Ellen Hargis
soprano
"The baroque-music diva"
New Yorker
Ellen Hargis
soprano
"The baroque-music diva"
New Yorker
(Updated
November 2007 - Please discard all previous versions)
Soprano Ellen Hargis, acclaimed as "a national musical treasure" by Continuo, has built a remarkable career specializing in 17th- and 18th-century music, ranging from ballads to opera and oratorio. She has performed with many of the foremost period music conductors of the world including Andrew Parrott, Gustav Leonhardt, Paul Goodwin, Monica Huggett, Jane Glover, Simon Preston, Daniel Harding, Paul Hillier, Harry Bicket, Craig Smith and Jeffrey Thomas. She has performed with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Virginia Symphony, Washington Choral Arts Society, Long Beach Opera, CBC Radio Orchestra, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Teatro Lirico, Tragicomedia, New York Collegium, The Mozartean Players, Fretwork, Emmanuel Music and the Mark Morris Dance Group, and has become regular performer with Chicago's Music of the Baroque, the American Bach Soloists, Seattle Baroque and the Portland Baroque Orchestra. She has appeared at many of the world's leading festivals including the Adelaide Festival (Australia), Utrecht Festival (Holland), Resonanzen Festival (Vienna), Festival Vancouver. Tanglewood, the Berkeley Festival and New Music America Festival. She has been featured in successive seasons of the Boston Early Music Festival where she has sung Aeglé in Lully's Thésée, the title role in Luigi Rossi's L'Orfeo, Queen Pasiphae in Conradi's Ariadne and Irina in Johann Mattheson's 1710 opera, Boris Goudenow. Lully's Thésée and Conradi's Ariadne were recorded for CPO and were nominated respectively for 2007 and 2006 Grammys.
Recent highlights include performances of Bach's St. Matthew Passion with The American Bach Soloists, Mozart's Mass in C minor with Jane Glover and Music of the Baroque, the Monteverdi Vespers with Tragicomedia and Concerto Palatino, and a return to Los Angeles to reprise the role of Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Musica Angelica.
Ellen Hargis has a longstanding musical partnership with the great lutenist Paul O'Dette with whom she records and tours regularly. They have performed together throughout the United States, Canada, Austria, France and Spain, with recent tours in Russia and Asia. Two new recordings, released in 2005 on the new Noyse Productions label: "The Power Of Love" and "A Christmas Album" have been met with critical acclaim. She is also featured on a dozen Harmonia Mundi recordings including a critically acclaimed solo recital disc of music by Jacopo Peri, and in Arvo Pärt's Berlin Mass with Theatre of Voices. She appears on a recording of Handel solo cantatas with the Seattle Baroque Orchestra on Wild Boar, the premiere recording of the Bonporti motets for soprano on Dorian, and several recordings for BMG Classics, Vanguard Classics, Virgin Classics, Erato, Dorian Classics and Berlin Classics. Her recording of Tristan et Iseult with The Boston Camerata was winner of the Grand Prix du Disque.
Ellen Hargis is on the vocal faculty of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and teaches numerous summer courses in early music, including the Longy International Baroque Institute in Cambridge, The Lute Society of America Seminars and the Vancouver Baroque Vocal Programme.
Concert with lutenist Paul O'Dette,
Vancouver Early Music Festival:
Headline: "Concert brings the Elizabethan to life - Early Music
Festival performance reconstructs historic with impressive
results."
"It would be hard to imagine the queen in possession of better
musicians than the ones we heard, especially O'Dette, who was
faultlessly fluent on his lute. Also, Hargis's soprano rang clearly
and eloquently. There were two songs in particular that were
shattering: Flow My Tears and In Darkness Let Me Dwell. Hargis in her
singing was moving beyond words. The house was deservedly full."
Vancouver Sun - August 7, 2007
Performance at the Boston Early Music
Festival:
"Laissez la verte couleur," had an unaffected directness, with a
compelling clarity of diction and phrasing. For 'Hélas faut-il
que je lamente,' Hargis underlined the drama."
Boston Globe - June 14, 2007
Concert with Paul O'Dette at New York
City's Morgan Library:
"Soprano Ellen Hargis and the lutenist Paul O'Dette, who performed at
the Morgan on Tuesday, have unimpeachable Boston credentials. Ms.
Hargis, who sings with a clear tone and minimal vibrato, brought a
hint of introspective drama to Monteverdi's 'Ohimè ch'io cado'
and 'Quel sguardo sdegnosetto.' Between them she gave a palpably
forlorn account of 'Si dolce è'l tormento.' Much of Ms.
