseum as the hall’s motifs flashed up on the ever-helpful strip at the back, we met Heidi Melton’s Elisabeth. Luminous with the upper-register big guns and a sympathetic actress…”

 

-David Nice, The Arts Desk, August 5, 2013

 

 

 

“But when it was good, it was very good and there was a fine line-up of singers, with several of the principals making their BBC Proms debuts. Heidi Melton was a vocally pure and dramatically expressive Elisabeth…”

 

-Simon Thomas, What’s On Stage, August 5, 2013

 

 

 

“The American soprano Heidi Melton provided a pure and radiant Elisabeth…”

 

-Christan Hoskins, Music OMH, August 5, 2013

 

 

 

“We have to wait until the second act to hear the Elisabeth, a role here sung by Adler Fellow of San Francisco Opera, soprano Heidi Melton. Her “Dich, teure Halle” was preceded by an orchestra that found itself so almost together. Melton has a big voice, as her opening of “Allmächt’ge Jungfrau” showed, but one with a pleasingly fresh tone. She was a believable Elisabeth, also, excelling in her placatory passages towards the end of the second act.”

 

-Colin Clarke, Seen and Heard International, August 8, 2013

 

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Sieglinde in Act 1 of Die Walküre with Jaap van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony

 

 

 

“Heidi Melton and Clifton Forbis tellingly dramatized the siblings’ awkwardness, then ardor. Both supplied thrilling, room-filling sounds, but also delicate pianissimos where called for. Melton’s big soprano has a bright finish, but plenty of heft to back it up.”

 

-Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News, May 18, 2013

 

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Third Norn in Götterdämmerung at the Metropolitan Opera

 

 

 

“It is hard to imagine a stronger ensemble of secondary players than the one assembled by the Met…Heidi Melton brought luscious tone and chthonic mystery to the Three Norns’ music, with Melton’s bright, penetrating sound and commanding presence hinting at a Brünnhilde in the making.”

 

-Marion Lignana Rosenberg, The Classical Review, April 24, 2013

 

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Isolde’s “Liebestod” and Act 1 of Die Walküre with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

 

 

 

“But the reason we go to concerts is for the moments when they break through the routine and yield something magical and memorable. And that’s what happened when, after the orchestra had played the “Tristan” prelude, the soprano Heidi Melton got up and began singing the final and most famous aria of a role known as one of the most difficult in the repertoire.

 

 

 

Isolde is hard because you have to make yourself heard over the full orchestra, and lots of singers approach it by simply pumping out sound. Melton, instead, treated it simply like beautiful music, and made the aria work with her voice rather than shoehorning her voice into a conception of what the aria requires. What made her singing wonderful was not volume — though her voice is by no means small — but freshness and feeling. From the moment she opened her mouth, she was artlessly moving, actually communicating what the words meant, so that all of the encrusted expectations around the role fell away to remind you that this scene depicts not a Pinnacle of the Repertory but a woman who is finally reunited with her true love, only to see him dead.

 

 

 

Isolde is probably a stretch for Melton, but Sieglinde in “Die Walkure” is something she’s done often, and in the complete first act of the opera, which formed the second half of the concert, she was vocally and dramatically even more in command.”

 

-Anne Midgette, Washington Post, February 18, 2013

 

 

 

“The first impression of Heidi Melton given in the Liebestod was one of a youthful, warm, and focused dramatic soprano…for the role of Sieglinde, Melton exhibited a beautiful richness of tone, well-focused and dramatically apt singing, and a touching vulnerability.”

 

-Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun, February 16, 2013

 

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Amelia in Un ballo in maschera at Deutsche Oper Berlin

 

 

 

“…I have not visited this production for Götz Friedrich, but because of the long-awaited debut of Heidi Melton in a large role in Berlin. She stood on an international stage for the first time as Amelia. And the question is: can the American girl with her luscious Wagner voice also impress in the Italian repertoire?

