NEWS & PRESS
“Amanda Majeski’s well-rounded soprano...is so warm and glorious, the singing so outstanding, that she leaves no emotions unstirred.”
Financial Times
News & Features
FEATURE
Cover Feature - Opera News
Amanda Majeski was recently interviewed by Jennifer Melick in an article titled "Amanda Majeski Takes on Salome" for Opera News.
"I'm not a dramatic voice per se, but I do like to portray dramatic characters. It's when I feel like I can really connect with the character that I can do my best work."
Reviews
Title role in Salome
Madison Opera
'One of the most thoroughly musical, elegantly sung Salomes I can recall, Majeski paced herself masterfully, never once forcing her radiant lyric voice. In complete command technically throughout the role's wide range, she floated every pianissimo exquisitely, while also possessing sufficient tonal reserves to make a truly stupendous moment of 'Prinzessin von Judaa' in the final monologue.
Majeski moved with exceptional grace, and her facial expressiveness was as riveting as her vocalism (I'll long remember her eerie smile when Salome first asks for Jokanaan's head). Avoiding any exaggerated effect, the characterization - that of an intoxicatingly nubile young woman consumed by desire - was utterly persuasive in every detail...Amanda Majeski gave a glorious performance, revealling that she has everything to become one of today's most successful interpreters of this fearsome role."
- Opera Today, Roger Pines
Vitellia in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito
Opéra national de Paris, cond. Mark Wigglesworth dir. Willy Decker
'Amanda Majeski plays a Vitellia both dignified and acerbic. She takes pleasure in bending her intense and brilliant voice to the whims of her character, almost spitting out the name of Berenice while maintaining a controlled vocal line, especially in the articulation of the vocalizations. Like her Sesto, she demonstrates great playing flexibility in the expression of Vitellia's torments, affirmed in her final aria “ Non più di fiori vaghe catene”, a vocal paroxysm where the highs regain their depth and ease.'
- Olyrix, July 2021
'But the triumphs of the evening are undoubtedly Amanda Majeski and Michèle Losier. The first, very comfortable on stage, has all the authority of the character and perfectly masters the formidable differences of [her] aria “Non più di fiori.”'
- Première Lodge, July 2021
'Amanda Majeski was already Vitellia in 2017, an experience that manifests itself in an enviable scenic naturalness. The singer undeniably has the bass necessary to embody the one who calculates coldly in the shadows.'
- Forum Opera, July 2021
'Another striking presence is that of Amanda Majeski…[she] has, in accomplished Mozartian that she is, all the trade which allows to overcome the difficulties caused by the writing of this role.'
- Resmusica, July 2021
Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni
Lyric Opera of Chicago, cond. James Gaffigan dir. Robert Falls
'Eminent Mozartian Amanda Majeski is a compelling Donna Elvira, with consummate style in capturing nuances and the dramatic acumen to deliver it all. Majeski’s rich, textured voice, even range, and spectrum of dynamic levels kept the audience rapt, offering subtleties that few singers do. Majeski was firmly in command, from her entrance aria (‘Ah, chi mi dice mai’) through the finale ensemble.'
- Seen and Heard, December 2019
'His unexpected encounter with Donna Elvira provides Ms. Majeski the space to delineate her character with spirit and exquisite lyrical projection. In her aria, “Ah chi mi dice mai”, Majeski sings with tasteful Classical line indicative of Elvira’s noble demeanor, yet incorporating a side that has also experienced emotional betrayal. The admirable range of Majeski’s voice is here fraught with angry resentment but also bound by the discipline of melodic structure. From polished top notes expressing her love on “l’amai” descending to the deeply intoned chest tones of “l’empio”, Majeski communicates the competing emotions that define Elvira’s complex personality now and later in the opera.'
- Opera Today, January 2020
'As a flame-haired Donna Elvira, Giovanni’s rejected conquest turned relentless stalker, Amanda Majeski had her finest Lyric outing…, delivering Elvira’s arias with tonal gleam and fluent agility. Dramatically she kept a fine balance as well, alive to the character’s comic absurdity yet presenting her as a real, conflicted woman.'
- Chicago Classical Review, November 2019
'[Majeski’s] ferocity and tonal edge she brings to “Mi tradi quell’alma ingrata” – revealing the anguish Don Giovanni has caused her – is a dramatic highlight of the second act.'
