Elin Pritchard stands out in Opera Holland Park’s Un ballo in Maschera. Elin Pritchard was sensational – as she was for the whole evening – her soprano creamy in timbre while filled with drama, the high notes solid, the lilt persuasive. In the end, the evening belonged to Pritchard with an Amelia that overcame any lacunae in the libretto to involve us properly in the drama
After her incredible Elisabetta in Grange Park Opera’s Don Carlo last month, I was not going to pass up the opportunity of hearing Elin Pritchard sing Amelia in this revival of Un ballo in maschera at Opera Holland Park. The Welsh soprano has hit a rich seam of Verdian form – she was terrific in GPO’s Simon Boccanegra last summer – and fully lived up to that promise here. Pritchard’s lirico-spinto soprano is supple and has poise, power and finesse, the perfect cocktail of ingredients required for mature Verdi. ‘Ma dall'arido stelo divulsa’, Amelia’s anxious aria in the midnight scene by the gallows, was thrillingly sung, full of drama, while her plea to her husband to see their infant son one final time before he kills her, ‘Morrò, ma prima in grazia’, plumbed the emotional depths – kudos to Rachel van der Tang’s eloquent cello obbligato – concluding with beautifully hewn final phrases. Pritchard could – should – be singing Verdi on the world’s great international stages.
Best of all is Pritchard’s sensational singing: she makes Verdi’s long lines and floated high notes look easy. It’s the second of two great Verdi shows that she’s done this autumn, after Don Carlo at Grange Park. Bigger houses surely beckon.
Elin Pritchard took (Amelia) up a notch – quite an achievement. Against a superb cello solo (Rachel van der Tang), Pritchard gave one of the finest accounts of her dark, shadowy aria ‘Morrò, ma prima in grazia’ I have heard, impeccably concentrated, Pritchard indwelling Amelia. Elin Pritchard is a major singer.
On the evening, one would be compelled to award first prize in the vocal stakes to soprano Elin Pritchard in the role of Amelia. She performed with astonishing poise, resonant and voluminous at the top, resplendent through the lower and middle registers. Her Act two aria, “Ma dall’arido stelo divulsa” was simply divine, where she glided, seemingly effortlessly, through the registers; beautifully rich in colour at the bottom and clarion and penetrative at the top.Her highlight came in the third Act, where she begged for mercy, asking to procrastinate the death that her husband had sworn to wreak upon her, after discovering what he considered her infidelity. Her aria, “Morrò, ma prima in grazia” is truly heart-rending, sung with tangible grief and beautiful floating notes to illustrate her vulnerability. She also displayed great breath control here.
Elin Pritchard shines in Don Carlo, Grange Park Opera
As Elisabetta, Welsh soprano Elin Pritchard, she delivered a performance of remarkable poise and vocal beauty. From her first appearance she brought dignity and emotional depth to the role, but it was in the final act that she truly came into her own. Her account of Tu che le vanità was superbly judged, combining gleaming tone with beautifully controlled phrasing and genuine emotional insight. Every phrase seemed to grow naturally from the text, creating one of those rare moments when singer, music and character become completely inseparable. It was also a reminder of something that often frustrates Welsh opera lovers. Yet again, one of Wales’ finest singers is producing work of the highest calibre across the border. Pritchard has long deserved wider recognition, and performances of this quality confirm that she belongs among the leading Verdi sopranos currently working in Britain. One cannot help wondering why audiences in Wales so frequently have to travel to England to hear some of their finest home-grown talent in major roles.
As Elisabetta, Elin Pritchard was a regal being, in posture, movement and singing. Here was the loveliest voice, and vocal skill, on display, powerful when needed but never shrill, and with welcome use of subtle mezza-voce elsewhere. No disrespect to Grange Park Opera’s solid standards over many years and productions, but when Pritchard opened the last act with her “Tu che le vanità” we were suddenly in an international opera house.
Pritchard just gets better and better, layering determination, steel and agonising sweetness over a base-note of tearstained vulnerability.
At Grange Park Opera Elin Pritchard was at her lyrical best in the showpiece Tu che le vanita.
Among the women, Elin Pritchard brought warmth, dignity, and vocal distinction to the role of Elisabeth. Her singing combined elegance with emotional depth, and she crowned the evening with a beautifully crafted rendition of "Tu che le vanità." Her voice remains consistently pleasing across her entire range, and her acting balanced regal authority with touching vulnerability
Elin Pritchard is the epitome of royalty, poised and determined to transcend her emotional conflicts, displaying all her artistry in her grief-stricken ‘Tu che le vanità’.
But Don Carlo is rich in such conflicts, inner and outer. Elin Pritchard’s Elisabeth, though deprived of her emotionally decisive first act, is finely paced towards her great final act aria of renunciation, delivered with outstanding control and lovely tone.
