Arianna Zukerman - Concert Reviews

BACH
B minor Mass
(excerpts)
"Arianna Zukerman stilled the congregation of 2,200 [at Westminster Abbey] with her clear soprano voice as she sang, with a violin, 'Erbarme dich, mein Gott,' from Bach's St. Matthew Passion."

—Hugh Davies, The Daily Telegraph

BEETHOVEN
Ninth Symphony, soprano solo
Big screen engages audience on the lawn at orchestra opener
"...SARATOGA SPRINGS
A large lawn crowd showed up early at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Wednesday evening, to set up lawn chairs and share picnics before the opening night performance of Beethoven’s masterpiece 'Choral' Symphony No. 9 by the Philadelphia Orchestra...

On this hot, humid opening night, [Maestro Charles] Dutoit led an ensemble with many new faces, both new members and substitutes, but maintained the old, familiar Philly sound...Vocal soloists for this performance all were making their SPAC debuts, and their voices were as good as any I've heard sing in this work. Soprano Arianna Zukerman, mezzo Elizabeth Bishop, tenor Steven Tharp, and baritone Philip Cutlip sang with an element of actual joy in their voices and on their faces."

— Judith White, Star Tribune

Missa Solemnis, soprano solo
"Burlington..Beethoven's monumental Missa Solemnis is one of the very few of the composer's works that remains controversial to this day...The Missa Solemnis differs from most Masses in that it, first, has orchestral interludes, and second, the four vocal soloists sing mainly in ensemble rather than solo. (The only large solo is for violin.) In short, this is a truly symphonic work...

...The solo ensemble proved excellent... Arianna Zukerman was a brilliant soprano with musical depth. (Her using a diminuendo at the top of slow phrases was particularly effective and moving.)

— Jim Lowe,, Vermont Today, Times Argus Staff

HANDEL
Solomon, Solomon's Queen, First Harlot
Ivor Bolton, Israel Philharmonic
"The soloists participated well in this festival: Arianna Zukerman sang beautifully…the anxiety of the real mother in Solomon's trial was enlightened throughout."

—Noam Ben-Zeev, Ha'aretz

Arias
"The soprano, Arianna Zukerman, put her big, dramatic, and versatile voice to the service of strong emotions. Her mastery in piano singing, her brilliance in the forte passages, and the intensity of her expression were spectacular."

—Rita Wolfensberger, Der Landbote (Switzerland)

Messiah, soprano solo
Conductor Raymond Leppard fashions memorable "Messiah" with Alabama Symphony, chorus, soloists
5 stars out of 5
"Raymond Leppard's conception of how George Frideric Handel's 'Messiah' should go might be a little risky. Choirs and orchestras don't often take kindly to innovative manipulation of the score, even in an oratorio for which it's expected. But the proof is in the listening, and the 81-year-old maestro's brilliant vision of multiple choruses and bands of instruments made Friday's 'Messiah' at the Alys Stephens Center one of the most satisfying in memory...The conductor's insistence on concise choral singing, even in the difficult melismas, paid off in 'And He shall purify' and 'Since by Man came Death,' in which a chamber choir of 24 alternated with full chorus. In 'But Thanks be to God,' the quartet of soloists took a choral role. The three-dimensional depth in these modifications was striking. More intimately, the idea carried over to the instrumental 'Pifa,' three muted violins and continuo trading phrases with the full string complement, and in the soprano air, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth,' in which the creamy-voiced soprano Arianna Zukerman partnered with violin soloist Daniel Szasz...Zukerman's sure-voiced drama carried her through several other glowing solos, among them 'Rejoice greatly' and 'He shall feed his Flock,' in which she shared duties with mezzo-soprano Angela Horn...Leppard has given Birmingham an intelligent and fluid 'Messiah' that overwhelmed the heart without numbing the senses, and which is likely to be pondered for some time."

—Michael Huebner, Birmingham News

MOZART
Requiem
Berkshire Choral Festival
"The power of precision"
"Along with (Jane) Glover came a quartet of fine soloists, three of them new to the Choral Festival: (Phyllis) Pancella, the mezzo-soprano; soprano Arianna Zukerman, and baritone Stephen Morscheck. Tenor Charles Reid was the one Choral Festival veteran. Individually, and especially as an ensemble, the four singers were among the best to grace the Choral Festival's stage in recent seasons."

