Reviews - Opera
As Danae in Die Liebe der Danae, Bard Summerscape, new production
-
In the title part, the very rich vibrant voice of Meagan Miller, who is also slated for Strauss in Vienna, can be heard.
-
[Maestro Leon] Botstein assembled a talented cast of singers who did valiant battle with Strauss' treacherous vocal writing. Meagan Miller, a soprano with a splendid sound and impressive power, was Danae. She was able to scale the highest reaches of the role (including a final C-sharp) [and] she floated some lovely soft high notes.
-
Grand-voiced soprano Meagan Miller, a winner of the National Council Auditions of the Metropolitan Opera, sang the long title role with stamina, elegance and textual clarity, soaring through Strauss’s long, melismatic lines with dignity.
-
Like the other late Strauss operas, Danae is loaded with difficult vocal writing. The soprano part is both long and treacherous, all the way up to a high C-sharp at the very end. Ms. Miller, a past grand [winner] at the Metropolitan Opera's vocal competitions, handled the part with power and beauty of tone.
-
The Act I scene of two soaring duet for sopranos up to D-flats for Danae and Xanthe (Meagan Miller and Sarah Jane McMahon) was a fine moment. Ms. Miller's voice is one capable of that high extension so necessary for Danae. Her voice is possessed with an evenness in all registers and of some vocal allure while possessing a sympathetic stage persona that made the character work. As critic Andrew Porter once observed: 'Wagner and Strauss require great and glamorous singers'.
-
As Danae, soprano Meagan Miller, a grand finals winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, revealed herself to be a major talent that up until now has mostly—and, given this weekend's performance, unfairly—been sequestered in Europe. A resplendent Straussian, she transformed from kittenish celebutante to a grounded woman, though still not without some feline grace. She gave a satiny counterpart to Sarah Jane McMahon's silky Xanthe in the first act before soaring to show-stoppingly ecstatic heights, capping off the opera with a transportive Act III soliloquy and (later on) the final notes.
-
The characters fight over the prettiest girl in town, Danae (stunningly portrayed by soprano Meagan Miller), who is in turn obsessed with money and has a recurring dream of being showered in gold.
-
Meagan Miller brings a soprano of size, beauty and gleaming high notes to Danae’s music.
-
As Danae, [Meagan] Miller, recipient of multiple awards and clearly on the cusp of a big career, showed us why. She has an even range and secure top, all based in a compelling stage presence. Her lovely vocal lines arched over the orchestra.
-
The cast was headed by Meagan Miller, who has previously won the National Council Auditions of the Metropolitan Opera. Her voice was powerful, yet also extremely lyrical. For those used to other sopranos such as Lauren Flanigan, the deep timbre of her voice may, at first, be disconcerting, but there were times throughout the performance, when during a lyrical passage, the audience was simply spellbound.
-
Meagan Miller developed a dimensional Danae. She was fluent enough to be credible among the rich and downhome enough to make the third scene seem very touching. Miller's voice was lasereque. What a great musician. She can manage any texture and can be understood across a wide spectrum of emotions.
-
The trio of leads sings well and acts with commitment.
As Danae, the soprano Meagan Miller had a coolly glamorous presence and a big voice that…at its best, penetrated with warm power. She paired excitingly with the tenor Roger Honeywell. -
WQXR Best of Opera 2011
Meagan Miller’s soaring cry of “Midas!” in the final moments of Strauss’s sorely overlooked score was the gilded icing on a gold standard production at Bard. -
The three leads require Wagnerian weight voices that can punch out declamation in the upper third of the voice all night long. Soprano Meagan Miller has a swift-rising career in Europe, but the grand finals winner in the National Council Auditions has been overlooked by the Metropolitan Opera. A handsome woman with high cheekbones and a dazzling smile, Miller's soprano is warm and full in the middle, but opens up to a gleaming firm upper register that never tires.
-
The Year in Reviews: The Best Singers of 2011:
Die Liebe der Danaë at Bard Summerscape
The soprano part is both long and treacherous, all the way up to a high C# at the very end. Meagan Miller, a past grand finals winner of the Metropolitan Opera's vocal competitions, handled the part with power and beauty of tone. -
[Meagan] Miller, who won the Met Auditions a couple of years ago and is singing Mozart, Strauss and Wagner all over the place, is a tall, handsome woman and a bit Junoesque (in the sense of majestic) – when she’s in the traditional gold or silver, of course, but also in white-trash blue jeans and trainers for the finale. Her voice has the French horn colors of a true Strauss soprano, and packs the necessary walloping edge… the ingredients for a great Ariadne, Helena, Daphne are here.