Hargis's expressive charm is in her flexibility, a quality heard to
best effect in three songs by Barbara Strozzi. Her thoughtful pacing
and the ease with which she moved through the gentle chromaticism of
'Respira, mio core' and the increasingly florid writing in 'L'amante
segreto' gave these songs a monumental quality, as if they were
operatic fragments. And a vigorous reading by both Ms. Hargis and Mr.
O'Dette gave 'Questa è la nuova' a folkish, almost rustic
quality. Mr. O'Dette accompanied Ms. Hargis on the chitarrone, a
deferential instrument by nature, made to provide support. That was
mostly how Mr. O'Dette used it. But he also played solo works by
Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger and Bellerofonte Castaldi that ask for
more, and Mr. O'Dette responded with the kind of virtuosic detail and
interpretive fluidity he has always brought to his lute
performances."
New York Times - May 18 2007
Concert with the Newberry Consort at the
Folger Library inWashington, DC:_
"Hargis, whose voice has more body than those of many early-music
specialists, sings accurately, intelligently and with a wonderful
sense of the text and, in an understated way, is a spectacular
showman. Her final sendoff, 'The Friar and the Nun', a scatological
tale of singing lessons gone awry, was a work of art."
Washington Post - March 13, 2007
Concert with the American Bach
Soloists:
"Soloists Ellen Hargis, Judith Malafronte, Aaron Sheehan, and
Jesse Blumberg joined Conductor and Music Director Jeffrey Thomas'
ace team of specialists, each bringing sensitivity and nuance to
their technical skills. A better suited and classier ensemble would
be next to impossible to find. Singers and instrumentalists
maintained their individuality while still working together
cohesively. Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn! begins with a
buoyant soprano aria whose vocal line is interspersed with
ritornellos and evocative passages. Hargis brought clean articulation
and a sense of jubilation to her lines. The gem of the piece was
Hargis' aria 'Er segnet'. Hargis effortlessly spun out endless phrase
after endless phrase, punctuating them with wonderful shifts in
dynamics. In addition, her pure tone and agile ascending lines were
matched by a legato that should be a model for all singers."
San Francisco Classical Voice - March 27, 2007
Recital with Paul O'dette, National
Gallery of Art:
"What would Shakespeare have had on his iPod? Probably the 16th
century's equivalent of today's Top 40, to judge by a fascinating
recital by early music soprano Ellen Hargis and lutenist Paul
O'Dette. Finding those original songs and bringing them to life again
evokes the unique flavor of the times. Hargis has made a specialty of
17th- and 18th-century song, and has a light, clear voice that suits
this music extremely well. These are intimate, rather than opulent,
songs; their power comes from their quiet, human grace. And Hargis
sang them with an effortless beauty, with just a hint of vibrato here
and there, minimal ornamentation, and a natural, unforced sense of
drama. Paul O'Dette is one of the finest lutenists in a world rather
pleasantly crowded with them, and with his
English-sheepdog-on-a-windy-day persona, even looks like an
Elizabethan musician. O'Dette accompanied Hargis with precision and
wit, and soloed with instrumental music from several of Shakespeare's
plays, including "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Romeo and
Juliet."
Washington Post - January 16, 2007
"La Ciaccona" Recital with Paul O'Dette,
Harkness Chapel
Headline: Soprano, lutenist pour mastery into program
"In songs by Peri and Frescobaldi, Hargis expressed emotions ranging
from tenderness to outrage. In songs by Monteverdi, she dealt
effortlessly with the demands of high tessitura and florid vocal
line. She sang with beautiful tone, clear Italian diction and
effortless mastery of intricate embellishments."
Cleveland Plain Dealer &endash; June 2006
Handel Messiah, St. Thomas Church,
New York City:
"Hargis's soprano had a lovely softness of character."
New York Times - December 15, 2005
Monteverdi Vespers with
Tragicomedia and Concerto Palatino, Eastman School of Music:
"Hargis gave an especially memorable and luminous account of the
'Pulchra es.'"
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, October 9, 2005
Mozart Requiem, Music of the
Baroque, Jane Glover, conductor:
"Hargis' soprano sounded pure and angelic." Chicago Sun Times,
September 29, 2005
Festival Concert with Karina Gauvin,
Boston Early Music Festival:
"The program also included star turns by Ms. Hargis (a heart-rending
performance of 'Lasciate Averno,' from Rossi's 'Orfeo')."
