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Reviews
She can deploy her
complex tone, thick with vibrato and other colors like the
tannins in a potent red wine, to pack an emotional punch that
can knock out the listener with its urgency. It was clear from
her stage presence that she understood and has considered the
words of the songs she sang, but she always stopped short of
grossly emoting, making for a deeply satisfying performance.
ionarts.com
| Charles T. Downey | April 2010
"But the true revelations came during the second half, when Racette recalibrated her voice to a lower-seated, microphone-friendly pop sound, with high notes taken in an easy belt. Her unbuttoned performances of "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" and "Mon Dieu" were knockouts. And her introspective, gently swung renditions of "Here's That Rainy Day," "Guess Who I Saw Today" and "Not a Day Goes By" were so magnetic, so naturally inside the style, she left other opera singers' stiff-backed attempts at this repertoire in the dust.
One can imagine Racette someday leaving opera behind (as Eileen Farrell famously did) to pursue jazz singing. Even now (with proper husbanding of her voice), this singer -- and her splendidly versatile pianist, Craig Terry -- should be booking club dates and recording the Great American Songbook. She needs to be heard in this material."
Joe Banno | Washington Post | April 11, 2010
Vocal Arts Society recital
...the cast is new,
and utterly fabulous. The inexplicably underrated soprano
Patricia Racette is a deeply affecting and impassioned Tosca;
...this role suits her beautifully. She
sang with uncommon richness, expressivity and honesty. In the
soaring phrases of “Vissi d’arte” she captured both the
dignity and despair of the character: a great diva, yet a devout
woman and fiercely jealous lover.
Anthony Tommasini | New York Times | April 2010
Tosca | The Metropolitan Opera
The celebrated
Patricia Racette's role debut as the passionate diva Floria
Tosca makes this production an event. She exceeds expectations
with a rare blend of radiant singing and emotional truth in an
exciting portrayal that keeps this volatile heroine a credible
human being.
Everett Evans | Houston Chronicle | January 2010
Tosca | Houston Grand Opera
To put it briefly, this
is how Tosca should be done.
...Possessing an even, flexible and powerful voice from middle
to high C, Racette creates a fearless portrayal of a woman whose
fervent faith in God pushes her to unthinkable acts.
Marcus Karl Maroney | ConcertoNet.com | January 2010
Tosca | Houston Grand Opera
In each case Ms.
Racette cut to the heart of her character, disappearing into
each role while sharply differentiating all three.
Steve Smith | New York Times | November 2009
Il Trittico | The Metropolitan Opera
If it were only a
showcase for this one iron-woman achievement, Il trittico would
earn a spot in the company’s record book. But this production,
seen on Tuesday’s opening night, is so strong and satisfying
in so many ways that Racette’s grand slam of humid, sensual
allure in Il tabarro; wrenching, self-destructive tragedy
in Suor Angelica; and parodic ingenue glitter in
Gianni Schicchi is just part of a continuing hit parade.
Steven Winn | San Francisco
Classical Voice | September 2009
Il Trittico | San Francisco Opera
Call it a trifecta, or
a hat trick, or a triple whammy. Whatever the terminology,
soprano Patricia Racette tackled all three soprano roles in
Puccini's "Il Trittico" at the San Francisco Opera on
Tuesday night and emerged triumphant.
Joshua Kosman | San Francisco Chronicle | September 2009
Il Trittico | San Francisco Opera
In the couple's
subsequent scene alone together, Racette
sang with an easy, speech-like delivery and a vibrato
that added natural sweetness. Here and everywhere,
her sound was ravishing...
Joshua Rosenblum | Opera News | Winter 2008
Madama Butterfly | The Metropolitan Opera
Patricia Racette has
owned the role of Cio-Cio-San for many years here and around the
world. With superb vocal and dramatic presence, she takes only a
few minutes to overcome the challenge of portraying a
15-year-old. ... The
soprano's voice opened fully, and she started pouring forth a
golden sound of great beauty, but nothing "pretty" -
music at its ideal, unaffected grace. Belcher and Racette
"conspired" to deliver "Un bel di" in a
simple, almost conversational manner, its impact far greater
than that of a "big number." ... Racette
then kept building and building the role, in a seemingly
impossible feat, having started from the highest plateau.
