“Among a marvelous cast of singers, one stood out. It is rare that we begin a review in this fashion but how could we not? Mezzo-soprano Theo (Hayes) Claveles created an unforgettable character (The Witch) in an otherwise unmemorable distortion of Engelbert Humperdinck's fairy tale opera for which his sister, Adelheid Wette, created the libretto”
“Theo Hayes’s (Theo Claveles) mischievous Child brimmed with a winning mix of bratty impudence and astonished disbelief. Their big, bold mezzo filled the hall with glowing fervor but, chastened, reconciled movingly with their confounded Maman sympathetically portrayed by Naomi Steele”
“The ladies, singing with fire and fervor, stole the show, especially Despina (as a Despina must), who brought a solid gold voice to the part’s intriguing lines and real star power to her comic portrayal”
“Lizzy Hayes (Theo Claveles), as the usher Thelma, felt and sounded perfectly at home in Musto’s idiom and in their character, while Trevor Haumschilt-Rocha brought a perfectly balanced baritone, warm and clear like amber, to Thelma’s eventual companion, the jilted lover Joe”
UNCOIL / JOSEPH N. RUBINSTEIN
SEIN WIR WIEDER GUT / ARIADNE AUF NAXOS