Fricka in DIE WALKÜRE

Houston Grand Opera

"Tasked with the grousing role of Fricka, American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton took her bickering character to new heights; her voice remains as pure as it was in Rheingold."
–Sydney Boyd, Houstonia

"Peerless mezzo Jamie Barton [is the] unloved Fricka. Everything about the character is portrayed by that bathed-in-fire voice: Fricka's imperiousness, jealousy, and unyielding ego. It's there in every phrase."
–D.L. Groover, Houston Press

"Jamie Barton wields impressive vocal clout as Wotan's bossy wife, Fricka - with a glint of dark humor in her vengeful scheming."
–Everett Evans, Houston Chronicle

"Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton's full-throatedness enabled Fricka, Wotan's wife, to equal his stature."
–Steven Brown, Chron.com

"Jamie Barton is a powerhouse Fricka, her beefy but beautiful mezzo dipping into a massive chest voice."
–Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News

"Jamie Barton, Fricka in HGO’s Ring Cycle-launching Rheingold last year, is as new to Wagner as her soprano colleagues, but the vengeful goddess’s music benefited from her full, ripe mezzo."
–William Albright, Classical Voice America

"All of the singers in this cast are strong, making for a steady and powerful ensemble. Jamie Barton helps the god Fricka really come across as an unyielding upholder of marriage, her voice clear and her diction spit-fire perfect."
–Theodore Bale, CultureMap Houston

"Goerke and Barton masterfully executed their dialogue and physicality, forming a tumultuous back-and-forth. This added a layer of humor to the dark and angst-driven score."
–Bryan-Keyth Wilson, Broadway World

"Two roles that carry over from Rheingold are sung by the same singers: Iain Patterson’s Wotan and Jamie Barton as his quarrelsome wife, Fricka. Both do a marvelous job here as well. The big argument between the two of them, on which the remainder of the opera (and the cycle as well) hangs, is not only believable, but as rivetingly adversarial as Martha and George in Albee’s "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

In Patterson and Barton’s hands, you can see both sides, even though Fricka’s spiteful motivation is purely personal while Wotan’s dalliance was a part of a larger plan to save the Gods themselves. We knew this previously, but it has never been clearer than in this remarkably human performance."
–Gregory Sullivan Isaacs, TheaterJones

"Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton's amazing, even uncanny lower range made Fricka’s Act II quarrel with Wotan a memorable scene: if anyone could turn back Wotan's plans, it was Barton's Fricka."
–Gregory Barnett, Opera News

"The young and remarkable Jamie Barton was a Fricka who, at first, wheedled, but would not be put off; her anger grew, and by the time she had dipped into some vicious chest tones, we knew that the Ring had changed direction."
–Robert Levine, BachTrack

"Wagner’s music gained a wallop from Goerke and mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, who played Fricka, Wotan’s wife. As Fricka, goddess of marriage, laid down the law to Wotan about punishing the incestuous Siegmund and Sieglinde, Barton’s exultantly red-blooded singing delivered some of Saturday’s most electrifying moments. And the finesse that Barton gave the role’s final, lyrical phrases helped drive home the point that Fricka was no mere battle-ax."
–Steven Brown, Arts+Culture Texas