 

 

 

Reminder: Melton recently sang smaller roles at the Met and DOB, where she was particularly noticed in ‘Ring’ revival as the 3rd Norn and Gutrune with an ideal Wagnerian voice – full, resounding in all positions, electricity in the text, and in the best sense of the word, an experience. She has apparently also been noticed the casting director of the DOB and Melton, now that she is no longer on scholarship, but in Karlsruhe, is brought back as a guest. In Berlin, she recently shone as Fata Morgana and will be Sieglinde next season.

 

 

 

And “The Divine Miss Melton”? Despite a certain hectic in her stage movements, which was probably due to the nervousness of such debuts, she showed that she is perfectly able to convince as a Verdi specialist with fine-spun lines….[she] sat all of her high notes. And how! She also found a bewitching mezza voce in ‘Morro, ma prima in grazia’. It would be highly desirable for Melton to have a good conductor who worked with her in the detail of Verdi, for she has the vocal requirements for a great career as a Verdi singer. And at the DOB in the past, several US sopranos have launched their very big international careers (I remember vividly Sharon Sweet).

 

 

 

The good news: someone who can sing Verdi with such lyricism and vocal harmony is practically a dream for Wagner and his Sieglinde.”

 

– Dr. Kevin Clarke, Klassik, January 27, 2013

 

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Marchallin in Der Rosenkavalier at the Badisches Staatstheater

 

 

 

“Heidi Melton excited ‘her’ audience in the lead role. Her articulation is perfect, her diction surprisingly good in the beautifully grounded parlando phrases and the dark-timbre of her Soprano is radiantly warm in the Arioso.”

 

-Manfred Langer, Der Opernfreund, July 2, 2012

 

 

 

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Magna Peccatrix (Soprano 1) in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8

at the Aspen Music Festival

 

“The soloists, who each got a turn at the forefront, all acquitted themselves admirably, especially Heidi Melton, a last-minute substitute for Angela Meade. Melton’s muscular, cutting sound had a creamy sheen that made it rich and warm, ideal for the role of Magna Peccatrix.”

 

– Harvey Steiman, Aspen Times, August 21, 2012

 

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Sieglinde in Die Walküre at the Deutsche Oper Berlin

 

“Heidi Melton, who started at the Deutsche Oper Berlin several years ago as an apprentice and returns after a stint at Karlsruhe, sang an extraordinary Sieglinde. A rich voice with enormous bloom on top, she soared with the orchestra through Wagner’s biggest phrases and handled the difficult low tessitura of the role extremely well, despite the youth of the voice. This is a performer and singer of huge potential who is already at home in demanding repertoire.”

– Lorenzo Bassi, GBOpera, June 2, 2012

 

“We all breathed a sigh of relief when we read the name Heidi Melton (as Sieglinde) on the package – so a new one and one of the younger ones! Yes, she saved the endless dark-tunnel evening… Only Donald Runnicles was Heidi Melton’s equal, as he preferred a more streamlined, transparent reading of the score …”

– Andre Sokolowski, Kultura-Extra, May 25, 2012

 

“Heidi Melton as Sieglinde aptly employed her great low and strong middle voice in her scenes and, with that, provided excellent contrast with the high part of her beautiful voice.  She moves wisely between the jugendlich-dramatisch phrases to the dramatic outbursts of this difficult role.”

– Opernfan.de, May 26, 2012

 

“Heidi Melton’s Sieglinde stole the show with her huge, expressive voice and powerful singing…she was never once drowned out by the orchestra, as were some of the others. Further, she’s a good actress, and brought across Sieglinde’s hope, fear, and grief very well.”

– Operapalais, May 28, 2012

 

“Sieglinde is a tricky role and three times is hardly a lifetime – and the good news is that what lays ahead promises to be very exciting…First, her jugendlich dramatisch soprano is extremely pleasant on the ear, well-focused and rich in its lower reaches. Second, she is an elegant, musical singer. Third, she has a radiant stage presence and proved to be a particularly alert and engaged actress. Moreover, she could find the right note of vulnerability in her Sieglinde – and her expression of gratitude to Brünnhilde in Act III was powerfully, richly and most sensitively sung.”