Janos Gereben | The
Examiner | December 3, 2007
Madame Butterfly (San Francisco Opera)
In general, though,
Racette once again spurned the traditional vision of Cio-Cio-San
as a porcelain doll ripe for shattering. Her singing was
muscular and clean-limbed, with a wealth of bright tone backed
up by sweeping phrases; her rendition of "Un bel dì,"
in which Cio-Cio-San envisions Pinkerton's return, was so potent
she might have been conjuring him up from sheer force of will.
Joshua
Kosman| San Francisco Chronicle | December 3, 2007
Madame Butterfly (San Francisco Opera)
Ms. Racette uses the
restricted dimensions of cabaret style wholeheartedly but with
discretion, and the aura of opera stardom that she adds to this
different world fits well into Carnegie Hall’s broad cultural
survey called Berlin in Lights, now in full swing around the
city.
Bernard Holland | The New York Times | November 10,
2007
Cabaret Performance
Patricia Racette - as
Cio-Cio-San, the Japanese bride deserted and betrayed by her
American husband, the ardent but willful Lt. Pinkerton - is
developing into a dramatic soprano of the utmost subtlety and
emotional power. Here she sang with
shadings of tone and texture that made the music theatrically
vivid...
By Clive Barnes | New York Post
| October 10, 2007
Madame Butterfly (Metropolitan Opera)
Patricia Racette sang
the part on Monday as big-time Italian opera, with strength,
taste and emotional generosity. What an exhausting role this
must be in every way.
Bernard Holland | New York Times | October 10, 2007
Madame Butterfly (Metropolitan Opera)
It
requires a consummate singing actress to transform the concert
platform of the Ravinia pavilion into a fully believable
operatic stage. Patricia Racette is such an artist.
....She is at the peak of her vocal powers and the verismo vocal
writing of Butterfly suits her rich, vibrant voice perfectly.
By John von Rhein | Chicago Tribune music critic |
August
13, 2007
Madame Butterfly (Ravinia)
"...The lovely,
smooth-voiced Patricia Racete captures boh Jenufa's innocent
sweetness and her unmeasurable sorrow. Her voice has a
roundness and power in all registers and ranges from delectable
simplicity, as in the heart breaking setting of the Salve
Regina..."
from the DCist, 2007
"...Patricia
Racette fulfills it all in a performance of incisive theatrical
instincts and radiant vocalism. IN detail after fine detail, the
soprano opens up windows into enufa's remarkably reslilient soul
and uncovers the dark lyricsm of Janacek's music in a voice of
remarkable warmth, nuance and freedom"
from the Baltimore Sun, 2007:
Soprano Patricia Racette's searing portrayal of the title
role is not only brilliantly sung-combining oceanic power with
myriad subtle intricacies, all in a voice that somehow remains
fresh and lyrical throughout the evening-but indelibly
well-acted."
Washington Post (Tim Page), 2007
Soprano Patricia Racette is brilliant
in the title role. Her Jenufa is undeniably alive, exuding
warmth, vulnerability, adn then suffering with tremendous power
and credibiliy. We feel we can reach out and touch this woman.
Racette has total command of Janacek's music, and she emotes
with ease and beauty"
METROWeekly, 2007.
"Patricia Racette confidently projects her
character with a warm, self-assured instrument possessing
near-Wagnerian power.
Washington Times (T.L.
Ponick), 2007
Ms. Racette
practically stole the show - and that would have seemed
impossible, in a cast like that. She was close to an ideal
Elisabetta. Her soprano manages to be cutting and lyrical at the
same time. Throughout the opera, she showed superb control, and
her "Tu che le vanità"was nothing less than a tour de
force. The hour was late - past 11:30 - and the audience should
have been tired. But Ms. Racette created pandemonium.