—John Felton, The Berkshire Eagle, August 16, 2006

"The Berkshire Choral Festival ended its season with two monumental performances…after intermission the Mozart Requiem K626 had an ideal performance...The four soloists—Soprano Arianna Zukerman, Mezzo Phyllis Pancella, Tenor Charles Reid and Baritone Stephen Morscheck—were ideally cast. Their quartet, 'Recordare Jesu Pie,' had time stopping beauty about it..."

—John Paul Keeler, Hudson-Catskill Newpapers, August 17, 2006

Concert Arias
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts, August 2003
"Friday night, the center inaugurated the 2,500-seat Tom Ridge Pavilion with an all-Mozart program with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Pinchas Zukerman…Miss Zukerman led off the concert with the aria 'L'amero, sarò costante,' from Mozart's rarely performed Il re pastore. She has a warm, glowing instrument and showed it off to good effect in this tender declaration of undying love. A clearly delighted Pinchas Zukerman took the solo violin part, affectionately seconding his child and conducting with his bow."

—Peter Wynne, Scranton Times Tribune 2003

Concert Arias
Pittsburgh Symphony, Mozart Festival, May 2003
"Arianna Zukerman made her debut under her father's (Pinchas Zukerman) direction, performing 'L'amero, sarò costante' from the opera Il re pastore and 'Deh vieni, non tardar' from Le nozze di Figaro. A rising young soprano, she apparently is becoming well-versed and well-coached in the Mozart repertoire. It is perfectly suited to her voice, which is endowed with both clarity and a richly distinctive sound. And, as if it runs in this musical family, she showed a generosity and ease of phrasing that was pleasing to the ear."

—Jane Vranish, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PSO CONCLUDES MOZART FESTIVAL WITH IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE
"Soprano Arianna Zukerman sang arias from Mozart operas to open each half of the concert. 'L'amero, sarò costante' (I will love her, I will be constant) combines a beautiful vocal line with an expressive solo violin part that was performed by daughter and father...The artistry of the singer and instrumentalist was memorable. The soprano was more impressive opening the second half with 'Deh vieni, non tardar' (Come to me, don't tarry) from The Marriage of Figaro. It is part of the elaborate ruse constructed to catch Count Almaviva, the philandering husband of the 23-year-old Countess. Susanna, the count's target, switches costumes and masks with the Countess, in order to trap the Count by making him make his pitch to his own wife. Zukerman was appealingly pointed in the aria, as Susanna enjoys an additional level of humor that her man Figaro is listening and will be jealous. The singer received enthusiastic audience approval, and a kiss from her father, after her performance."

—Mark Kanny, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Arias
Pinchas Zukerman and Friends, The Winterthur Musikolleguim's Last Concert of the Year
"To begin the program Arianna Zukerman interpreted the aria, 'L'amero sarò constante,' of the young Mozart, in which his strong talent for opera and his sense of intense expression is already developed. Both elements are also the strengths of the soloist whose full, leaning toward the dramatic, but also very expressive voice wonderfully came to fruition, and she knew how to create, with careful combination, both introspection as well as passion."

—Rita Wolfensberger, Der Landbote (Switzerland)

Arias
Gerard Schwarz, Seattle Symphony, 2000
"Soprano soloist Arianna Zukerman made a fine impression in her first Mozart aria ('L'amero sarò constante,' from Il re pastore). Hers is a very attractive Mozart soprano, nicely shaded and expressive…"

—Melinda Bargreen, The Seattle Times

SCHUMANN
Schumann and Fantasy at Festival in Santa Fe
"In a group of five Schumann songs...the soprano Arianna Zukerman...was strong, direct and sensitive."