New York Times - June 18, 2005
Irina in Johann Matthewson's Boris
Goudenow, Boston Early Music Festival:
"Ellen Hargis gave the sort of early music reading that BEMF
audiences have come to expect: passionate, note-perfect, and
exacting."
Early Music America - Fall 2005
"Ellen Hargis brought dignity, grace and
vocal subtlety to her portrayal of Irina."
New York Times - June 18, 2005
"Of the three sopranos, veteran BEMF diva
Ellen Hargis was most effective. She has learned to act within this
idiom, and her upper tones can still bloom."
Boston Globe - June 15, 2005
Handel's Israel in Egypt, Music of
the Baroque:
"Impressive were sopranos Ellen Hargis and Amy Conn, splendidly
prepared."
Chicago Tribune - May 24, 2005
All-Handel program on tour with Seattle
Baroque:
"Despite Pittsburgh's many citywide problems, the quality of
musical life here remains wondrously world-class. For example: The
Pittsburgh Renaissance and Baroque Society's commitment to 500 years
of repertoire is particularly important - especially when
performances are as distinguished as ones this season by soprano
Ellen Hargis with Seattle Baroque and Andrew Manze with the English
Consort."
Pittsburgh Times - June 14, 2005
"Soprano Ellen Hargis is one of the
outstanding artists of our day. In 'Armida abbandonata' she conveyed
her character's external grace and internal seething passions with a
precision and control that recalled the singular excellence of the
late Judith Raskin. Like Raskin, Hargis can sing intricate musical
passagework with the best of instrumentalists, such as her Seattle
Baroque colleagues on Saturday night."
Pittsburgh Tribune - April 19, 2006
"One of the world's foremost interpreters of
17th- and 18th-century music, Hargis' execution was indeed good, as
was her breath control and precise command of the notes."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 19, 2005
Performance in Philadelphia with Piffaro
and the Kings Noyse:
"On hand was soprano Ellen Hargis, who has carved out a
repertoire niche in Renaissance music that she not only does better
than anybody else, but better than you could imagine its being done.
With a vocal timbre that combines the vibrato-free so-called white
sound of a British choirboy with the body of a mezzo-soprano, Hargis
kept the vocal lines as clean as an instrumentalist but also used
unintrusive feats of color and word pronunciation to create great
poetic awareness of what she was singing. The effect was
entrancing."
Philadelphia Inquirer - March 4, 2005
Recital with Paul O'Dette, St. Petersburg
Early Music Festival:
"Chicago's Ellen Hargis, another guest of the Early Music,
perform Italian and English songs with such an inimitable charm you
might believe she grew up among English peasants or Italian
fishermen, learning the melodies from her grandmothers. She
definitely has a remarkable ability to get inside a song. Some say
her voice is clear as crystal and sonorous as the ring of a bell.
Hargis often performs with Paul O'Dette (wonderful lutenist) who
provides exceptional accompaniment for her the impressive and
hauntingly pure soprano."
Moscow News &endash; October 19, 2004
Music of Purcell, La Cetra, Vancouver
Early Music Festival:
"Ellen Hargis, a great favorite with Early Music Vancouver
audiences, was especially effective. A soprano who's taken the
trouble to learn how to sing her own language. Hargis was always
intelligible and displayed a lovely tonal vocabulary. Excerpts from
'The Fairy Queen' allowed Hargis to display a particularly broad
range, from the florid Italian-style virtuosity to the simpler
folk-flavoured and the darkly evocative."
Vancouver Sun, August 10, 2004
Music for 300 Strings, Cleveland,
Ohio:
" The beauty of the lute as an accompanying instrument was
demonstrated in a set of French airs exquisitely sung by Ellen Hargis
with the assistance of Heringman on a seven-course Renaissance lute.
The soprano, a fine linguist and superb singer, shaped words and
notes with delicacy and grace."
Cleveland Plain Dealer - July 2, 2004
Mozart Mass in C Minor, Estonian
National Symphony Orchestra, Talinn, Estonnia:
"This fluency and expressiveness was greatly assisted by the
evenly matched, dramatically tuned ensemble of soloists. Ellen
Hargis' very special shimmering color and crystalline concept of form
were absolutely charming."
Postimees - April 12, 2004
Monteverdi Il Combattimento di
Tancredi e Clorinda, Music of the Baroque:
"Hargis sang an affecting Clorinda. Hargis and Conn, offered a
sweet retreat from the battlefield in their ravishing duet, 'Chiome
d'oro'.:
Chicago Tribune - March 22 2004
"The vocal purity of singers, especially
soprano Ellen Hargis, created an atmosphere of extraordinary
serenity. Hargis and Conn romped through a jaunty little evocation of
rosy throats and coral lips in 'Chiome d'oro'."
