ReviewsThe Male and Female Chorus found a fine and moving balance between helpless impotence and yearning empathy for the fate of Lucretia. [...] The soprano of Robyn Driedger-Klassen [...] was outstanding in its impassioned embodiment of the drama. As female chorus, Robyn Driedger-Klassen gave the stand-out vocal performance of the evening. From her first, vividly-articulated couplet It is an axiom among kings to use/A foreign threat to hide a local evil, Driedger-Klassen sang with pure tone, absolute clarity of diction and vivid characterisation. She never forced the sound, but allowed it to bloom in the generous Snape acoustic – a fabulous incarnation, showing huge promise for the future. James Geer and Robyn Driedger-Klassen sung the pivotal roles of male and female chorus with intensity and passion while the director used them as an integral part of the stage action Robyn Driedger-Klassen… gave each song its own identity, now
calm, now dramatic, now reflective, now with humour. Her singing
at once grips the listener with its beautiful timbre and sense of engagement
in the music. Driedger-Klassen charmed with both her introductory narratives and expressive
singing stretching from acutely emotive Schubert to the almost showtune
exuberance of Ravel’s Tout gai! [The] musical highpoint [was] Robyn Driedger-Klassen’s lovely
performance of Countess Almaviva’s lament of longing for her philandering
husband’s love, Porgi amor, and in the same vein, Dove
Sono. Robyn Driedger-Klassen did a terrific job of portraying the Countess. Robyn Driedger-Klassen made an excellent Countess. The other revelation of the evening [was] the excellent Donna Anna of
Vancouver-based Robyn Driedger-Klassen. Soprano Robyn Driedger-Klassen scored highly, too, as Charlotte's sister
Sophie, giving her the coloratura we associate with the character and
providing a nice contrast to Charlotte. |