Mère Marie in DIALOGUES DES CARMÉLITES

The Metropolitan Opera

“Jamie Barton’s Mother Marie couched difficult truths in a plush voice — warm and consoling but also exacting and uncompromising. In one scene, she chews out an officious commissar without so much as removing her hands from the pockets of her vestments.”
–The New York Times

“Barton likewise was an exceptional Mère Marie. Her rich, plummy mezzo-soprano is in prime condition and as imposing as Goerke’s soprano. Mère Marie is a constant presence throughout the opera, and fate dictates that she is the lone survivor of the community. It’s perhaps the most complex role in Dialogues des Carmélites and Barton’s keen dramatic instincts made the character real.”
–New York Classical Review

“Mezzo Jamie Barton was forceful as the officious Marie.”
–Financial Times

“A first-class assistant prioress—Barton’s beginning of the “Ave Maria” was some of the most beautiful singing of the afternoon…”
–Opera News

“Goerke’s Lidoine contrasted nicely with Jamie Barton‘s formidable Marie—the antagonism between the two characters, both personal and ideological, [was] portrayed with such specificity. Barton’s refulgent mezzo was an ideal fit for the role, a consoling mother figure in one scene, a fanatical zealot the next… Her upper register remains a wonder, filling the auditorium with blazing sound.”
–Parterre Box

“Jamie Barton embodied Mère Marie’s fervently imprudent desire for martyrdom as a form of earthly glory, rather than a sacrifice given to God.”
–Bachtrack

“The American mezzo Jamie Barton as Mother Marie was well-loved by the public. The artist continues to cultivate a voice of considerable size, with a dark and complex timbre, very pleasant. Her potent stage presence was the perfect counterpoint to the skittish figure of the leading lady, while her rapport with Goerke led to moments of lyrical heights.”
–Opera World (Spanish)

“The ever-reliable velvet heft of mezzo Jamie Barton was well-used as Mother Marie, with strength to spare in her treatment of those she needs to guide.”
–Broadway World

“A source of strength here is Mother Marie, sung with restraint by Jamie Barton, who wisely kept her sizeable voice under wraps, except at climactic moments, as when urging Blanche to be courageous.”
–Opera Magazine