Elin Pritchard exhibited beautiful high notes and lovely vocal purity as his Queen Elizabeth de Valois
Elin Pritchard was an engaging Elisabeth, with the basic richness of her soprano manifesting itself through some beautiful and nuanced sounds
Elizabeth de Valois whose tormented, self-accusatory blame is among the most touching elements of the opera, her final act aria beautifully crafted by Elin Pritchard.
Elin Pritchard brought warmth, dignity and vocal distinction to Elisabetta. Her singing combined elegance with emotional depth, and she crowned the evening with a beautifully shaped account of Tu che le vanità. The voice remains consistently attractive throughout its range, and her portrayal balanced regal authority with touching vulnerability.
Elin Pritchard's soaring Amelia... the Welsh Soprano seized her moment and delivered a gleaming reading of Come in quest'ora bruna.
The only counterweight to this male dominance is the ethereal voice of Amelia Grimaldi, an outstanding debut here by Elin Pritchard.
Elin Pritchard combines vulnerability and inner strength, making her Amelia Grimaldi more than the passive character she often is, and the shining soprano tone fits well.
As Amelia, Elin Pritchard is no shrinking violet, and perfectly conveys vulnerability and strength of character, bringing passion and tenderness to the role with poised upper notes combining bone china delicacy and a spun legato.
Elin Pritchard sang splendidly as Amelia, her creamy soprano sounding rich, spanning the long lines of “Come in quest'ora Bruno ” luxuriantly, touching in duets.
Glorious Lyrical Verdi Singing.
And above all the glorious Amelia of Elin Pritchard, who crowned her dreamy seaside reverie with a soaring soprano melisma on the word 'Pace' in the council ensemble : I hope Desdemona - for which her voice is ideal - is prominent among her future plans.
But while the aesthetic held its ground, it was the voice of Elin Pritchard, singing Amelia Grimaldi, that lifted this performance into something altogether more luminous.
The Welsh soprano who has sometimes been overlooked despite her considerable vocal and dramatic gifts, emerged here as the revelation of the evening. In a score teeming with Verdi’s complex male relationships and heavy lower voices, she became the heart of the piece. Her soprano is warm, pliant, and unforced, with soaring top notes and a middle register rich with lyrical nuance. She brought Amelia vividly to life: not merely a plot device in the opera’s notoriously labyrinthine story, but a real, emotionally charged figure, torn between loyalty, love and fear.
She was at her best in the recognition duet with Keenlyside, shaping each phrase with care and conviction, her voice blooming into the theatre’s acoustic with thrilling clarity. In Act II, opposite Otar Jorjikia’s impassioned Adorno, her singing glowed with pathos and intensity. At the curtain call, the ovation she received was long, loud, and richly deserved—the audience knew they had witnessed something special.
Elin Pritchard gives a particularly accomplished performance as Mimì as her rich yet sensitive soprano shapes phrases to perfection.
Elin Pritchard’s performance makes a strong impact through her soaring, radiant lines which are imbued with hopefulness and vitality until very near the end, emphasising the tragedy of the character’s life cut short.
As for Mimi, the wonderful Welsh soprano and fellow WNO veteran Elin Pritchard delivered a sublime performance that brought her frailty to the forefront.
Mimì (soprano Elin Pritchard) manages to create a sense of urgency whilst singing with a radiant sweetness. She can act, too!
Longborough’s new production of opera’s most-renowned love story brings us a uniformly brilliant cast of principals, headed by the simply stunning Mimi of Elin Pritchard. Her body-language as a waif-like consumptive is totally convincing, but her voice soars above all tribulations, coloured and shaded, gradually collapsing in tone as her end approaches.
most striking of all, Elin Pritchard is wonderful as Zemfira herself. She outshines almost everyone else on the stage in vocal power and purity, and throws herself into the role with exceptional passion and skill.
The Welsh soprano Elin Pritchard is entrancing both in voice and stage presence.
Elin Pritchard a soprano from Wales put her heart and soul into the passionate role and displayed an even vibrato with a strong and secure tone.
Welsh soprano Elin Pritchard was a charmingly amiable Zemfira, lover of the older Aleko, her voice agile, her acting superb.
Elin Pritchard is the star of Aleko, singing with blazing intensity and giving her all in the difficult role of Zemfira.
Elin Pritchard, is an exceptional singer and mover, with a charisma that holds the stage. A role model of feminist energy, playfulness and cunning.
Elin Pritchard’s vixen is a triumph vocally and in her physical performance. She creates a character that’s feisty and full of fun.
Pritchard made a terrific radical feminist. Pritchard’s strong, limpid tones conveyed total emotional involvement with the part, with a lightness which matched her foxy mischief.
