George London Recital with Nicholas Pallessen at the Morgan Library

“Both baritone Nicholas Pallesen and soprano Angela Meade have been setting the opera world on fire and garnering lavish praise and precious prizes for their dazzling vocal artistry. Yesterday we got to see and hear them “up close and personal. … The second half of the program took us to more familiar territory. Ms. Meade initiated with “Crudele!…Non mi dir”, Donna Anna’s aria from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. This was the perfect vehicle for Ms. Meade to show the ample size of her beautiful instrument, her elegant phrasing, and ease with embellishments. … The four Strauss songs chosen by Ms. Meade for the next set are very familiar to us but that never detracts from the pleasure we get from the passionate importuning ‘Stänchen’, the joyful ‘Zueignung’, the soulful ‘Allerseelen’ and the enthusiastic ‘Cäcilie’. Indeed, Ms. Meade brought her unique communicative skills to the performance and made the songs new again. Her voice seems made for Strauss!”

— Voce di Meche, Meche Kroop (January 2015)

“Meade is known best for her operatic roles, so to hear Strauss lieder from her was a new experience. ‘Zueignung’’s honeyed melody was sung with abandon, Meade’s searing passion giving it a blasting authority it rarely has. … The duet from Verdi’s I Due Foscari proved a perfect ending. This material is squarely in Meade’s wheelhouse, and her combination of laser-like precision and firm, fiery voice, was thrilling, raising hairs when she condemned her father as “barbaro genitor.” This music turned out to be a major strength for Pallesen, too, as he brought a viscous sound perfectly suited to the rep and the role.”

— New York Classical Review, Eric C. Simpson (January 2015)