- Chicago Tribune, November 2019
Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte
Santa Fe Opera, cond. Harry Bicket
'Amanda Majeski, who has sung several leading roles at Santa Fe, showed herself to be a capable Fiordiligi whose top notes bloomed with silver magic as she romped around the stage. For "Come Scoglio" ("Like a rock"), she was comedically impassive and for "Per pietà" ("For pity") she truly begged for forgiveness as she used every note in her wide range to encompass the scope of Mozart's writing.'
- BroadwayWorld, July 2019
'Soprano Majeski, mezzo-soprano D’Angelo and tenor Bliss offered superlative singing as three of the four young lovers. Majeski’s beautifully produced lyric soprano has just enough edge to encompass the character’s emotional extremes and the vocal range to conquer the role’s enormous range of high and low notes.'
- Santa Fe New Mexican, July 2019
'Dorabella (mezzo-soprano Emily D'Angelo) and Fiordiligi (Amanda Majeski, who was also last year's positively smoldering Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos) have some of the best chemistry you could ever ask for. The pair, who are sisters easily mistaken for a dynamic and complex pair of girlfriends, are in white outfits of a similar bent to those of the men: tiny tennis skirts and perfect white sneakers paired with white tee shirts on bodies that affected childish poses at every possible opportunity, emphasizing the women's adolescent girlishness that eventually evolves to adult agony.'
- Santa Fe Reporter, July 2019
Title role in Janacek Kát'a Kabanová
Royal Opera House, cond. Edward Gardner
'If there is a more compelling solo performance on the operatic stage this year than Amanda Majeski’s in the title role of Janacek’s opera, I will need a new stock of superlatives. I unhesitatingly say that you are unlikely to encounter a Katya more profoundly acted than by the American soprano, nor more strikingly sung.'
- The Times
'Majeski, in one of the finest house debuts of recent years, sings with remarkable commitment and radiance of tone, probing Kát’a’s tortured psyche and crises of conscience with unflinching veracity.'
- Guardian
'Amanda Majeski’s well-rounded soprano...is so warm and glorious, the singing so outstanding, that she leaves no emotions unstirred.'
- Financial Times
'...a star turn worth celebrating from Amanda Majeski...exquisite singing.'
- The Telegraph
‘American soprano Amanda Majeski, making her Royal Opera debut, stands out. Her body, as expressive as her voice, outlines Katya’s blend of iron resolve and vulnerability.’
- Evening Standard
‘Majeski’s incarnation of Kát’a is a virtuoso performance...she expresses her mounting anguish as much with her body as with her voice.’
- The Independent
‘One of the greatest operatic experiences of my life...[Majeski] performed the title role with a commitment and accuracy that means she should be besieged by the casting moguls of the world. She has a warm, rich tone when it is needed...and her acting was just as powerful as her singing...As with Callas and so few other singers, every gesture was dictated by the music.’
- The Spectator
‘American soprano, Amanda Majeski, tall and blonde, inhabits the part with great poetic force, giving herself over to the searing vision of Richard Jones’s production...[and] reminds one that opera can be the supremely expressive performing art.’
- New Statesman
‘[A] profoundly committed Kát’a...the American soprano, in her Covent Garden debut, completely captured the character’s distressing vulnerability and was equally convincingly charting the trajectory of Kát’a’s downward spiral.’
- Opera News
‘[Majeski] rode the orchestra easily while sounding freshly youthful...[she] sang with wonderful accuracy, her gestures all articulating what is there in the music...[an] outstanding performance.’
- Opera Magazine
‘For Majeski, it was not only her house debut but also her first ever Janáček opera, and she threw everything into it. There’s plenty of beauty of voice and security of pitch...but what made this performance exceptional was the quality of the vocal acting. Close your eyes and you could hear Majeski putting across the full gamut of shifting emotions, and since Katya is a highly unstable character, there are a lot of shifts to negotiate.'