Elin Pritchard announced her promise in the Grange Festival’s 2019 Falstaff where she was a stunning Alice, and her Vixen did not disappoint. Her shining top notes and warm phrasing are ideal in this role.
Elin Pritchard: exuberant and wide-eyed, with a sunbeam soprano that bounces effortlessly over Janacek’s bristling orchestra.
Elin Pritchard, the Vixen, was rich in tone and sparky in her acting, eyes and movements capturing the cunning and liveliness which are a large part of the story’s attraction. The love duet of Act Two, with their voices both soaring clearly over the orchestral sound and followed by a surge of joy to end the scene, was a highpoint of the whole evening.
Elin Pritchard, as Mimì, and Aoife Miskelly, as Musetta, shine giving by far the best performances. Pritchard, who was a superb Michäela in a past WNO’s Carmen, is graceful and powerful. She conveys a tender tragedy infused with love and loss.
Elin Pritchard was a lovely Mimì, singing with a relaxed, easy upper register. If sometimes she seemed to be holding back a little, then this just emphasised her frailty and when she did open up, as in Act 1’s ‘Sì, mi chiamano Mimì’, she released a rich and vibrant soprano. Later, though, Pritchard emphasised Mimì’s vulnerability and her evocation of both physical frailty and naïve hope in the closing Acts was persuasive and touching.
Elin Pritchard, a graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music, shares a beautiful and warm chemistry with Yun which is a key component of making this La Boheme such an emotionally devastating evening at the opera.Pritchard does not need a glamorous outfit or stylish shoes to embellish and draw the eyes of the audience to her performance. Her art comes through the grace and lyricism of her sweetly textured soprano delivery which strikes right into the heart
To carry this off, the production needs a Manon who can not just sing the part, but inhabit this damaged psyche. It has that and more in Elin Pritchard who is nothing less than sensational. Her performance alone warrants serious efforts to acquire a ticket. Quality of acting was extremely high; she gave us a Manon who buries her trauma under a desire for the superficial, but has devastating flashes of self-realisation and pure misery. Her final scene was deeply moving, face riven with pain and sorrow as she finally comes to terms with her experiences. Pritchard’s voice too was a delight; a warm, gleaming instrument that is supported at the top and is full of colour.
Elin Pritchard sensational performance of Manon Lescaut. From her ability to transform from school girl, to kept femme fatale and ultimately exiled and doomed victim of her own beauty, she was as dramatically impressive as her singing heart-stopping. An actress singer of such strength, agility and vocal beauty. Captivating throughout, the final scene was gut wrenching.
With her sweet, silvery tone, Pritchard sounds lovely throughout, does wonders with her two big arias, and eventually gains our compassion as Manon’s life gradually spirals out of control.
Pritchard is an exciting young soprano, and this role debut suggests there’s much more to come.
Micaela, the superb Elin Pritchard, is unusually strong and avoids the timid-maiden-from-the-village cliché that sometimes sucks the life out of the role. She has a glorious soprano voice and makes us believe that she really would risk death in the mountains to call Don Jose back to his home village and his dying mother.
Some excellent performances, Including that of young Welsh soprano Elin Pritchard a heart-breaking and totally believable Micaëla. Pritchard’s pure soprano soars into the realms of absolute joy.
There was good reason to catch the changed cast on the second night of the production at Copenhagen's old stage (November 20), as it featured the Welsh Soprano Elin Pritchard as a strong Tatyana, her voice creamy and consistent, with a cultivated vibrato revealing a technique of rare finesse.
The thoughtful and sensitive sister is portrayed by Welsh Soprano Elin Pritchard, and let me just say right away that this artist is going places. It is rare that I have experienced such an expressive and intense sound with such superior technical excess in a lyrical soprano. The fragile pianissimo remains expressively piercing and passionate, and the most violent fortissimo get's the nuances and colours that so few others can portray. The Russian text and wonderful music lie so beautifully in Pritchard's voice that you need almost no subtitles, together with Tatyana fall in love.
Elin Pritchard’s voice is developing into a really special instrument; it’s sizeable with plenty of depth and the registers are obviously well integrated – her forays at the top of the voice were a delight – but there’s a gorgeous warmth to her singing, a delicacy and a sense of humour that lightens the weight of her voice. Her Alice Ford was a boisterous, amiably conniving character, mischievous both towards her would-be lover and her distrustful husband; Pritchard made her a character you would long to befriend.
Elin Pritchard’s peachily sung Alice, the most Italian-sounding of the singers in her radiant lyrical effusions. She is integral to a team without a weak link.
