Jamie Barton, the force-of-nature American mezzo-soprano, was the soloist: her coppery voice, too, is a giant instrument, but she wielded it with minute attention to diction and meaning.

Barton has solidified her status as one of the most distinctive voices in the opera world... A reminder of what makes Barton’s sound unique: a rare plushness and consistency of tone, a sense of effortless vocal power, and an upper extension that can thrillingly maintain the color and depth of the middle voice.

As is often the case in these Gurre-Lieder, the mezzo steals the show. Barton has the privilege of serving one of the peaks of the work. Above all, she has superb projection which allows her to find superb phrasing.

In her climactic scene, Barton cuts loose both vocally and dramatically, giving full vent and desperation to Amneris’s jealousy and self-recrimination.

An extraordinary event…the quartet of soloists, including Jamie Barton, magnificently projected the verses of Goethe. The public's trance, as soon as the final chord fades, reflects the just enthusiasm that such an accomplished interpretation of this world work arouses.

Jamie Barton’s debut in Valencia with the Wagnerian Wesendonck Lieder was a real revelation. She only needed a few phrases from the first song to captivate us with her beautiful instrument, and the last two songs delivered the absolute height of vocal and expressive brilliance.

Jamie Barton is synonymous with excellence; is there any performance where she delivers less than her best? The character of Elizabeth Van Lew was tailor-made for Barton’s prowess.

Jamie Barton provides the dramatic spark as the haunted, raddled Azucena — she chomps into text and music alike with wonderful vibrancy.

American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton was a glorious Brangäne, filling out Wagner’s vocal lines with her plush, rich, warmly burnished mezzo voice.

Jamie Barton couldn't have been more captivating, full of pain and longing. Some of her sentences had a beautiful pleading intensity, made all the more powerful by the graceful control she displayed.