New York Sun, December 4, 2006
Don Carlo (The Metropolitan Opera
... an attractive
partner in Patricia Racette, whose Elisabetta benefited from
queenly dignity and exquisite pianissimo flights...
Bernheimer, Financial Times,
December 4, 2006
Don Carlo (The Metropolitan Opera
Patricia Racette as
Elizabeth... all sang with enough magnetic pull to bend the
whole work around themselves.
Newsday, December
4, 2006
Don Carlo (The
Metropolitan Opera
The American soprano had perhaps her
biggest success yet at the Met, rising to every challenge with
clear, flexible vocalism and dynamic involvement in the role.
By Mike Silverman, Associated Press, December 2006
Don Carlo (The Metropolitan Opera
Ms. Racette is a
wonder: Her voice is lyric, but filled with vibrancy and power.
Technically, she is sound, and musically, she is natural.
New York Sun -October 23, 2006
Pagliacci (The Metropolitan Opera)
For vocal
grandeur and theatrical intensity, Racette's impersonation of
the doomed teenage geisha ranked
among the soprano's great appearances with
the company -- a list that is already overflowing with
memorableachievements...
...inside the War Memorial, it
was Racette who made the event come alive with
a performance marked by fearless athleticism and emotional
fervency.
San Francisco
Chronicle - May 29, 2006
Madame Butterfly (San Francisco Opera)
The power of her voice
does not overwhelm its grace, its rich emotion.
Long Beach Press Telegram -
January 24, 2006
Madame Butterfly (Los Angeles Opera)
This time, one singer did -- the
crucial one. It was soprano Patricia Racette, in her L.A. Opera debut, who broke
through, creating an emotionally touching portrait of Cio-Cio San (Butterfly)
with her careful enunciation, delectable turns of phrase and limpid stoicism at
the close.
Variety - January 2, 2006
Madame Butterfly (Los Angeles Opera)
Her [Racette] delicate shadings of
pathos – through extraordinary word-painting, musical sensitivity, legato
technique, and forward placement – were remindful of Licia Albanese. I melted.
Los Angeles City Beat - January 26, 2006
Madame Butterfly (Los Angeles Opera)
Patricia Racette's Butterfly is a
breakthrough performance, in acting as well as singing, giving back all the
emotion that's lost in the cold, sterile setting that is not about emotion, just
"art."
The Hollywood Reporter - January 25, 2006
Madame Butterfly (Los Angeles Opera)
Cio-Cio San is endowed with more
strength as a character even beyond the conflicted yearning expressed in arias
such as the legendary “Un bel dì,” here given a stellar interpretation by
Patricia Racette.
UCLA Asia Institute - February 9, 2006
Madame Butterfly (Los Angeles Opera)
...she was simply heartbreaking as the
teenage girl show naive faith in her handsome (sailor) suitor - and in the
America he represents - gets dashed by his selfish, even racist arrogance. That
this soprano has a voice to match her dramatic abilities made her particularily
dear when her pure tone floated above Ettingers's....
dailynews.com (Los Angeles) - January 26, 2006
Madame Butterfly (Los Angeles Opera)
Racette dazzled the audience with
powerfully expressive vocalizing and a total commitment to Wilson's conception
of the work.
Opera News - April 2006
Madame Butterfly (Los Angeles Opera)
...her voice soars gracefully from
beginning to end. It must be one of the best Butterfly voices I've ever heard...
Easy Reader (Los Angeles) - January 26, 2006
Madame Butterfly (Los Angeles Opera)
Creating the role of Roberta Alden,
soprano Patricia Racette demonstrated theatrical instincts as true and finely
honed as any great actress, in addition to her plangently lovely voice. Her
Roberta was a touching, tragically vulnerable figure who emerged as the opera's
true star.
Variety - December 5, 2005
An American Tragedy (Metropolitan Opera)
The cast - call it an ensemble -
offered revelations. ... Patricia Racette managed to fuse vulnerability and
ardour as Roberta, the working girl he betrays, and she floated some exquisite
pianissimo tones in the process.