—Anthony Tomassini, The New York Times

VERDI
Requiem, soprano soloist
Jeffrey Thomas, UC Davis Symphony
"Ah, the joy of hearing great voices in the marvelous solos, duets, trios and quartets that fill this piece! And it would be hard to assemble four better voices than those who sang on Sunday. Each was magnificent....and Arianna Zukerman, the magical soprano who reached the heights of her range with a clarity and intensity that brought tears to our eyes....Ms. Zukerman captured the mournful plea of the dying soul, with another essential assist from the chrous, in the closing 'Libera Me.'"

—E. Haig, Sacramento Gazette

"Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem, a masterpiece by anyone's reckoning, was given its full dimension and power Sunday evening when a huge chorus of 260 singers, four spectacular soloists and a cohesive 116-piece orchestra, all under the steady hands of conductor Jeffrey Thomas, performed the work at the Mondavi Center at the University of California, Davis...The extraordinary performance...[with] soprano Arianna Zukerman...treated the sold-out audience to a rare experience in which everything coalesced magnificently...Zukerman, a young soprano with a solid future if she continues to sing as dramatically and beautifully as she did Sunday...gave [a] performance one wishes [was] recorded."

—Patricia Beach Smith, The Sacramento Bee

IN CONCERT
Schubert/Ginastera
Salve Regina/String Quartet No. 3
Review: Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
"...Schubert’s contemplative Salve Regina in A Major for soprano and string quartet was inspired by a walking tour about the same time he was writing his more famous 'Trout' Quintet. Arianna Zukerman’s clear soprano rose gently above the Miami String Quartet in a line flowing as calmly as the mountain stream Schubert hoped to imitate.

Alberto Ginastera’s String Quartet No. 3, written in 1973, was the odd man out in this presentation. It might as well have been called a song-cycle as all but the second of the five movements has a sung or spoken text. The performance of this work, again by the Miami Quartet could not be faulted for its pristine execution. Zukerman was exemplary in popping out notes from amidst the sea of what the late Jerry Hadley used to called 'arbitrary dissonance.'..."

—D.S. Crafts, Albuquerque Journal

UC Davis Music Department's choral concert directed by Jeffrey Thomas
"Mozart's "Exsultate jubilate," K 165, was composed in Milan for the lead castrato in Mozart's opera Lucio Silla. Never at a loss, the young Mozart composed several pieces in the last weeks of 1773, while he was waiting to go home to Austria. Arianna Zukerman, with a gorgeous coloratura and a voice so distinctive one would recognize her anywhere, sang the solo with a small orchestra and Mr. [Jeffrey] Thomas conducting. Trills, roulades, ornamented lines, glides from low notes to high: Miss Zukerman gave the exultant music her expressive all. The closing Alleluias seemed an outpouring from her heart....[In] Haydn's Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo...the choral voices, while celebratory, seemed to express feelings from grief to penitence to joy. Certainly as the mass reached the Benedictus and the soprano solo, Miss Zukerman's voice rang out with such power and beauty that it was like a blessing from another world."

—Marilyn Mantay, Davis Classical Review, December 3, 2006

An Evening in Paris
Sarasota Opera
"…Arianna Zukerman had a remarkably fluid soprano that shifted with the colors and nuances of a set of three art songs by Reynaldo Hahn. She later confirmed her interpretive prowess with a fresh version of La Vie en Rose, a song burned in our memories by recordings of the famed chanteuse Edith Piaf. Zukerman didn't imitate and was all the more convincing."

—Gayle Williams, The Longboat Observer

Franz Schubert: Unfinished/Refinished
EOS Orchestra
"…[T]o suggest a narrative behind some of Schubert's finest songs, Mr. [Peter] Kazaras dressed the [shapely] Ms. Zukerman in a Depression-era dress. She sat in a livingroom chair as she listened to a phonograph.

I think we were supposed to imagine that she was hearing records of the songs she would eventually sing. The first Schubert song, after all, was a true, historic recording (unidentified, infortunately). But the rest of the lieder were all rendered live, and Ms. Zukerman did them fine justice, displaying a full, buttery voice and stern dramatic focus…Ms. Zukerman's rendition of Offenbach's orchestration of Ständchen… she sang…lovingly. Gretchen am Spinnrade — orchestrated traditionally by Reger — was also fine.

