Poor Rusalka! The water nymph heroine of Antonin Dvorak's best-known opera never stands a chance against the witch Jezibaba — especially as played to the hilt by the powerhouse mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton.
Read MoreJamie Barton's voice is a vast, enveloping sound, the sort of thing soprano Carol Vaness calls “a voice that blankets.” This is true whether she is offering a Dvorák song in recital or holding the stage as Waltraute. But nowhere was it more in evidence than at the Glimmerglass Festival last summer. After her opening group of Turina songs, the heavens opened...
Read MoreSharing ice tea with Jamie Barton was one of the better things to happen in 2016. In late October, the morning after an ecstatically received Wigmore Hall recital, the American mezzo-soprano spoke to WhatsOnStage about her career and about her forthcoming appearances in two of the Metropolitan Opera's 'Live in HD' cinema relays...
Read MoreJamie Barton's double victory at Cardiff Singer of the World in 2013 has to have been one of the most memorable triumphs in the competition's history. Not only did the exuberant Georgia-born mezzo's vivid personality come across equally potently in both operatic and song literature (as well as in tragedy and comedy), but the voice itself proved to be a real force of nature: the thrilling power and amplitude on display heralded the arrival of a great dramatic voice that's sure to make waves in Wagner, Verdi and verismo...
Read MoreI come from an extremely musical family – I grew up in the northwest Georgia mountains, and several of my family played bluegrass instruments. My dad started my music recognition education from a very early age with The Beatles. One of their songs would come on the radio, and he would ask me which it was, and which album it came from. I was really in love with the White Album and jovial songs on it such as 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da'.
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