Press
Critical Acclaim | Features
I Vepres siciliennes at Caramoor (Hélène)
“As he often does, Crutchfield assembled an excellent cast of singers, headlined by soprano Angela Meade, who was nothing short of extraordinary as Hélène. Meade commanded the stage with a regal presence, brimming with confidence in her opening aria in Act I, spitting with defiance in her Act IV duet with Henri, and spinning out a smooth legato in the Act II duet with Henri. She had the vocal power, unflagging through a long evening, to soar above ensembles like the Act IV quartet, while holding back enough suavity to give the ‘Sicilienne’ in the last act a light and airy character, all the way up to the fizzy high C-sharps, after perfectly floating the high, soft parts of her Act IV cavatine.”
— The Classical Review, Charles T. Downey (July 2013)
Don Giovanni at Cincinnati Opera (Donna Anna)
“The most memorable debut was made by Angela Meade, who as Donna Anna conveyed a range from grief to anguish while soaring radiantly through the most demanding arias. She might be forgiven for becoming a tad shrill when she unleashed the full power of her voice, which was considerable. Her sound was truly remarkable. As she knelt, she floated meltingly beautiful high notes in Donna Anna’s second act recitative and aria, ‘Crudele! . . . Non mi dir,’ in one of the evening’s most stunning moments.”
— Cincinnati Enquirer, Janelle Gelfand (June 2013)
Norma at Washington National Opera (Norma)
“Of the four Normas I’ve heard live in the last ten years, Angela Meade is by far the best.”
— Washington Post “Classical Beat”, Anne Midgette (March 2013)
“When you’ve got two vocal powerhouses like Meade and Zajick, the production doesn’t really matter … you had two women on stage who really know how to sing. …The Act I Norma-Adalgisa scene culminates in the quintessential dueling-sopranos duet (Zajick is a mezzo, but Bellini didn’t necessarily see the role that way), which involves both women repeating the same music, each going up to a high C: Meade offered a stunning, floating pianissimo, and Zajick sweetly responded with another one, which she held out even longer. Opera singing is partly an athletic feat; healthy competition can motivate great performances, and I’d venture that the energy between Meade and Zajick helped them both step it up a notch.”
— Washington Post, Anne Midgette (March 2013)
Angela Meade brings her ‘Norma’ to the Kennedy Center
Washington Examiner | Soprano Angela Meade has sung the title role of Norma several times since her debut performance at the Caramoor Festival in 2010, but the Bellini opera opening in the Kennedy Center Opera House this week is her first staged production.
“Both the music and the character are so complex, and yet it suits me well because the music plays to my particular strengths,” she said. “Even though Norma is a druid, she is so human and so real that I can portray all her emotions, from rage to falling in love and even wanting to do away with the children she loves because she is being cheated on. The plot is like a Jerry Springer opera.
“When I discovered the aria Casta diva, I had no idea that it belongs to one of the most challenging roles in opera. It simply happened. I was looking for an aria that fit my voice when I discovered it and I knew nothing of the complications in the story. Since the music was perfect for me, I began taking it to competitions and winning. That convinced me I was on to something.
Interview: Angela Meade a soprano on a mission in Toronto début with Ontario Philharmonic
Musical Toronto | Rising young soprano Angela Meade is making her Toronto début performing Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the Ontario Philharmonic at the Regent Theatre in Oshawa on Saturday and at Koerner Hall on Tuesday.
Meade is one of several significant younger voices in the American opera world. Two weeks ago, she stepped in for Patricia Racette to sing Leonora in the Metropolitan Opera’s radio broadcast of Verdi’s Il trovatore, with excellent results.
The there’s something of the old-school prima donna assoluta in the way her voice commands all it surveys.
Although the Washington-state native with an easy laugh comes across as approachable and down-to-earth, it quickly becomes clear in an interview that Meade is a woman on a mission — and has been like that since girlhood.
Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera (Leonora)
“Angela Meade, a rising star at the Metropolitan Opera, rose a notch higher as she stepped into one of the touchstone roles of the soprano repertory, Leonora in Verdi’s ‘Il Trovatore.’ … The young American demonstrated once again that she has all the gifts to be an outstanding spinto soprano — a category between the lighter lyric and the heavier dramatic voice. She filled the house with ample, gleaming tone, and rose to all the technical challenges of the role: Runs, trills and high pianissimos were executed with agility and confidence.”
— Associated Press, Mike Silverman (January 2013)
Verdi Requiem with Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Seguin
“This October 21 concert had a last minute change that will go down as a ‘were you there the day’ occasion. It was announced that soprano Angela Meade (an Academy of Vocal Arts alum) would fill in for Marina Poplavskaya, who performed in the two previous concerts but was bowing out for the last owing to allergies. Meade, who filled in famously at the Met two years ago, stepped in with a flawless and electrifying performance. She made the ending of the ‘Libera Me’ passionate, sonic, and supple; and she was utterly one with the chorus. It was a moment of vocal gold.”
— American Record Guide, Lewis Whittington (January/February 2013)
R. Strauss’s Four Last Songs in Toronto
“[Marco Parisotto] also didn’t hold back with the Strauss Lieder, pushing Meade to blow our hair backwards with her great, big voice. … She displayed all the ingredients of a great operatic singer, including a solid grasp of the dramatic arc of each piece. Although the Strauss songs are operatic in their sweep, the audience was given the opportunity to jump roaring to its feet with a Verdi encore: ‘Pace, pace…’ from La forza del destino.”
— Musical Toronto, John Terauds (January 2013)
Bellini’s ‘Beatrice di Tenda’ Makes a Rare Appearance
WQXR | To broadly paraphrase Shakespeare’s 29th Sonnet, when I all alone beweep the outcast state of parts of the opera world and trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, and feel that in what I most enjoy I am contented least, I tend to go to my bookshelf and my well-worn copy of Marilyn Horne’s memoir The Song Continues (written with Jane Scovell) to read the no-nonsense and always perceptive views of an artist who refers to colleagues she esteems as “a real pro.” She knows whereof she speaks.
The Beatrice Generation
Parterre | In the cast Wednesday there will be several names to draw attentive voice fanciers. Singing her first Beatrice will be Angela Meade, who has been thrilling in dramatic coloratura roles from Vienna and Wexford to Caramoor and the Met. Michael Spyres, impressive in virtuoso parts by Rossini and Meyerbeer, among others, will sing Orombello. I got a chance to put a few questions to each of them.