– I Hear Voices, May 25, 2012

 

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Third Norn in Götterdämmerung at the Metropolitan Opera

 

“Other bright spots included…the swordlike soprano of Heidi Melton, the Third Norn.”

– Heidi Waleson, Wall Street Journal, January 31, 2012

 

“Heidi Melton, as the Third [Norn], sounded like one destined for important things as well.”

– George Loomis, Musical America, January 30, 2012

 

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Elsa in Lohengrin at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe

 

“Heidi Melton is a great Elsa, with clear diction, soul and a powerful voice up to the highest heights.”

– Ralk Carl Langhals, Fränkische Nachrichten, April 1, 2012

 

“Instead, in his [Lance Ryan’s] place at the center of the production was Elsa. The still very young American Heidi Melton, who was already a luxurious Dido in Les Troyens in the fall, was a discovery with her dark, pleasant sound that defies classification…her soprano blooms with ease and power of projection in all registers to the highest levels of emotion and intuition in her singing. At the same time, she played entirely into the vision of biased of love and suffering, the rise of doubt, and a sense of increased urgency in the identity of her husband…”

– Udo Klebes, Der Neue Merker, April 1, 2012

 

“Heidi Melton as Elsa offered an equal amount of phrasing and balance. It is impressive that she is a member of the ensemble in Karlsruhe (the same from which Lance Ryan began his international career).”

– Frankfurter Rundschau, April 3, 2012

 

“An overwhelming success for Heidi Melton. The American singer who was last seen as Dido in Troyens in Karlsruhe was well-presented. Not only does she sing with perfect articulation, but she is also very expressive in the role of Elsa and makes it entirely her own. Her versatile voice gives us the level of humanity required, but that the production does not support.”

– Christopht Wurzel, Online Musik Magazin, April 1, 2012

 

“Soprano Heidi Melton sparked the first act with a brilliant and powerful presence…this singer gave us an impeccable vocal presentation.”

– Tobias W. Pleger, Klassik, April 1, 2012

 

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Didon in Les Troyens at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe

 

“The young American singer Heidi Melton as Dido is a real discovery, a soprano with pleasant high notes and endless reserves.”

– Martin Roeber, Volks Freund, October 16, 2011

 

“Heidi Melton’s beautiful, focused and effortless voice conquered the audience in this moment”.

– Pforzheimer Zeitung, October 16, 2011

 

“Karlsruhe is vocally lucky, that Dido has the last word, because Heidi Melton is phenomenal – a fluid voice without limitation.”

– Joachim Lange, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, October 19, 2011

 

“The young American Heidi Melton sings the leading role of Dido with an overwhelming palette of expression between gentle introspection, explosive outbursts of anger, attractive singing and appropriate acting”.

– Eckard Britsch, Opernnetz, October 17, 2011

 

“And Heidi Melton sings this very well, with soul, culture and a big voice, that one will likely hear in other places”.

– Stefan Dettlinger, Mannheimer Morgen, October 17, 2011

 

“And one is already fascinated with the young and newly-engaged American soprano Heidi Melton, who not only sang the best French of the evening, but also with regard to secure style, taste and mastery of her role. Standards have been set.”

– Sigrid Feeser, Die Rheinfpalz, October 17, 2011

 

“The soprano Heidi Melton, who appeared as First Lady at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Helmwige and Third Norn in the Ring, and who sang Sieglinde and Aida at the San Francisco Opera is a discovery. Her lush, round, unbelievably healthy, brilliant and rich voice filled the hall and she seems to know no difficulties or limitations, not even at the end, where vocal stamina is required.”

– Thomas Tillmann, Online Musik Magazin, October 15, 2011

 

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Sieglinde in Die Walküre at the San Francisco Opera

 

“Wednesday’s performance of “Die Walküre” also brought good news for the future of Wagnerian singing. Soprano Heidi Melton’s splendid appearance as Sieglinde signaled the arrival of a bold new voice for this difficult repertoire…The first moments of her Act 1 encounter with the weary Siegmund established the basics of the performance, including a richly colored chest register, clarion top notes and especially a mastery of the lyrical phrasing essential to this part of the role. Yet there was more impressive vocalism still to come – particularly the punishing outbursts of Act 3, which Melton delivered with superb precision and power.”

– Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, July 1, 2011

 

“Heidi Melton, singing her first-ever Sieglinde, brought a lovely, plush soprano and great heart to the role.”

– Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal, July 6, 2011

 

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Title role in Ariadne auf Naxos with Opéra National de Bordeaux

 

“If Ariadne spent much of the show seated in a chair or propped up like a doll on the floor, this never compromised Heidi Melton’s touching dignity, her diction or her capacity to pour out long, creamy-toned lines, whatever the register or dynamic.”

– Yehuda Shapiro, Opera, May 2011

 

“Heidi Melton brought real gravity to the opera’s opera, sitting with her back against the wall, her legs splayed downstage, her voice lofting torrents of gorgeous tone.”

– Michael Milenski, Opera Today, March 6, 2011

 

“American soprano Heidi Melton played the title role. When I saw her in the same theatre in Tannhäuser in 2009, I was much impressed by her performance in vocal terms…her voice is magnificent and her Ariadne was truly outstanding. Her’s is one of those voices that are exceedingly difficult to find nowadays, and I think that Wagner could be her best employment. She was without a doubt the best singer in the whole cast and one of the best Ariadnes that can be heard anywhere today.”

– José Ma. Irurzun, Seen and Heard, March 3, 2011

 

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Sieglinde in Act 1 of Die Walküre with Donald Runnicles and the

BBC Scottish Symphony

 

“Runnicles had also signed up three front-rank Wagnerian soloists…Heidi Melton’s Sieglinde radiated warmth and intelligence.”

– Andrew Clark, Financial Times, October 4, 2010

 

“Everybody involved in the BBC SSO’s opening concert on Thursday night gets five stars, a metaphorical bottle of champagne and thunderous applause such as can resound only in the City Hall. (Well they did get that at least.)…And what performances from these huge voices, with Heidi Melton’s Sieglinde…”

– Michael Tumelty, The Herald Scotland, October 4, 2010

 

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Opening Gala Concert with Festival de Lanaudière

under Jean-Marie Zeitouni

 

“This could perhaps be the Wagnerian voice we have been waiting for since Flagstad and Nilsson.”

– Claude Gingras, La Presse, July 12, 2010

 

“Remember the name Heidi Melton. The American dramatic soprano, just 28, has a glorious career ahead of her. Elisabeth’s ringing “Dich, teure Halle” from Tannhäuser and Sieglinde’s more sombre and emotional “Der Männer Sippe” and “Du bist der Lenz” from Die Walküre displayed a huge voice that is bright, clear and sweet, and cocooned in a seductive vibrato. She has gorgeous low notes, beautiful phrasing, and interprets her singing from her soul.”

– Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail, July 11, 2010

 

“Zeitouni and the players were fine accompanists also, notably of Heidi Melton, a young American Wagnerian soprano who gave us “Dich, teure Halle” from Tannhäuser and two Sieglinde monologues from Die Walküre. With a brilliant, fiery tone that nevertheless sounds young, she will surely rise quickly in the opera world.”

– Arthur Kaptainis, Montreal Gazette, July 12, 2010

 

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Berg’s Seven Early Songs with BBC Scottish Symphony under

Donald Runnicles

 

“Berg’s luxurious Seven Early Songs introduced us to the breathtaking voice of the young American soprano Heidi Melton, whose seamless lyricism floated effortlessly over the molten restlessness of Berg’s golden orchestrations.”

– Ken Walton, The Scotsman, October 13, 2009

 

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Elisabeth in Tannhäuser at Opéra National de Bordeaux

 

“As Elisabeth, American soprano Heidi Melton, who is still almost totally unknown in Europe, is a revelation: she possesses a powerful voice from one end of the tessitura to the other and holds her own when she faces off all the men in the Act II finale.  There is no tension or pushing in her singing, which is enhanced by the sheer size of her instrument and the roundness of her tone.  She lets it flow as easily in a whisper – like her prayer, which was palpable and perfect – as in a more brilliant moment – as in a luminous ‘Dich teure Halle’ which was exciting from the first note.”