Financial Times -
December 5, 2005
An American Tragedy (Metropolitan Opera)
The best part of Tobias Picker's
fourth opera "An america Tragedy," commissionioned by the Metropolitan
Opera and given its premiere on Friday was Patricia Racette.
Wall Street Journal -
December 6, 2005
An American Tragedy (Metropolitan Opera)
Patricia Racette (Roberta) avoided the
pitfall of being a helpless victim through a three-dimensional, anguished
portrait of a feisty woman in love and torment.
Musical America - December 5, 2005
An American Tragedy (Metropolitan Opera)
Patricia Racette
managed to fuse vulnerability and ardour as Roberta, the working girl he
betrays, and she floated exquisite pianissimo tones.
Opera - February 2006
An American Tragedy (Metropolitan Opera)
Patricia Racette
as the wronged Roberta; both [Graham and Racette] quivered with tenderness and
determination not to let their man get away. Both made it a privilege to hear
them utter sounds.
Newsday - December 4, 2005
An American Tragedy (Metropolitan Opera)
Racette made an affecting
Roberta, her gleaming soprano taking on a thrilling dramatic intensity the
greater the vocal demands.
Chicago Tribune - December 5, 2005
An American Tragedy (Metropolitan Opera)
... Racette made Cio-Cio-San a very
mature 15, but that was the brilliant essence of her portrayal. Outwardly, the
geisha was graceful and respectful; Racette's stylized movement was effortless.
Inwardly, she had a steely, single-minded commitment to idealized love.
The Houston Chronicle -10/25/2004
Madame Butterfly (Houston Grand Opera)
Soprano Patricia
Racette sang radiantly as she moved through Jenufa's rampaging
emotions. In her great Act 2 outburst on discovering that her
baby is missing, then dead, she transformed herself from a
vocally alluring singer to a mesmerizing singing actress.
The Houston Chronicle -
01/26/2004
Jenufa (Houston Grand Opera)
Patricia Racette was
outstanding
The Post - 6/10/2001
La Traviata (San Francisco Opera)
And with Soprano
Patricia Racette in the title role unveiling ever new layers of
brilliance in her already formidable artistry, this was an
evening of real operatic magic.
San Francisco Chronicle - 11/11/2001
Jenufa (San Francisco Opera)
Patricia Racette is
moving in the title role. She is a wonderful singer who responds
to some roles better than others. Here she captures the pain and
underlying calm of a strikingly vivid character.
New
York Times - 11/21/2000
Jenufa (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
The production is
driven by the magnificent performances of two sopranos, the
british Kathryn Harriesas Kostelnicka, the sternly upright
stepmother whose desire to save Janufa from disgrace drives her
to kill her stepdaughter's newborn child, and the American
Patricia Racette, in the Lyric debut as the village Juliet
seduced and abandoned by one brother but rescued by the other.
Both roles call for exceptional singing actresses and both were
cast at the highest level.
Chicago Tribune - 11/20/2000
Jenufa (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
Making her Lyric debut
in the title role, Patricia Racette was youthful and
unaffectedly poignant, singing exquisite floating pianissimos
yet equally capable of soaring above Janacek's churning
orchestra at climaxes and during the opera's clsamouring
ensembles. A natural actress, Racette as Jenufa personifies
selfless love, redemption and forgiveness.
Opera - 4/1/2001
Jenufa (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
As the title heroine,
Patricia Racette made a most impressive Lyric debut. It was easy
to see how the attractive soprano could be the main attraction
in this provincial Czech village, and vocally and dramatically,
Racette's sensitive performance could hardly be bettered. Her
act II Lullaby and prayer were heartbreaking in their poignance
and subtly shaded singing. Racette's growth from a young, naïve
girl to a mature woman of great inner strength, forgiving the
lovesick rejected suitor who disfigured her and her murderous
mother, was always credible and intensely moving.
