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Archive L'Heure Espagnole Concepcione Tanglewood Music Centre In L'Heure Espagnole... Allyson McHardy reminded us of the great Spanish mezzos who have claimed the role. - Richard Dyer, Boston Herald, July 26, 2001 Ariodante Polinesso Opera in Concert (Toronto) McHardy was expressively mean and bold, inhabiting her part with a brash vigour that suited her ripe, lusty sound... - Geoff Chapman, Toronto Star, April 2, 2001 McHardy's rich mezzo-soprano and dominatrix-style sexiness, made it easy to understand how Polinesso could ensnare Dalinda. - Tamara Bernstein, National Post, April 2, 2001 Rags to Riches: One hundred years of American Song with pianist Steven Blier Schwabacher Debut Recital Series, San Francisco Opera Center The Canadian artist [Allyson McHardy] invested Ives' "Tom Sails Away" with polish and aching nostalgia for the boy who went to war. She returned to dispatch "Nickel Under the Foot," the prostitute's song from Marc Blitzstein's Weillesque "Cradle Will Rock" with a world weary sophistication and an idiomatic attack; no feeling of slumming here. - Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Chronicle, February 20, 2001 Madama Butterfly Suzuki Canadian Opera Company As Butterfly's companion, Suzuki, the Canadian mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy was first rate, both vocally and dramatically... - Ken Winters, Globe and Mail, March 31, 2003 Falstaff Meg Page Tanglewood Music Centre The role of Meg Page can vanish into the ensemble textures, but the anchored mezzo-soprano of Allyson McHardy gave consistent pleasure; she was as cherishable in this part as her Tanglewood-trained predecessor, Mildred Miller, back in Bernstein's day. - Richard Dyer, Boston Globe, August 1, 2000 Allyson McHardy was a particularly warm, witty Meg... - Leighton Kerner, Opera News, November 2000 Bach Cantata 146 K-W Philharmonic Chamber Singers The alto aria was sung by Allyson McHardy, whose rich, warm sound alone was worth the price of admission. McHardy delicately phrased and shaded, and while she paid careful attention to detail, she never sounded forced or pedantic. This was a rare treat, and one that was all too short. - Harry Currie, Kitchener Waterloo Record , March, 1999 L'Italiana in Algeri Isabella San Francisco Opera's Merola Program Several of these singers were eminently worth hearing. Chief among them was Canadian mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy, who gave a delightful performance in the title role of Isabella....her singing was warm and forthright, her command of coloratura fearless and her stage demeanor never less than charismatic. She is a singer to watch. - Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle , August 2, 1999 She's a real stage creature, dark, slender, physically expressive and loaded with smoldering personality. - Stephanie von Buchau, Pacific Sun, (San Francisco) August 1999 McHardy, in fact, held much within the embrace of her vocal instrument, including both comedy and - in an Act II aria where Rossini seems to predate by several decades the sombre grandeur of his countryman Verdi- some darker qualities which hint at the young singer's probable success with tragedy. She's also blessed with a sparkly sexy allure, evoking a young Mary Tyler Moore and making it entirely credible that she'd be persued ardently by three suitors. - Jeff Kallis, Commuter Times (San Francisco) August 1999 Die Krönung der Poppea Ottavia Kammeroper Schloß Rehinsberg Allyson McHardy's passionate mezzo rendered impressively the distress of the suffering, deceived Empress Ottavia. - Peter Buske, Berliner Morgenpost, August 1998 Concert performance with Kammeroper Schloß Rehinsberg A further high point of the evening was undoubtedly the mezzo soprano Allyson McHardy. She sang the difficult part of Dalila by Saint-Säens with an unusually warm, voluminous voice. The audience expressed its appreciation with applause that lasted for several minutes and shouts of brava. - Jeannette Lehmann, Granseer Tageblatt, August 1998 La Calisto (Cavalli) Juno Canadian Opera Company Allyson McHardy's vengeful goddess managed to be both hilarious and alarming, and even, by her exit, rather poignant. - Urjo Kareda, Globe and Mail (Toronto), May 7, 1996 Mad for All Reasons Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company (Toronto) McHardy gave a brilliant performance, improvising passionate Italianate- sounding gibberish in a strange counterpoint to the instrumentalists' cabaret music. - Tamara Bernstein, Globe and Mail, May 7, 1996 |