- Bachtrack
‘...beautifully sung, with a host of appropriate colours in the rich soprano with its radiant top and full chest voice’
- The Arts Desk
Marschallin in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier
Lyric Opera of Chicago, cond. cond. Gardner
‘As the Marschallin, Amanda Majeski revealed just the type of glowing soprano voice with which Strauss had a lifelong love affair; Majeski has an ample, pungent instrument with the ability to soar above the staff in long, arching lines and fine down to a thread of pianissimo with seeming effortlessness. Majeski delivered the conversational writing with natural grace. Her musing that we little heed time until all at once we think of nothing else was quite poignantly rendered.’
- Opera News
'Soprano Amanda Majeski was an intriguing Marschallin, projecting gracious authority while struggling with the painful fact that her youth was forever past and gone. An Illinois native and alumna of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center training program, she sang with a strong, bright, expressive tone. Her seamless lyricism in the opera’s introspective moments conveyed the Marschallin’s essential goodness of heart. In Act III, disgusted by the crude Baron, Majeski’s low vocal line brimmed with scorn.'
- Chicago Sun-Times
'The singer who would succeed at Strauss must possess the freedom of tone necessary to brave the rapidly-shifting musicality of his phrases and the buoyant athleticism of their leaps, while maintaining a narrow delineation of pitch. In the plum role of The Marschallin, Chicago-favorite Amanda Majeski makes short work of this challenge. In the Act I Monologue, 'Da geht er hin,' the Illinois-born soprano threads her golden sound fearlessly, with a flawless vibrato like a flicker hovering over a carefully-controlled flame.'
- Chicago Theatre Review
'Majeski was exemplary, riding Strauss’s long lines with gleaming tone and confidence. She brought a dignified sadness to her long Act I soliloquy musing on her fading beauty with touching expression. The soprano was ideally poised and affecting vocally and dramatically in the final trio as she yields her young lover to a woman his own age.'
- Chicago Classical Review
'Amanda Majeski regally embodies the Marschallin. Her tall, slender figure and fair skin are a natural fit for the role, but it is her exquisite tone and vocal technique that makes the performance so absolutely enchanting. When Koch and Majeski are joined onstage by Christina Landshamer’s Sophie for Der Rosenkavalier’s finale, the resulting trio is heavenly and sublime.'
- Stage and Cinema
'Majeski has a way of sliding languidly into notes, letting them come upon her in a way that projects immense self-assurance. Her creamy tone sits beautifully atop Edward Gardner’s direction of the orchestra.'
- Bachtrack
'In the key role of the Marschallin, Lyric is blessed with the presence of soprano Amanda Majeski. Her work here is sheer perfection. She has clearly mastered the character's many moods, from her flirtatiousness with Octavian following their liebesnacht in her bedroom at the start of the first act to her gracious philosophical resignation in the trio of the last. Majeski has a voice of both warmth and power, enabling her to make herself heard over Strauss's large orchestra while still floating ethereally over more intimate scenes. She simply could not be better in this role.'
- Stage Left
'Strauss specified that his heroine, the Marschallin, be no older than 32. Matching her real-life age to that of the character, soprano Amanda Majeski (who's 31) sang beautifully as the Marschallin, aka the Princess von Werdenberg, wife of a field marshall in Imperial Vienna. The Illinois-born Majeski carried herself with great poise and grace as she lofted creamy tone and ravishing pianissimos into the stratosphere, and she was touching in her character's rueful monologue about the passage of time. She earned herself an extended ovation Monday.'
- Chicago Tribune
Komponist in Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos
Santa Fe Opera, cond. Gaffigan
'The Composer of Amanda Majeski galvanized the proceedings. She presented a gangly young man, as yet unaware of what his of what his own role might be in the roundelay of sex, but nonetheless inherently appealing. Her singing made a terrifically compelling case for the casting of a soprano in the role. Her voice had the requisite solidity in its lower range, but it truly soared above the staff, offering an aural correlative for the character’s youthful ardor. The vibrant sound she brought to the paean to music embodied the ‘heilige Kunst.’'
- Opera News
'Majeski lent a rich timbre to the part, and her dramatic presence left a mark.'
- Santa Fe New Mexican
'[Majeski's Composer and Redpath's Zerbinetta are] the stars of this production...Not only are they charismatic on their own, but they find their way to each other for a romance that practically throws off visible sparks. The fantastic performances from both women could not be more different, but come together with chemistry so exhilarating, I doubt Strauss could ever have imagined its effect on audiences an ocean and a century away.'