Opera News - 3/1/2001
Jenufa (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
The Soprano Patricia
Racette interpreted the role of Jenufa with intensity, but, more
importantly, with a glorious vocalization. Her extensive
monologue and the prayer "Salve Regina", in the second
act, was the high point of the performance.
Opera en El
Mondo - 2/1/2001
Jenufa (Lyric Opera Of Chicago)
Patricia Racette, an
American soprano making an auspicious Lyric debut as Jenufa gave
an electifying performance.
Chicago Sunday Times - 11/20/2000
Jenufa (Chicago Lyric Opera)
Racette's Ellen was
not only beautifully sung but psychologically involving
Financial
Times - 6/27/2000
Peter Grimes (La Scala, Milan)
Patricia Racette as
Love Simpson has the best music of the Opera. She has a
beautiful, well focused voice with a good height. Her strong
stage presence made her big aria 'Rented rooms, that's all I've
ever known' a real show stopper.
Opernglas - 5/6/2000
Cold Sassy Tree (Houston Grand Opera)
Racette portrayed Love
Simpson radiantly. She revealed Simpson with graceful
vulnerability.
Houston Chronicle - 4/17/2000
Cold Sassy Tree (Houston Grand Opera)
Patricia Racette was
in rare form, infusing the title role with tremendous vitality
and easily meeting every demand of verdi's curious
late-early-period style, with it's blend of lyric/dramatic
challenges enhanced by frequent flights of agility.
Opera News - 12/1/2000
Luisa Miller (San Francisco Opera)
…In duets with his
lover Margherita, soprano Patricia Racette, there is more room
for contrast. (Racette was just here in February for an
impressive HGO stint as Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata").
Racette infuses every note with the sublime tragedy of
Margherita's plight. Her portamento is facile; her coloratura
like silk, even when the prison scenes require her to kneel or
bend in supplication.
Houston
Press - 5/12/1999
Mefistofele (Houston Grand Opera)
Soprano Patricia
Racette, playing Marguerite, the young woman Faust seduces and
abandons, sang as if Mefistofele was her show : big sound, big
characterization and overall a big impression.
Houston Chronicle - 5/3/1999
Mefistofele (Houston Grand Opera)
Ellen Orford, the
schoolteacher who befriends Grimes, is typically portrayed as
well-meaning and deferential. The American soprano, Patricia
Racette brought an umcommon vocal vibrancy to her portrayal,
which made Ellen's ability to stand up to her town in behalf of
Grimes seem emboldened and believable.
New York
Times - 12/21/1999
Peter Grimes (Metropolitan Opera)
She draws
full-dimensional and affecting performances from her cast, none
more so than the Blanche of the soprano Patricia Racette. Some
admirers of this opera may find Ms. Racette's interpretation too
large-scale and tempestuous. Blanche is usually presented as a
young, over protected, painfully timid aristocratic woman who
seeks the convent as a refuge from her own life and the crazed
times she lives in. But Ms. Racette's gleaming voice and
dramatic intensity reveal the force of the inner demons that
drive Blanche to the convent. And you believe that among her
sisters she truly finds the solidarity to heroically embrace
martyrdom.
New York Times - 8/9/1999
Dialogues des Carmelites (Santa Fe Opera
American Soprano
Patricia Racette understands the poignancy of the virtuous
mistress deprived of the genuine love she richly deserves.
Violetta's lovable duality, seen in her immoderate ways and
eagerness to risk changing those ways, is expertly expressed
through Racette's command of myriad singing styles. Her facile,
immense range glides from the softest of whispers to a
heart-rending coloratura that's never too deep or shrill.
Houston
Press - 2/11/1999
La Traviata (Houston Grand Opera)
For sheer singing, one
could hardly ask for a more thrilling performance. Racette
commanded a powreful, nimble, accurate and richly colored
instrument, with all the control in the world. Those who value
vocal display had ample reason to cheer.
