Verdi’s Requiem at the BBC Proms

August 17th, 2015

“Dominating the solo quartet were Meade and mezzo Karen Cargill. Where Cargill is pure vocal muscle, Meade’s voice is all gilded evanescence and glow. The pairing was astonishing, each luxuriating in Verdi’s duet writing without ever forcing the sound; the “Recordare” alone was enough to resign one to death. Separately, too, they shone – Meade in the closing “Lux perpetua”, floated so tenderly, and Cargill in the hushed intensity of her “Lux aeterna” opening.”

— Alexandra Coghlan, The Arts Desk

 

“Of the four soloists, exceptional were the succulent-toned soprano Angela Meade and her grandly rhetorical mezzo colleague, Karen Cargill: their immaculately co-ordinated duetting provided some of the highlights of the interpretation as a whole.”

— George Hall, The Guardian

 

“The soprano Angela Meade also impressed – […] her voice proved to be measured and versatile, with a brilliantly demonstrated ability to tackle the opposites of terror and sweetness in the Libera me, and to make the perfect partnership with Karen Cargill’s voice in the Recordare and Agnus Dei.”

— Barry Creasy, Music OMH

 

“Soprano Angela Meade gave a smoothly musical performance, at her finest in Libera me, the final movement and the most openly operatic of all. Sounding much more like a queen’s death scene (one of Verdi’s many specialities) than a plea for redemption, Meade delivered her final lines with a superb, tense conviction nearer rage than regret. […] her shimmering vibrato allowed her voice to shine inside the quartet in the third (Offertory) movement, while her contribution to Agnus Dei was softly appealing.”

— Charlotte Valori, Bachtrack

 

“A much better night was enjoyed by American soprano Angela Meade, whose glisteningly light and agile sounds soared.”

— Rachel Fellows, The Arbuturian