Classic Melbourne
Heater Leviston
Victorian Opera: Lucia di Lammermoor
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Victorian Opera.
..and Jessica Pratt is certainly one of these [Best Singers]. Despite having to contend with the expectations raised by the hype surrounding her as the successor to Melba and Dame Joan, she still amazes. With limited opportunity to warm up, her ability to sustain a smooth legato line in Lucia’s initial aria, “Regnava nel silenzio”, was truly impressive. Although she has the art of soft singing honed to pinpoint perfection, her voice has substance and was always audible, including in the weightier ensembles such as the famous sextet at the end of Act 2. Her skill in floating her voice in long, high pianissimo phrases was most striking in the Mad Scene, where she was accompanied by a haunting, otherworldly glass harmonica. Pratt’s flexibility and wide range produced streams of impressive bravura and stratospheric top notes, generally without apparent effort.
Il corriere musicale
Attilio Piovano
Lucia at Regio di Torino according to Michieletto
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Regio.
The premiere, Wednesday May 11, 2016, starred soprano Jessica Pratt whom I remembered as a luxury interpreter of an unforgettable production of Händel's Giulio Cesare last season. A unique singer in a class of her own, Pratt has an important voice and remarkable acting skills; consequently hers was a real undisputed triumph. Above all, she convinced every member of the audience, down to the last one, in the 'Mad Scene', keeping everyone with bated breath and engaging in a duet not with the traditional flute but (according to the composer's original intentions) with the glass harmonica and its arcane, evocative and enchanting sound producing a strong emotional impact. And in this scene, when she began 'Spargi d'amaro pianto', or better even before in 'Ardon gli incensi', Pratt rose the the greatest height, offering a high-level interpretation.
Daily Review
Jason Whittaker
Lucia di Lammermoor review (Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne)
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Victorian Opera.
This is Usain Bolt in the Olympic final. Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup. The greatest athlete on the biggest stage.
...
They say nobody in the world sings the maddening title role in Lucia Di Lammermoor — perhaps the most treacherous test composed for a coloratura soprano — better than Jessica Pratt. They used to say the same thing about another Aussie, Joan Sutherland, in the 1960s.
...
The moment of ecstasy is thrilling — the famed final-act “mad scene” (aria Il dolce suono) where a bloodied Lucia stumbles down a grand staircase, fresh from murdering her unwanted hubby, in a love-sick hallucination conjuring her star-crossed lover. Pratt is beguiling, her instrument as vivid as we’ve heard on Australian stages. It’s the combination of power and poise in her voice, toying with the score as much as the audience, drawing you in with a delicate trill and pushing you back in your seat with an unfathomably sustained note of spine-tingling vibrato.
Operaclick
Marilisa Lazzari
Genova - Teatro Carlo Felice: Lucia di Lammermoor
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Carlo Felice.
Not available in English
La cantante australiana, padrona di un’ottima dizione, gioca con la voce dal bel colore luminoso, sgranando a comando rosari di agilità, acuti e sovracuti lucenti ed esibendo fiati lunghissimi; insomma, dimostrando che le doti non comuni, da fuoriclasse, sono sostenute da una gran tecnica.
Sydney Morning Herald
Michael Shmith
Lucia Di Lammermoor review: Jessica Pratt ascends vocal stratosphere
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Victorian Opera.
...she produced some remarkable singing: as Pratt's Lucia descended into the delusional, her technique ascended into the vocal stratosphere with some gloriously florid singing. No more so, than in her eerie duet with (as originally composed) glass-harmonica obbligato, which is the aural equivalent of being stabbed with a dagger fashioned not from steel but ice.
Herald Sun
Paul Selar
Jessica Pratt gives outstanding performance in Lucia di Lammermoor for Victorian Opera
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Victorian Opera.
During its intoxicating 20 minutes, Pratt channels the pitiable tragedienne in a hypnotic performance without excessive histrionics and meets the vocal and dramatic demands with an unflinching, focussed performance.
It’s a powerful and near-distressing experience as the silenced chorus and audience remain transfixed by Pratt’s incisive interpretation and striking coloratura soprano.
Broad in range and sumptuous in tone, Pratt melds music, text and emotion exquisitely as she glides to delicate crystalline highs and effortlessly projects the finest pianissimo.
L'Opera
Alessandro Mormile
This review refers to Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Regio.
The honor of the premiere fell on Jessica Pratt, who confirmed herself to be a Lucia of undeniable high quality. (…) a Mad Scene where the cadenza possesses an instrument – like clean sound which, with the complicity of the glass harmonica, gives her across the line winning virtuosismo an evocative estrangement effect