- Santa Fe Reporter
'Soprano Amanda Majeski...delivers bold, forward vocalism, but also plenty of nuance.'
- The Dallas Morning News
'Soprano Amanda Majeski was perfect in the trouser role...vocally flawless.'
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
'[The Composer was] sung with radiant pathos by Amanda Majeski'
- Musical America
'She made the audience feel the composer's pain as her large voice encompassed the house with elegant tones.'
- BroadwayWorld
'She possesses a beautiful, powerful voice with a unique tone.'
- Operawire
'Amanda Majeski – who sang the Countess a few years ago in Mr Albery’s Capriccio – was, on this evening, in a class by herself: her Composer was a flawless creation of youthful vulnerability and unshakable idealism, conveyed through an awkward physical manner and complete vocal confidence. There was little pretention in her actions and gestures: her continual mood swings and compulsive revisions to the score all seemed to originate from an untameable artistic impulse. Yet the true nobility of the character emerged in Ms Majeski’s stunning mid-range passages that seemed to grow even fuller and rounder as she moved up toward the higher notes.'
- MundoClasico
'[The] composer is played by Illinois soprano Amanda Majeski in a standout performance. Majeski, whose large and expressive soprano voice was enlisted for the highly strung young man, was utterly convincing in the role.'
- Opera Warhorses
Iphigénie in Gluck Iphigénie en Tauride
Staatsoper Stuttgart, cond. Montanari
‘The American soprano Amanda Majeski...wonderfully free in her singing, enthrallingly embodies this young Iphigenie both physically and vocally.’
- Schwaebische
‘Amanda Majeski was outstanding in the title role, making her house and role debut at the same time.’
- Allg. dt. Zeitung Rumänien
‘Amanda Majeski as Iphigénie effectively expresses of her suffering and sets high tensions that make the music even more impressive…one could not wish for a more outwardly self-confident, yet inwardly broken Iphigènie… Her singing is soulful, highly concentrated and splendid, clear, no phrase is pressed. She is absolutely convincing.’
- Klassik-begeistert.de
‘First and foremost here is the young, well-to-do Amanda Majeski, who not only played the Iphigénie convincingly with tremendous acting power, but also sang in a warm, balanced, well-focused and nuanced soprano. The tone was consistently expressive and differentiated. Overall, her role portrayal breathed great intensity.’
- Der Opernfreund
‘With an expressive dramatic soprano, Amanda Majeski not only sings the title role convincingly, she credibly lives up to her task in the opera as well.’
- Fränkische Nachrichten
‘Amanda Majeski is Iphigénie. Perfect lines, strong expressiveness and an exceptional ability to modulate her warm soprano voice in order to express different aspects of the character.’
- O-Ton online
‘The now internationally established Amanda Majeski gives a winning performance, full of color and nuance, with a full, even soprano that effortless soars…’
- Online Merker
‘Amanda Majeski, in a flashy golden dress, is also vocally is every bit as much of a queen. She delivers a sensational, heartrending role debut.’
- Süddeutsche Zeitung
‘It is the singing that turns this into a stunning evening. Amanda Majeski, so impressive as Katya Kabanova in London, turns it up even farther here, her singing so strong, without being remotely aggressive, the tone always sure, the sound chock full of emotion, her physical performance similarly forthright, possessed of an eerie stillness when it needs, but always full of pent-up energy. She’s some singer.’
- Citrus Circle
‘The tremendous vocal presence of Amanda Majeski...wonderfully flexible and expressive soprano scores a dense musical-psychological effect.’
- Loco.de
‘The American soprano Amanda Majeski interpreted Iphigénie with a bright, penetrating voice and a memorable declamation in all the nuances of phrasing. Hers was a subtle, unobtrusively alert performance in which all the dramatic elements, as Gluck demands, seemed to be one.’
- Mozart2006
‘The American soprano Amanda Majeski interpreted Iphigénie showing a bright, penetrating voice and an incisive declamation in all the nuances of phrasing.’
- GB Opera
‘Amanda Majeski united in the title role all the advantages of a youthful dramatic voice, which also sat optimally. She articulated and phrased beautifully, had a slightly metallic, lucid color scheme and dynamically ranged from a substantial piano to a voluminous forte.’
- Der Klassikkritiker
‘...Amanda Majeski in her role debut with a huge, beautifully shaded soprano role of all expression of what is possible.’