Throughout these works, Ms. Zukerman traversed an enormous range of emotions, using her impulsive vocal talent to sell the works' narrative mood changes. At the tragic end of the devilish Der Erlkönig — orchestrated with Romantic fire by Berlioz — she broke a 45 over her knee. It was effective shtick.

The concert closed with Renderings…But to my mind the evening's bright spot had already passed."

—Adam Baer, The New York Sun

Franz Schubert: Unfinished/Refinished
Red (a boldly innovative, fascinating evening)
"...soprano Arianna Zukerman appeared on another platform, an imaginary room where she settled into an easy chair and took out an LP, which she subsequently placed on an old record player and ultimately smashed.

Seemingly lost in memory, she sang six of Schubert's most famous songs, including 'Ständchen,' 'Gretchen am Spinnrad,' 'Doppelgänger' and 'An die Musik.' Her big, warm voice soared easily over orchestrations of the composer's piano accompaniments by Offenbach, Reger, Berlioz and Red's own Sheffer. While she clearly elucidated the German poetry (which was translated in English supertitles behind the orchestra)..."

—Wilma Salisbury, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Seeing Red: The Experience @ Masonic Auditorium 10/23
Experiencing a performance of Red {an orchestra} is the musical equivalent of a full body massage: It soothes the aching soul, heals an otherwise dreary existence, and electrifies a murky mood. Last Saturday night, Red’s top-notch ensemble created contemporary masterpieces from Franz Schubert that were so invigorating, yet relaxing that the music eased into the auditory nerves in a wave of sheer pleasure. ...The intensity of Saturday evening’s performance elevated when soprano Arianna Zukerman took center stage. Her breathtaking performance and crystal clear voice reached deep into the soul.

—TL Champion, CoolCleveland.com

Schumann and Fantasy at Festival in Santa Fe
"In a group of five Schumann songs...the soprano Arianna Zukerman...was strong, direct and sensitive."

—Anthony Tomassini, The New York Times

Red {October}
...Schubert: Unfinished/Refinished, as the October program was called, included performances of Berio's Sequenza XIV for Solo Cello and a group of six Schubert songs arranged into a miniature drama about a retired singer who survived tragic loss by clinging to her love for music...[conductor, Jonathan] Sheffer left a stamp on the proceedings, one that extended far beyond his efficient conducting style...Just as distinctive was Arianna Zukerman's performance of the songs. A soprano grounded in the operatic tradition, Zukerman was a credible actress who had no trouble filling the Masonic Auditorium, where The Cleveland Orchestra used to record, read with luminous sound. She sang about love and death from a tiny platform furnished with a table, chair, and record player. During one song’s emotional peak, she held up a photo of her beloved for the audience to see. Listening to her was to forget temporarily that perfect melodies exist which did not come from Schubert.

—Zachary Lewis, angle: a journal of arts and culture

International Music Foundation Benefit Concert
IMF's anniversary concert in tune with group's goals
Presenting chamber and vocal music with the Vermeer Quartet were violinist and violist Pinchas Zukerman (who took time out from his Chicago Symphony duties to lend his star presence to a worthy cause) and his daughter, soprano Arianna Zukerman....Having the Zukerman father-and-daughter team on the same stage proved a rare treat, even if they only got to do one piece together. Fortunately it was a beaut—the aria "L'amero sarò costante," from Mozart's Il Re Pastore. With Kit Bridges on piano and her father playing the violin obbligato, Zukerman traced the cantilena sweetly, floated a supple Mozartean line and mustered rare dynamic finesse....The younger Zukerman also got to blend her pure yet luscious voice with the Vermeer's cushioning strings in Schubert's Salve Regina.

—John von Rhein, The Chicago Tribune, December 3, 2004

Promusica Chamber Orchestra
"Interspersed [between Brandenburg Concerti] were two additional talented guests, soprano Arianna Zukerman and trumpeter Jens Lindemann. Zukerman's operatic rendition of the Mozart Alleluia rightfully drew cheers; her pairing with Lindemann in the Bach Cantata No. 51 seemed an apt partnering of sizable artistic personalities.".

—Barbara Zuck, The Columbus Dispatch, 12/12/04



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