Chicago Sun Times - March 24, 2004
Soprano soloist, Bach St. John
Passion, American Bach Soloists:
"Ellen Hargis possesses a luminous soprano whose largesse would
seemingly find a comfortable home on the operatic stage, yet she
adapted well to this more intimate environment. Hargis effortlessly
spun out floating melodies above Weaver's vigorous bass in the
tumultuous aria 'Himmel reisse, Welt erbebe.' Her voice tended to
overpower the gentle transverse flutes in Simon Peter's aria of
devotion 'Ich folge dir gleichfalls,' although she handled the number
with considerable grace." SFCV.org - March 2, 2004
Soloist with The Kings Noyse,
Pittsburgh:
Headline: "Soprano excels" "This wasn't a recital by renowned
soprano Ellen Hargis, but it might as well have been. Despite all the
early-music luminaries in the King's Noyse, she starred. Her moving
performance of popular Parisian songs from the 16th century didn't
just enthrall, it converted. She made a compelling argument for the
depth and power of these minstrel songs in this concert. Hargis'
ability to convey the essence of a line of text reminded one of the
great mezzo-soprano Janet Baker. Hargis' bright but round voice
hinted at the sublimity of a countertenor while fully imparting the
expressivity of lieder singer. In the lively "Ton amour ma maistress"
it soared; in two gorgeous laments, it wept. Hargis' diction was
impeccable, but it was her sensibility to the relationship between
music and text that fused them together, and to the listener's
ear."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - February 24, 2004
"Hargis sang with natural, unforced
expression. Her singing was pure without being chaste, achieving its
emphasis with subtle melodic emphasis wedded to diction."
Pittsburgh Tribune - Review &endash; February 23, 2004
Soloist with The Kings Noyse, Birmingham,
Alabama:
"A delightful addition to this burgeoning trend is The King's
Noyse and dramatically dead-on soprano Ellen Hargis. The evening's
showstoppers came from the two-woman team of 16th-century composer
and singer Barbara Strozzi and Hargis; Strozzi's dynamic modern-day
champion. In bringing Strozzi's musical wit to life, Hargis concocted
an alchemic blend of scholarship, in her technically flawless
early-Baroque inflections, and showmanship, in her wonderful
characterizations and gorgeous, freewheeling vocal style."
Birmingham News &endash; February 8, 2004
Recital with Paul O'Dette, Saint Louis,
Missouri:
"The cold hand of winter seemed to lose some of its power when
the St. Louis Classical Guitar Society presented a warm program with
soprano Ellen Hargis and lutenist Paul O'Dette. Hargis has an
excellent technique. She supports well, projects her voice throughout
the hall, is musically solid, exhibits excellent diction and has an
attractive timbre to boot. The performers were delightful. The team
tackled the Italians with as much success as they had the English.
Hargis was able to show off her very fine coloratura technique in the
vocals."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - February 1, 2004
Recital with Laura Pudwell, Toronto
Consort:
"The opportunity to hear a program dominated by female duets
represented something special, the two singers having risen to the
challenge by virtue of their handsome vocal instruments and
period-sensitive musicianship. Both Hargis and Pudwell command
repertoires stretching forward in time from these early days to our
own period, so it was especially gratifying to find them refraining
from treating the older songs with a range of expression more
appropriate to later times. They possessed what the Shakers would
have called 'the gift to be simple.' Their voices also blended well
with each other. Plainly put, those voices sang beautifully."
Toronto Star - November 16, 2003
Vancouver Early Music Festival:
"Audience members were treated to a generous helping of Hargis'
russet-toned voice and convincing portrayal of Dido's fury and
despair. A gorgeously subdued cadence lingered at the end, like the
taste of a deliciously herbed sauce."
The Georgia Strait - August 21, 2003
Ottavia in Monteverdi's
L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Festival Vancouver:
"The over-all vocal standard is remarkably high and just as
remarkably consistent. Roles filled by Ellen Hargis as Nero's wronged
queen Ottavia... are no less stunning."
Vancouver Sun - August 7, 2003
"Ellen Hargis lends the empress Ottavia an
amusing, full-throated mix of dignity and vitriol."
Vancouver Sun - August 10, 2003
"Ellen Hargis projected just the right
combination of dignity and desperation as the cast-off Ottavia."
The Georgia Strait - August 14, 2003
Recital with Paul O'Dette, Chamber Music
in Historic Sites, Santa Barbara :
"The success of the endeavor was resounding because of the
artists' inspired handiwork. Musically, the program was impressive.
Hargis cuts through the ancient character of the music with an
assured tone and ever-lucid approach to the material."
Santa Barbara News Press - April 8, 2003
Performing with the Newberry Consort,
Chicago:
"Soprano Ellen Hargis, sailed sweetly through the florid parts of
Sarah and the Angel."
Chicago Tribune - March 15, 2003
"Newberry's vocal cast was nearly ideal,
from the tonal purity of soprano Ellen Hargis
as the angry Sarah."
Chicago Sun Times - March 18, 2003
New York recital with Paul O'Dette, Music
Before 1800:
"Ms. Hargis' voice is attractive and nicely supported. She did a
fine job of shaping and conveying the spirit of these pieces. Mr.
O'Dette was in good form as well, both in the energy and elegance of
his accompaniments and in his solo turns." New York Times - January
23, 2003
Soloist with Seattle Baroque:
Fortunately, Ellen Hargis was imported for the cantata. She
possesses a long, supple line and beauty of tone to make Handel's
Italianate work sing freely and has the technical ability to swim
easily through the passagework the composer poured into the
piece."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer - October 28, 2002
Hargis sang with a stunning palette of
color, deployed with wondrous control and a keen dramatic sense."
Seattle Weekly - October 30, 2002
Recital with Imbi Tarum, Tallinn,
Estonia:
"American soprano Ellen Hargis' performance was extremely
beautiful due to its clarity and restraint, her vocal technique and
balanced theatricality. Song lyrics which told of the pains of love,
received in this concert a very personal interpretation. With
delicate melodic lines and perfect intonation, everything was bright
and mellifluous"
SIRP - September 6, 2002
Soprano soloist, American Bach Soloists,
Berkeley Festival:
"Ellen Hargis, the soprano, was cool, elegant, near-immaculate
technically."
SF Classical Voice (sfcv.org), June 11, 2002
With Paul O'Dette and Kings Noyse,
Tropical Baroque Festival, Miami:
"O'Dette provided exceptional accompaniment for the meltingly
pure voice of soprano Ellen Hargis. In keeping with the style of the
music, Hargis is sparing in her use of vibrato and allows listeners
to luxuriate in her sound while keeping her dynamics carefully in
check."
South Florida Sun-Sentinel - March 6, 2002
Soloist with Music of the Baroque,
Chicago Jane Glover, conductor:
"Hargis was equally assertive, her pure soprano rising easily above
the orchestra, but also complementing the ensemble's bright sheen.
She was in top form, racing easily up and down Mozart's fiendishly
difficult ornaments as though they were a dazzling, crystalline
staircase."
Chicago Sun-Times - February 23, 2002
Galatea in Handel's Acis & Galatea,
Renaissance and Baroque Society of Pittsburgh:
"In what will probably turn out to be one of the more important
musical performances of the season, the Renaissance and Baroque
Society presented a stunning performance, an overwhelmingly
gratifying evening. The role of Galatea was exquisitely sung by Ellen
Hargis, and hers was by far the most beautiful voice on the stage. It
was full and strong, and her mini-cadenza near the end of the aria
was breathtaking."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - October 8, 2001
"This concert needed to be a hit. And it
was. Three of the most successful local organizations joined together
with soloists, including Ellen Hargis, to produce Handel's pastoral
oratorio, 'Acis and Galatea.' It was an overwhelmingly gratifying
evening. We can only hope for much more of this type of coming
together."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - December 2001
Soprano soloist, The Newberry Consort,
Chicago:
"Hargis brought her usual pure, rounded tone and elegantly expressive
musicianship to the program. Countertenor Drew Minter matched Hargis'
beautiful tone and emotional intensity."
Chicago Sun Times - Sept. 30
Recital, Vancouver Early Music
Festival:
"Hargis, always a delight, sang with a fresh enjoyment of the
music as though no centuries had intervened between creation and
recreation, her tone radiant, her projection unforced and her
embellishments agile and pure. Ottavia's bitter , wounded expressions
were sung with a plangency that cut to the heart of the music."
Vancouver Sun - July 31, 2001
"Acclaimed American soprano Ellen Hargis
sang with enough conviction to put psychotherapists out of business.
The unaffected purity of her voice was supported by La Cetra. Hargis'
ornamentations unfurled like a shiny new leaf, unerring in pitch. She
instinctively delivered trills, turns and tremolos with a seductive
casualness."