San Antonio
Express-News - 2/14/1999
La Traviata (Houston Grand Opera)
Racette offered a
vocally and emotionally complete Violetta
Houston Chronicle - 2/9/1999
La Traviata (Houston Grand Opera)
The winner of this
year's Tucker Award is the American soprano Patricia Racette,
who will be heard later this month as Violetta in the Met's new
production of Verdi's "Traviata". On this occasion,
Ms. Racette brought her richly colored focused and ample voice
to musetta's "Quando me'n vo" from Puccini's "Boheme",
a performance that was refreshingly elegant and spacious, rather
than, as typically done, perky and coquettish. She was even more
impressive in a powerful performance of "L'altra notte in
fono al mare" from Boito's "Mefistofele".
New York Times - November 10, 1998
Richard Tucker Award (Avery Fisher Hall)
Racette sang the role
with a wonderful combination of strength and vulnerability. Her
voice is clarion bright but also capable of melting softness.
She delivered "Sempre libre," her declaration of
independence, with flashing brilliance, but the peak of her
performance came in the last scene, with the immensely touching
frewell aria that ends on the softest of high notes. It brought
down the house.
New York Post - 11/30/1998
La Traviata (Metropolitan Opera)
This performance was a
coming-out party for soprano Patricia Racette (replacing Renee
Fleming, who cancelled her appearances for personal reasons
several weeks ago). Racette wields an easy command of coloratura
(she nailed the technically terrifying high E-flat in "Sempre
libera!"); a high, sweet, pointed tone and strong stage
presence make her an ideal Violetta. She is also a solid
technical actress, looking a little bit more wasted by
consumption each time she appears, until the final scene where
she is hollow eyed and haggard. Her vocal sound was both secure
and glorious in her final aria, "Addio del
passato,"moving effortlessly from full soprano surge to the
sound of a terrified little girl confronting death before her
time. When her end finally comes, Racette moves to the
footlightsin a final surge of vocal effort, then collapses
accross the stairs, dying in the time honored tradition of
countless Violettas before her.
Newyork.citysearch.com - 12/18/1998
La Traviata (Metropolitan Opera)
Patricia Racette sang
the song-addicted Antonia addictively, and it was hard to blame
her for the finnaly succumbing to her voice. The trio at the end
of her act between Antonia, the devilish Dr. Miracle, and the
singing portrait of Antonia's dead opera singer mother, was both
hot and chilling.
Newsday - February 2, 1998
Tales of Hoffman (Metropolitan Opera of New York)
Ms Racette once again
gave a tour-de-force performance of the title role, her soaring
soprano and impassioned acting building spectacularly to her
final scene, which brilliantly reprises Emmeline's life.
Wall Street Journal - 4/23/1998
Emmeline (Santa Fe Opera)
Patricia Racette's
unforgettable Emmeline, who makes the transition from innocent
child to incestuous mother with a heart rending grasp of
character psychology.
The Sunday Times - 8/11/1996
Emmeline (Santa Fe Opera)
Patricia Racette, an
accomplished young singing actress, inhabited the title role
with a steady, pliant soprano that remained true even when
Emmeline was suffering her worst.
Chicago Tribune - 7/30/1996
Emmeline (Santa Fe Opera)
It is soprano Patricia
Racette, combining a magnificent voice with superb acting, who
makes Emmeline unforgettable.
Hollywood
Reporter - 1997
Emmeline (Santa Fe Opera)
Patricia Racette gave
a riveting portrayal of Emmeline
New York Times - 1997
Emmeline (Santa Fe Opera)
Racette who began her
career with the S.F. Opera's Merola Training Program is a
radiant Emmeline, as credible at 13 as at 35, with a soprano
that has acquired a remarkable range of color and an
individuality that spell imminent stardom
San Francisco Examiner - 3/31/1997
Emmeline (Santa Fe Opera)
Patricia Racette shines.
She is a touching and truthful actress, and in 'Emmeline' she
found something to believe in
San Francisco
Examiner - 3/31/1997
Emmeline (Santa Fe Opera)
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