- Stuttgarter Zeitung
‘...and how Amanda Majeski makes this excitement tremendously enthralling is terrific. The US-American soprano has robust melodic lines, razor-sharp volume in the text, but she can also vary emotionally appropriate - a genuine singing actress, which gives her character of Iphigénie fascinating profile.’
- Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung
‘The soprano Amanda Majeski, as young Iphigénie in constant use, unfolds her remarkably wide range of colors: of forceful, furious, occasionally tone-tones; to which the sometimes metallic height burns sharpness, to the painful, introverted color, which, thanks to a solid pianissimi and warm middle position, signals homesickness, pangs of conscience and mourning.
- Tageszeitung
‘As Iphigénie, Amanda Majeski sensibly implements all of Gluck's heightened declamation and holds her brilliantly polished soprano in a passionately bound narrative flow.’
- Neueste Nachrichten
‘The Met-experienced Amanda Majeski, as a young Iphigénie, contrasts with an ubiquitous soprano, but above all with soft, inspired lamentations.’
- Südwest Presse
‘Amanda Majeski, as Iphigénie, is a truly tragic actress, with a soprano of steel and silk.
- Südkurier
‘Amanda Majeski gives her Iphigénie a soulful voice full of profound truthfulness.’
- Reutlinger General-Anzeiger Gesamtausgabe
‘The American soprano Amanda Majeski’s wonderfully free singing embodies this young Iphigénie in a way that is both vocally and scenically enthralling.’
- Schwäbilche Beitung
‘The 34-year-old American soprano Amanda Majeski gave as Iphigénie an excellent and enthusiastically received debut in Stuttgart. She has a warm, individually colored sound that is balanced in all positions, and she also impresses with her slender, towering heroine figure.’
- Der Opernfreund
‘Amanda Majeski magnificently shapes the dream visions, the anxiety and the longing for death, because only through death does lphigénie think she can escape these pursuing dreams.’
- Bachtrack
‘Musically, the performance is overwhelming. Amanda Majeski in the title role has a voluminous, clean-sounding and beautiful soprano. She is the ideal person for this role.’
- Kultura Extra
Title role in Katya Kabanova
London Symphony Orchestra, cond. Sir Simon Rattle
'Majeski inhabited the role of Katya with every facial feature, but it was the voice which truly amazed. Angelic at first, then in Act III more dramatic. Majeski has also sung the role at the Concertgebouw, in Chicago and elsewhere. She must be the Katya of the moment.'
- Seen and Heard, January 2023
'She’s an artist of the highest calibre, with a glorious voice, ample, opulent in tone and wonderfully expressive over a wide dynamic range. But without Jones’s at times distracting interventions, her portrayal of Katya’s emotional collapse became even more harrowing in its veracity and immediacy.'
- The Guardian, January 2023
'Amanda Majeski had a breakout success in 2019 as Katya in Covent Garden. Performing it now (the LSO are also recording this cast), the American soprano’s tremendous portrayal has, if anything, deepened in power — certainly her voice is larger. She has everything Katya needs: naked vulnerability alongside expressive abandon. That she looked here more than a little like Princess Diana (another victim of bad in-laws) may have helped to tug a few heartstrings too.'
- The Times, January 2023
'…it would not be easy to find the role better sung, warm, sensitive, always projecting over the orchestra and, most importantly, glowing with lyrical beauty.'
- The Financial Times, January 2023
Britten War Requiem
Boston Symphony Orchestra, cond. Antonio Pappano
"The liturgical structures — i.e., the ruins — were immaculately sung by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus (under the direction of James Burton) and soprano Amanda Majeski, who made a dazzling debut with the orchestra...It wasn’t Majeski’s first time singing the “War Requiem” (she last performed it with the Colorado Symphony in 2018), and her experience was evident in her fearless attack of Britten’s challenging terrain."
- Washington Post
"Her [Majeski's] voice has a burnished timbre which brightens as it rises, but without thinning. It glowed even warmer against the whiter, brighter sound of the estimable Tanglewood Festival Chorus, grounding the ethereal in the earthly in the same way Wilfred Owen’s poetry anchors the abstractions of the surrounding liturgy in the bedrock of the present."
- Bachtrack