Georgia Straight - August 2-9, 2001
Aeglé in Lully's Thesée,
Boston Early Music Festival and Tanglewood Festival:
"Ellen Hargis sings and moves gracefully as the ingenue
Aeglé."
Boston Globe - June 14, 2001
Recital, San Diego State University:
"This is a vocal instrument of exceptional loveliness.
Furthermore Hargis' vocal agility is first rate; her powers of
expression are intense and varied; she understands the texts she
sings and brings out their poetic and dramatic meanings with great
effectiveness. There are in fact, few singers of early music better
at this kind of thing than Ellen Hargis."
San Diego Reader - June 7, 2001
Seattle Baroque Orchestra:
"No less superb a performance, by Hargis with the orchestra, was
that of Handel's 'Salve Regina.' Over and over, Hargis, a consummate
musician and wonderful singer, entered on a quite unexpected note,
leading the music in a different direction with thrilling harmonies
and exciting chromaticisms. The glorious whole was close to
perfect."
Seattle Post Intelligencer - May 14, 2001
Dafne / Proserpina in Peri's
Euridice, Long Beach Opera:
"The best singers included Ellen Hargis (who personified Tragedy
in the prologue as well as Dafne and the underworld goddess
Proserpina"
Los Angeles Times - October 9, 2000
"Only Ellen Hargis was truly superb, in an
incandescently soft and gentle way."
Laurence Vittes, concertonet.com - October 2000
Monteverdi's Orfeo and Vespers at
Festival Vancouver:
"How movingly and ethereally Hargis sang."
Vancouver Sun - Aug 8, 2000
Performing with Paul O'Dette at Case
Western Reserve University:
"Everything sounded like a little gem as performed by Hargis and
O'Dette, who worked together with a kind of nuanced, natural teamwork
that highlighted the best qualities of the music. The soprano savored
the delicious texts, wrapping her radiant voice around the words,
pointing out expressive details, soaring easily in florid passages
and ornamenting with tasteful generosity."
Cleveland Plain Dealer - July 1, 2000
Music of Kapsberger, Berkeley
Festival:
"Hargis is living proof that stylistic insight and major artistry
are not mutually exclusive. In "Mentre vaga Angioletta' (to cite but
one of several numbers), the soprano phrased with exquisite attention
to the emotional import of the verse, rounding cadences with velvety
elegance."
San Francisco Examiner - June 7, 2000
Music of Kapsberger, Faneuil Hall,
Boston:
"Ellen Hargis sang with wonderful vehemence and vivid
declamation."
Boston Globe - May 22, 2000
Soloist with The New York Collegium,
Gustav Leonhardt, conductor:
"Ellen Hargis was an excellent soprano soloist who should have been
kept busier. On the words 'Sie Weinet des Nachts' she alternated full
voice and echoing half-voice with remarkable fluidity and control,
and sang everywhere with robust yet lovely tone."
New York Times - April 17, 2000
Recording Reviews
Conradi's Ariadne, Boston Early Music
Festival, CPO (2006 Grammy nominee):
"This delightful singer does rise splendidly to the dramatic
possibilities offered to Queen Pasiphae, mother of Ariande and
Phaedra, in her outraged Act III scena."
Fanfare Magazine - January/February 2006
Power of Love with Paul O'Dette, Noyse
Productions:
"The names of Ellen Hargis and Paul O'Dette carry with them a
virtual guarantee of music-making of the very highest order, a
promise irresistibly fulfilled by the release. Their chosen
repertoire was richly rewarding. Hargis' ideally paced reading
captures to perfection the fluctuating emootions of the cantata. Here
Hargis and O'Dette use their consummate artistry to provide an
infinite number of subtly varied expressive and ornamental effects to
point up the variations in text and mood. What makes these
performance to captivating is the complete lack of any kind of
artifice, the total absence of the superfluous or superficial. This
is another highlight of a year that has already produced more than
its fair of them. Buy it and be prepared to be bewitched."
Fanfare - November / December 2005
"Three modern divas of the early-music
world, Emma Kirkby, Emily Van Evera and Ellen Hargis, head these
recitals and their admirers will need no review to prompt them into
making their purchases. They will not be disappointed. Ellen Hargis
is a confident and convivial hostess. Even so, it is Paul O'Dette's
beautifully shaded and sensitive playing that ultimately lodges in
the mind, and his realization of the basses are exemplary."
Early Music - November 2005
"Above and beyond these elements are Ellen
Hargis' and Paul O'Dette's magical performances - or rather
incarnation - of melancholy, regret, and love's urgency, which
confirms that the twenty-five-year partnership between the soprano
(who is by turns charming, afflicted and hedonistic) and the
lutenist/theorbist has resulted in such a close rapport that each has
become the 'double' of the other. The entire recording deserves the
highest praise, including the unexpected and humorous 'dessert,'
Richard Rodgers' 'My Funny Valentine'." Five stars.
Goldberg Magazine - November 2005
"Soprano Ellen Hargis and lutenist Paul
O'Dette are well-known for their work in the early music field, and
are confident exponents. Hargis's voice evokes the style of the
period well.
Music Web International - September 21, 2005
Puzzles and Perfect Beauty, with the
Newberry Consort, Noyse Productions:
"In the next track we have a superb a cappella performance with
Ellen Hargis. This made me yearn for more tracks which were
instrument-less. One more item featuring the gorgeous soprano voice
of Ellen Hargis would have been welcome. I have enjoyed this CD and
can recommend it."
Musicweb-international.com - March 5, 2005
Seaven Teares, Recording of John
Dowland with Paul O'Dette and Kings Noyse:
"Ravishingly sung by Ellen Hargis, a full-throated singer with an
attractive vibrato, whose plaintive articulateness is beautifully fit
for this music. She is accompanied by the lutenist Paul O'Dette, who
is perfection itself."
Fanfare, November/December 2002
"That joy is heard in the delicate ways in
which harmonies and melodies are folded into each other, creating
subtle dissonances that prick the ears and psyche. It can be heard in
the aching - but alluring - vocal lines of soprano Ellen Hargis."
RedLudwig.com - April 23, 2002
"Hargis sings with elegance and expression;
particularly attractive is "Flow my teares,"
BN.Com - May 2002
"Very well sung--by Ellen Hargis; her cool,
clear voice, almost without vibrato, is well suited to this material,
and she is as expressive as the music allows."
Audiophile Audition - June 2002
Il Zazzerino, Music of Jacopo
Peri, Harmonia Mundi Records: "Soprano Ellen Hargis has absorbed
completely the spirit of these varied pieces, the only
constant being the passion and stunning clarity with which
each is rendered. Her voice is ideal for this music - pure,
resonant and deeply moving. The throbbing lament of
'Uccidimi, dolore,' for example, is as full of pathos as
'Bellissima regina' is of urgency and desire. More academic
in nature are Hargis' poised, well-crafted renderings of two
ardent Petrarch sonnets. Her tone is clean and warm, her
dynamic range seamless, her diction and command of Italian
impeccable."
Opera News - February 2000
"A masterly interpretation by the soprano Ellen Hargis. Ms Hargis has
complete mastery of the vocal instrument, which she can control at
will, thanks to outstanding technique and perfect intonation which
allow her to move freely between the most varied moods required by
the music. Sophisticated vocal techniques of the 17th century are
used by Ms Hargis with mastery and wonderful results, highlighting
the innovative content and the moving beauty of these long-neglected
pages. A beautiful disc, absolutely worth buying."
CD Classica - March 2000
"The secret to the performance of all this
music lies in the ability to consistently articulate and color the
text. This Ellen Hargis achieves to triumphant and spellbinding
effect teasing out the words of the lighter songs while investing the
lament with a passion and power that hit the listener in the pit of
the stomach. Her final 'io moro' is invested with a hollow emptiness
that haunts the mind long after the last note has faded away. There
is much else to praise. One might cite Hargis' ability to
characterize vividly the mood if each of the six verses of a log
strophic song, or even establish the mood of a whole song from its
opening word. This is a stunning achievement that surpasses anything
I've heard from her before. A magnificent achievement that at a
single stroke elevates Peri to the status of a major composer. As
such it demands a place in both specialist and general
collections."
Fanfare - January / February 2000
"The expansive voice of Ellen Hargis and her
luscious tone quality confer on these monodies of Jacapo Peri an
immediate seduction."
Le Monde de la Musique - January 2000
"Hargis sound is bewitchingly sweet and
clear, and she is a virtuoso at several kinds of ornamentation."
Boston Globe - January 20, 2000
"This is a fine recording... Soprano Ellen
Hargis' clear, flexible voice is perfectly suited to this style; her
ornamentation confirms her sure knowledge of period performance. Her
sensitive delivery of the all-important text is ably demonstrated...
All told, an impressive recording."
Early Music America - Winter 1999-2000
Adonis in Torrejon y Velasco's La
Purpura de la Rosa:
"All the singers are good, particular praise being due to Ellen
Hargis in the demanding part of Adonis.
Gramophone - July 1999
Handel, Tra le fiamme, Seattle
Baroque Orchestra, Wild Boar Records:
"Hargis sings radiantly in the cantatas, from the joyous brilliance
of the title work, 'Tra le fiamme,' to the deeply poignant 'Ah! che
pur troppo e vero.' Hargis' soprano is simply ravishing in its
flutelike liquidity and tonal purity, while her musicianship is
impeccable."
Chicago Tribune (von Rhein) - April 16, 2000
Bonporti: Motets: Ensemble Ouabache - Dorian Records -
DIS-80163
A Candle in the Dark: Elizabethan music, Newberry Consort,
2004 Choc du Monde - HMU 907140
Canzonetta, The King's Noyse - Harmonia Mundi - HMU 907127
Conradi Ariadne, Boston Early Music Festival 2006
Grammy Nomination - CPO
The Christmas Album, with Paul O'Dette - Noyse
Productions
Exquisite Consorts, music of Lawes and Purcell, The Harp
Consort - Berlin Classics 0011552BC
Handel: Tra le Fiamme, Seattle Baroque - Wild Boar
Records - WLBR 9604
Le
Jardin de Melodies,16th-c. chansons, The King's Noyse - Harmonia
Mundi - HMU 907194
Kapsberger, Zipoli: The Jesuit Operas, Abendmusik - Dorian
Records - DOR93243
The King's Delight, 17th-c. ballads, The King's Noyse -
Harmonia Mundi - HMU 907101
Lully: Thésée Boston Early Music Festival
2008 Grammy Nomination - CPO
Missa Mexicana: Mexican Baroque, The Harp Consort, Andrew
Lawrence-King
Musick's Hand-Maid, music of Purcell, The Harp Consort -
Auvidis/Astrée E 8564
Pavaniglia: The King's Noyse, Paul O'Dette, and Andrew
Lawrence-King - Harminoa Mundi - HMU 907 246
Peri: Il Zazzerino Andrew Lawrence-King, Paul O'Dette
& Hille Perl - Harmonia Mundi - HMU 907234
Portrait of Paul O'Dette - Harmiona Mundi - HMU 290 7255
The
Power of Love with Paul O'Dette, lute - Noyse
Productions
Puzzles
and Perfect Beauty The Newberry Consort - Noyse
Productions
The Queen's Delight, English ballads, The King's Noyse -
Harmonia Mundi - HMU 907180
Rosenmüller,
The King's Noyse - Harmonia Mundi - HMU
907179
Seaven
Teares, Lute songs, dances of John Dowland, The King's Noyse,
Paul O'Dette, Harmonia Mundi - HMU 907
275
Sartorio: L'Orfeo (title role), Teatro Lirico -
Vanguard Classics 99194
Stravaganze, The King's Noyse - Harmonia Mundi - HMU
907159
The Tempest (settings of Shakespeare) The Folger Consort -
Folger Records BCCD 2000
Torrejon: La Purpura de la Rosa, The Harp Consort -
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi - DHM 054727735523
Tristan et Iseult, The Boston Camerata, Grand Prix du
Disque 1989 - Erato Records 75528,
Ensemble Recordings:
Aquitania, 12th c.
Christmas music from Aquitanian Monasteries, Sequentia - BMG
Classics
Hoquetus, Theatre of Voices, Paul Hillier -
Harmonia Mundi - HMU 907185
I am the True Vine, music of Arvo Pärt, Theatre of
Voices, Paul Hillier - Harmonia Mundi - HMU 907242
Joyne Hands, music of Thomas Morley, Musicians of Swanne Alley
/ Red Byrd - Virgin Classics 7-91214-2
Ingram Marshall, Kingdom Come, Theatre of Voices -
Nonesuch 79613
The Muses of Zion, Cambridge Bach Ensemble, Scott Metcalfe,
director - Dorian Records
Noël, Noël, The Boston Camerata - Erato
Records 75569
Ordo Virtutem (Hildegard von Bingen): Sequentia - BMG
Classics
Arvo Pärt Missa Syllabica, Kronos Quartet /
Theatre of Voices - Nonesuch Records 79504
The Sacred Bridge, The Boston Camerata - Erato Records
2292-45513
Saints, music of Hildegard von Bingen, Sequentia - BMG
Classics
Shining Light (Aquitanian Polyphony): Sequentia - BMG
Classics
|
|
Donald E.
Osborne |
Susan Endrizzi |
Chamber Music Early Music Vocal Music World Music Instrumentalists Theater Singers Attractions Conductors