After Norma’s opening scene, I feared that we would not have an Adalgisa who could match Dix’s vocal authority. I need not have worried: Elin Pritchard’s rich soprano conveyed all the emotional urgency and vacillation of the youthful Adalgisa, who is not burdened with such vast responsibilities but who is driven by overpowering passions. The persuasive characterisation of Pritchard’s Adalgisa was enhanced by the fact that she had learnt the part well enough to sing almost entirely off-score throughout. I’ve seen two of Pritchard’s recent performances, and her Adalgisa confirmed her impressive dramatic and vocal range. It’s hard to imagine a role more different to the motorbike-obsessed Marie in Opera della Luna’s production of Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment at Wilton’s Music Hall this summer; and, if she had had no trouble ascending to Marie’s high Es, then the luxurious richness of her middle register which had been so strongly in evidence during her performance as Miss Jessel in Regent Park’s The Turn of Screw once again made its mark. One sensed every atom of Adalgisa’s passion, anguish and guilt during this terrific performance.
The performance of Elin Pritchard as Kupava, the jilted bride of Mizgir, is the outstanding performance of the night. She has everything needed for the role. She possesses a beautiful soprano voice and a convincing acting talent, but also a quirky talent for comedy which brings a lightness to the story, and a smile to the audience. Her facial expressions and physical signs of contempt continue even when the highlight is on others and she has no part in the action. The actress lives the part, and is totally immersed in the emotions of Kupava as she fights for her rightful justice.
Elin Prichard shone as Kupava, a wonderful Russian country girl. Prichard's Welsh heritage may have been helpful in producing her gorgeous voice and feisty attitude: There is a reason why her countrymen are often great rugby players and/or great singers - she played both, and is clearly not a girl to be crossed in love
in this production, the fairy tale princess is outshone by a human – Kupava.There are a lot of reasons why You see, she’s loud, flamboyant and hilariously funny, demanding attention every time she’s on stage. Her boastful affection, vengeful heartbreak and drunken antics not only make her likeable, but familiar too – we all know someone like her, and that endears us to her.
Elin Pritchard was in terrific voice as the feisty Kupava, played as a vodka-soaked jilted bride in a wedding dress resembling a giant Italian meringue, providing plenty of opportunities for comic exaggeration. Pritchard has a strong spinto soprano, remarkably even through her entire range, and a dramatic stage presence.....
Elin Pritchard's gloriously charismatic Musetta, every inch the self-conscious stage queen, yet most genuine in concern and charity at the close, would have been worth the price of admission alone.
“Elin Pritchard’s Musetta could conquer the world…”
"Elin Pritchard has both the strength and quality of voice to make 'Quando m'en vo' an undoubted highlight of the evening."
“Elin Pritchard stole the show with a wonderfully shrewish portrayal of the worldly, flirtatious Musetta. She sang the famous Waltz in Act 2 with ravishing brio investing the famous melody with seductive allure whilst producing electrifying top notes.”
"Musetta’s waltz, delivered by Pritchard from the tavern’s table top, is every bit the showstopper Puccini intended."
This year's La bohème...stars two young sopranos, Anna Patalong and Elin Pritchard, who are quite the crème de la crème. Small wonder it's a triumph.Pritchard is fabulous: she steals the stage and delivers her waltz with such style and eloquence that (Andrew) Finden's Marcello is putty in her hands."
Soprano Elin Pritchard soared like a seagull but was also a controlled whispered breeze in sombre passages.”
"Soprano Elin Pritchard was able to ride the combined might of the orchestra and chorus with ease, producing thrilling sounds and great beauty of line.”
The most sensational singing of the evening, and indeed of the whole festival, came from Elin Pritchard as Lucia. From her beautiful opening aria, this young Welsh soprano's command of the part was evident, and her mad scene was an astonishing tour de force of both acting and singing.
Pritchard is a young Lucia but sings with imagination, intelligence and an alluring middle register.
it was a treat to encounter a young soprano who allowed so much musicality into her approach to a demanding role. Her scene with her brother was a masterly clash of egos. Her colouraura became more nimble as the evening progressed, until a mad scene of gripping clarity, where she entwined exquisitely with the solo flute.
Elin Pritchard’s Lucia, especially is already a portrayal of huge promise, closer in style to the pre-Callas exponents of the role, but pearly of tone. She made the mad colouratura flights of fancy sound easy – no mean feat.
Pritchard singing her first major role, showed remarkable promise, meeting the many vocal challenges that Lucia presents, while coping as an actress pretty well with the demands of the opera’s celebrated mad scene.
Elin Pritchard sang Lucia with superb clarity and projection: her mad scene was well worth the wait, the lyricism of her soprano matched by her expressiveness, portraying Lucia in a storm of brilliant confusion, her vivid memories and emotions fighting across her overthrown mind.