– Forum Opera, May 11, 2009

 

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Verdi Requiem at San Francisco Opera with Donald Runnicles

 

“Where the performance shone most unforgettably was on the female side. Soprano Heidi Melton, a third-year Adler Fellow who stepped in at a day’s notice for an ailing Patricia Racette, swatted away any hint of nerves with a big, gleaming and tonally resplendent performance….The ravishing high point of the evening was the women’s ‘Recordare’ duet [with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe], delivered with aching sweetness and backed by steely technical assurance.”

– Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, June 1, 2009

 

“It was supposed to be all about Donald Runnicles, the outgoing artistic director of the San Francisco Opera conducting his own gala concert for an adoring audience eager to make it known that he would be truly missed. Leave it to a diva, however, to steal some of the anticipated thunder.  Due to a sudden onset of illness, soprano Patricia Racette withdrew on the eve of the performance. That left Heidi Melton, a third-year Adler Fellow, to step in at the 11th hour. And step in she did, rising to the occasion and demonstrating that she has a voice of her own to be reckoned with.”

– Webmusic-international.com, Paul Duclos, May 30, 2009

 

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As Gertrude in Hansel und Gretel with Opera Company of Philadelphia

 

“Heidi Melton, one of America’s great soprano hopes, has all the attributes of Rita Hunter, but one hopes she will earn the place her shining instrument deserves in the age of ‘photoshoot’ divas. Her Gertrude was handsomely projected at both range extremes, and also properly moving – equally important in my experience.”

– Opera Magazine, David Shengold, February 2008

 

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Adler Program Concert of Operatic Highlights

 

“Verdi seemed the most companionable composer of the evening, and his sustained intensity held no terrors for soprano Heidi Melton and mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas in their confrontational scene from Aida. Melton can unleash rivers of golden sound, startlingly full and lush throughout the register for such a young singer.

 

Melton later sang a quiet and deeply moving plea to see her son one last time in the aria ‘Morrò ma prima in grazia’ from Verdi’s A Masked Ball, her unaccompanied cadenza splendidly rendered. Mention must also be made of the poignant cello introduction and sensitive accompaniment throughout the piece. In fact, the Napa Valley Symphony seemed to be playing its best for Melton, catching her fire and delivering a blaze of sound. I’m sure I was not the only listener who wished the Aida selection could have continued the opera as a concert performance.”

– Napa Valley Register, March 4, 2008

 

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Mary Todd Lincoln in Appomattox at San Francisco Opera

 

“…the commanding voice of powerhouse Heidi Melton (Mary Todd Lincoln) makes you sit up and listen.”

– The Examiner, October 6, 2007

 

“Heidi Melton sang a full-throated and human Mary Lincoln, sometimes funny and sometimes foolish, sounding all the while as though she has Wagner leads in her future.”

– San Francisco Classical Voice, October 5, 2007

 

“Heidi Melton’s soaring Mary Todd Lincoln engulfed the stage in communal grief.”

– Financial Times, October 7, 2007

 

“As the three wives, Rhoslyn Jones, Elza van den Heever and Heidi Melton, all Adler Fellows (the San Francisco Opera’s young artists program), displayed splendid acting and vocal skills. Ms. Melton in particular has a huge voice.”

– Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal

 

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Adler Program Concert of Operatic Highlights

 

“Heidi Melton commanded the stage, as the resolute Elvira in ‘Ernani.’ Singing the famous ‘Ernani involami’ in a rich, lustrous voice, Melton transformed a lover’s leap of faith into a kind of grandly phrased anthem of liberation.”

– Steven Winn, SFGate.com, August 21, 2006

 

“Some of the afternoon’s most impressive singing came from the company’s Adler Fellows — in particular soprano Heidi Melton, who would have brought down the curtain (had there been such a thing) on the first half with a powerhouse rendition of ‘Voi lo sapete’ from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, then returned to out-sing a passing helicopter in a dynamic and beautiful account of ‘Ernani, involami’ from Verdi’s Ernani.”

– Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle