Adalgisa: Norma / English Touring Opera
“…Alwyn Mellor displayed an impressively rich-bodied voice as the young priestess Adalgisa…”
Classical Source
“Alwyn Mellor, a magnificent Adalgisa, has a voice with the precision, strength and delicacy of a well-cut diamond. Her duets with Howard sparkled accordingly.”
Crackerjack Gloucestershire
“…Alwyn Mellor’s excellent Adalgisa made the two duets a heavenly pleasure, and Mellor’s lovely singing of Adalgisa’s accompanied recitative made one regret yet again that Bellini didn’t provide this character with a full aria.”
The Daily Telegraph
“Both sopranos were dextrous with their passagework, with Mellor singing with gleaming tones and Howard contributing softer grained warm phrases…(Yvonne) Howard’s and Mellor’s delivery was both passionate and balanced vocally.”
MV Daily
“Alwyn Mellor sings a warm and well-rounded Adalgisa…”
Music OMH
“Norma's rival in love, Adalgisa, another sinning priestess with almost as prominent a part, was superbly sung by Alwyn Mellor, her ardent voice resplendent with glowing tones. Both Mellor and Howard are stage creatures, every gesture and facial expression sufficient to convey the agonising complexities of their plight, even without a full staging.”
The Observer
“…the warm and vibrant Adalgisa of Alwyn Mellor…”
Opera
“Yvonne Howard’s Norma and Alwyn Mellor’s Adalgisa were outstanding, they stole the show and would grace any staging anywhere in the world… Alwyn Mellor’s Adalgisa revealed a rich toned soprano voice with no gear changes in a wide range from a contralto basement to steely top notes. Their voices in their great confrontations, such as ‘Mira, o Norma’, blended well and they presented two very strong female characters.”
Seen and Heard International
Wally: La Wally / Chelsea Opera Group
“Alwyn Mellor put passion and drama into her fiery performance of Wally...”
The Guardian
“As the free-spirited Wally Alwyn Mellor was moving in her big aria...”
The Times
The Kingdom / MDR Symphony Orchestra
“She fulfilled easily the enormous demands of the piece, which are almost of a Wagnerian nature.”
Leipzig Almanach
Tosca / Opéra Théâtre de Limoges
“It is true that the composer demands great vocal athleticism from his singers. Lovers of song would not have been disappointed with Alwyn Mellor and Francesco Anile…the soprano displayed a pure vocal line in Acts 2 and 3. Her Vissi d’arte, the celebrated aria in Act 2 after Scarpia has made his horrible proposition, was simply overwhelming.”
Le Populaire
Tosca / Welsh National Opera
“Many famous divas have tackled the role of Tosca taking advantage of the vocal and dramatic opportunities this role offers. With beautifully even rounded tones Alwyn Mellor was always fully in command of the role climaxing with a beautiful rendition of the famous aria Vissi D'Arte. Her duets with Geraint Dodd's passionate painter Cavaradossi were equally enjoyable.”
Crackerjack Gloucestershire
“It's all dramatic stuff and the story unfolds with terrific gathering momentum. However, it's the music and performances that really matter and this is lifted by Alwyn Mellor in the title role. People emerged from the packed auditorium murmuring: "What a Tosca!" She captures the essence of the prima donna while also singing with emotional range and depth.”
This is Exeter
“Great direction needs great players, and in the lead-role, there could scarcely have been a better Floria Tosca than Alwyn Mellor, whose superb voice, immense power and dramatic presence proved the undoubted highlight.”
The Herald, Plymouth
Ariadne: Ariadne auf Naxos / Opera Ireland
“In the title role, soprano Alwyn Mellor has undoubted strength and presence…”
Irish Independent
“...Alwyn Mellor sang with power and passion, capturing well the abandoned Ariadne’s desperate plight.”
Sunday Business Post
“...soprano Alwyn Mellor (Ariadne) and mezzo Kinga Dobay (Composer) both sang and acted their roles splendidly.”
Opera
“...most impressive of all was the gloriously sung Ariadne of the soprano Alwyn Mellor...”
The Sunday Times
Chrysothemis: Elektra / Canadian Opera Company
“…Alwyn Mellor, who plays Elektra’s sister Chrysothemis, nearly stole the show with her performance.”
BLOGTO
“Alwyn Mellor makes for a very strong Chrysothemis, her voice rising evenly and powerfully to the precipitous heights of the role.”
Concerto.Net
“…the soprano Alwyn Mellor gives us a touching and convincing Chrysothemis with her luminous voice and presence.”
Forum Opéra
“Her laser-beam top notes and a touch of vocal wildness recalled none other than Leonie Rysanek.”
Opera
"British soprano Alwyn Mellor gave Elektra’s hapless sister Chrysothemis more heft than usual, to good effect.”
TorontoStar
"To round things out, soprano Alwyn Mellor claims her own piece of the stage as Elektra's sister Chrysothemis and holds her own in the face of these two powerful performances (Susan Bullock and Ewa Podles) to complete a performance triangle that is virtually unassailable.”
TorontoSun
Chrysothemis: Elektra / Opera North
“Alwyn Mellor (Chrysothemis) sang with mellow beauty throughout and came into her own in the final duet.”
City Life, Manchester
“Alwyn Mellor, oozing repression and torrential top notes is the superlative Chrysothemis….”
The Guardian
“Susan Bullock had no trouble riding the orchestra. Alwyn Mellor as her sister, Chrysothemis, almost had power to match. This was unusual in my experience where Chrysothemis is normally pitched against a considerably more powerful soprano in the main role.”
Music Web International
“Bullock was perfectly coupled with Alwyn Mellor, playing the sister Chrysothemis. Her depiction of Chrysothemis, who wants life, was superlative.”
The Northern Echo
“Alwyn Mellor sang superbly and was especially moving in her with for a normal life with children, sung with tender sincerity and no trace of self-pitying hysteria.”
Opera
“Alwyn Mellor’s thrilling, sensuous Chrysothemis…”
The Sunday Times
Verdi: Requiem / Huddersfield Choral Society
“Alwyn Mellor sang and performed with real dramatic intensity, concluding the work with a sequence in which she soared above the entire orchestra and chorus at full volume and then sank to a note of quiet resignation and a chilling, half-spoken plea of “Libera me, Domine”.”
Huddersfield Examiner
Senta: Der fliegende Holländer / Welsh National Opera
“Fortunately Alwyn Mellor's Senta was possessed of a strength and radiance of voice and presence sufficient to project a character capable of demonstrating that her convictions were more than mere infantile fantasy, hitting the notes fearlessly in her Act 2 ballad."
Wagner News
Brünnhilde: Siegfried / Den Nye Opera
“Alwyn Mellor: a young, impressive Wagner soprano with formidable expressive power, crystal clear top notes and the power to soar to the rafters and deliver the final high C in radiant triumph.”
Bergens Tidende
“I was moved to tears by Alwyn Mellor’s magnificent Brünnhilde, as steady and sure as Flagstad.”
Hort
“Alwyn Mellor had the beauty of voice we expect of a Brünnhilde…”
Kultur Musik
Isolde: Tristan und Isolde / Grange Park Opera
“Alwyn Mellor makes a highly promising debut as Isolde: her red-blooded soprano combines a firm middle with a confident top, manipulated with stamina, strong attack and clean intonation.”
The Daily Telegraph
“The quality of singing is also high, with Richard Berkeley-Steele and Alwyn Mellor strongly cast as the lovers…”
Evening Standard
“It would be wrong to categorise Grange Park's Tristan as a chamber musical just because the auditorium is intimate. Alwyn Mellor and Richard Berkeley-Steele, in the title roles, possess dramatic voices that they were not afraid to unleash where appropriate. But the proximity of stage to audience did encourage a more nuanced style than we are accustomed to in Wagner, and both singers sang with exemplary diction, betokening an uncommon understanding of the text and a desire to communicate it intelligently and musically.”
Financial Times
“Taking on the two vast and almost inhumanly demanding title roles here are Alwyn Mellor and Richard Berkeley-Steele. The pair possess the sheer stamina to see them through the long evening, with Mellor's fleshy-toned Isolde sounding amazingly fresh as she soars through the climactic Liebestod.“
The Guardian
“…the lovers’ characterizations are skilfully developed and the Liebestod is touchingly staged. Both Berkeley-Steele and his Isolde, Alwyn Mellor, have the emotional and vocal stamina for their roles…”
Independent on Sunday
“Alwyn Mellor is becoming a revelation as a Wagner Singer.”
Mail on Sunday
“As for Alwyn Mellor as Isolde, the tone was full and generous, her sound focused, her sense of attack and forward momentum almost faultless…But as she sang, so she performed – this was a wild, spirited Irish princess onstage, a character brimming with energy from her first notes to her last. I found her total convincing, bull-blooded, exciting and a born Wagnerian singer.”
Musical Criticism
“Lancashire-born Alwyn Mellor has sprung to the fore as a considerable Wagnerian soprano, full of heroic stamina and passion.“
The Observer
“The performances were tremendous: as Tristan and Isolde, Richard Berkeley-Steele and Alwyn Mellor gave their all…a performance of such heroism and poignancy that the audience was doubly drawn into their dilemma…the most successful Tristan und Isolde I’ve seen.”
Opera
“Alwyn Mellor (Isolde) displays a gorgeous Soprano, rich in expression, meeting all demands whether high and dramatic or sublime in piano. Her Isolde is vocally the complete package, and at no point needs to hold back to survive the long opera. She is intense and believable in all she does, never falling into false pathos. To experience her in this role is a revelation, and one hears many things anew.”
Segeberger Zeitung
“Besides her impressive voice, she has plenty of temperament, and encompasses the whole of Isolde’s emotional range, from the fury and frustration of Act 1, to the excited and expectant woman in love of Act 11, to the at first distraught and finally transfigured heroine of Act 111.”
The Spectator
“Tristan und Isolde is an impressive achievement all round, but most of all for Alwyn Mellor, making her debut as Isolde. Possessing the amplitude and genuine vocal resources of a Wagnerian soprano, she soars strongly all evening and is moving as the ultimately transfigured lover.”
The Sunday Telegraph
“But the roles of Tristan and Isolde are still massive vocal challenges, to which Richard Berkeley-Steele and Alwyn Mellor rose with admirable stamina, fervour and musicality. She was magnificently feisty in Act 1, but even better in the bedroom where she turned down the volume and let the lyricism flow. And she had enough left in the tank to deliver a Liebestod that must have shaken all of Hampshire.”
The Times
“Her Isolde is not only a revelation due to her fine acting – which manages to make this the most human of Isoldes – but so is her vocal performance. Rarely does one truly feel one is in the presence of an Isolde of exceptional beauty and quality but tonight was one of those nights.”
The Wagnerian
“Alwyn Mellor's Isolde is the vocal triumph of the night. It's a performance that can only grow and Mellor's first Isolde promises great and greater things.”
What’s On Stage
“ …Richard Berkeley-Steele’s Tristan, captain of a modern ferry boat,and Alwyn Mellor’s Isolde were splendidly sung.”
Whitaker’s Almanac 2012
“The entire cast is electric and Alwyn Mellor is simply captivating as Isolde. In a whirlwind performance of near boundless energy her voice and her actions explode across the stage in a purely raw performance.”
Word Press
Brünnhilde: Götterdämmerung / Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
“The vocal soloists are strong, with Alwyn Mellor as Brünnhilde and Christian Franz as Siegfried very much the centre of focus…“Brünnhilde’s great, summing up closing was magnificently interpreted by Alwyn Mellor.”
Göteborgs-Posten
Brünnhilde: Siegfried / Longborough Festival Opera
“…sings Brünnhilde with radiant tone and vivid dramatic intensity.”
The Arts Desk
“…and Alwyn Mellor is wonderful as Brünnhilde, waking to a radiance of voice which already makes us fear for the trauma she is to undergo in Götterdämmerung.”
BirminghamPost
“As the awoken Brünnhilde, Alwyn Mellor, singing with breadth of phrase and warmth of tone, once again proved that she is an exceptionally promising dramatic soprano in the Anne Evans tradition.”
The Daily Telegraph
“…Alwyn Mellor’s voluptuous-sounding Brünnhilde…”
The Guardian
“…Alwyn Mellor (no relation) as Brünnhilde gleams with promise.”
Mail on Sunday
“The Lancastrian soprano Alwyn Mellor, currently making a rapid ascent up the Wagner ladder, was an equally assured, impassioned Brünnhilde.”
The Observer
“Her voice has a full, old-fashioned sound with laser-bright top notes. It is usual these days for much lighter voiced sopranos to be cast as Isolde and Brünnhilde and it is good to hear a heavier voice again and Ms Mellor is in the great British tradition of Rita Hunter, Jane Eaglen and, more recently, Susan Bullock…”
Seen and Heard International
“As in last year’s Walküre, Alwyn Mellor ignited the final scene with her blazing voice and her committed acting.”
The Spectator
“British soprano Alwyn Mellor adds further to her Wagnerian reputation with her confident Brünnhilde.”
The Stage
“Both Daniel Brenna’s bouncy, youthful-looking Siegfried and Alwyn Mellor’s Brünnhilde have pingy Italianate timbres and sing musically and generously…”
The Sunday Times
“We have to wait till the end of the opera to glimpse Alwyn Mellor in the role of Brünnhilde, but she is well worth waiting for. Passionate and feisty, the iron maiden demonstrates she is no push-over as she thrills the audience with her top Cs.”
This is Gloucestershire
“Wotan’s great Valkyrie daughter is sung magnificently by Alwyn Mellor, the voice aglow and fiery.”
The Times
“But what can I say? Magnificent? Sublime? I have already said enough I think in my thoughts on her Isolde. And yet, perhaps vocally she was on even finer form – and now against the forces of a greater and more powerful orchestra, under the control of one of Britain’s leading unsung Wagnerian conductors and a wonderful Siegfried. Top, middle and bottom of her register were magnificent. Even with the excellent cast that the Grahams had somehow managed to assemble, on awakening it is as if a Brünnhilde of legend has entered the stage. It is no wonder that Seattle have selected her as their Brünnhilde for 2013.”
The Wagnerian
“Alwyn Mellor, so impressive as Isolde at Grange Park earlier in the season, is a fresh voiced and attractive Brünnhilde.”
What’s On Stage
“In the final scene with Siegfried, Alwyn Mellor showed immense power and presence as Brünnhilde…”
Word Press
Bronwen Jones: Carbon 12 / Welsh National Opera
“…vividly characterised and sung by Alwyn Mellor…”
Music Web International
“Jason Howard sang the role of John Jones with noble passion…while Alwyn Mellor’s portrayal of Bronwen was equally fiery.”
Opera
German Romantic Evening / Longborough Festival Opera
“His Sieglinde, soon to be revealed as his long-lost twin sister as they hurtle into an incestuous relationship, was poignantly sung by Alwyn Mellor, her immersion in this wonderful music conveying the part beautifully…her Leonore in Fidelio had been simply stunning.”
BirminghamPost
Christmas Gala / Ten Tors Orchestra
“But the absolute jewel in the crown came from guest soprano, Alwyn Mellor, in favourite arias from Dvorak, Puccini, Catalani, Bizet and Lehar. Rarely have we heard a voice of such supreme quality, delivered in such an unassuming yet totally engaging fashion.”
Thisis Plymouth
OPERA NOW Feature Interview
“Alwyn Mellor is set to become one of the great Wagnerian sopranos of her generation.”
OPERA NOW