Marie: La Fille du Regiment / Opera Holland Park
“As Marie, Korean soprano Hye-Youn Lee played the Annie Oakley hoyden with spirit and sang her regimental rataplans with gusto: transformed into a drawing-room toffette, she shaped ‘Par le rang’ quite beautifully.”
Daily Telegraph
“In Hye-Youn Lee, the production is blessed with a singer whose voice is bright, clean and agile.”
Evening Standard
“The young Korean soprano Hye-Youn Lee sings with such beauty, and acts with such engaging aplomb, as even to evoke memories of Natalie Dessay’s landmark performance as Marie at Covent Garden last year.”
The Guardian
“Hye-Youn Lee, making her OHP debut, was little short of a revelation. It was immediately clear that her voice is an instrument of quality” smooth and creamy up and down the range, clearly and crisply produced. Her coloratura was delivered with aplomb but she was also touching in her exquisitely sing Second Act aria.”
Musical Criticism
“The next big news was when Hye-Youn Lee came on stage as Marie. What a joy to hear a singer in full command of her voice! She was totally secure, with her quick vibrato ringing as true as a bell. She could also act, being a convincing tomboy with the garçons one minute, and genuinely fragile the next,”
Music OMH
“Hye-Youn Lee was a marvellous Marie. This Korean singer’s voice has a really attractive shine with steely, flexible focus, which she showed off in crisply articulated runs and coloratura. She was a touching, funny and pretty actress as well, commanding the stage with delightful tomboyish charm and delivering her rataplans with satisfying precision.”
Opera
Lucia di Lammermoor / Opéra national du Rhin
Hye-Youn Lee is Lucia, a very beautiful voice, an astonishing facility, with impressive high notes. She plays the role of a young fragile, loving girl very well and was extremely moving in the Mad Scene.”
Les Affiches Montenir
“Hye-Youn Lee, whose voice is one of the most brilliant to be heard today, brought great and expression to ‘Regnava nel silenzio’ with due regard to the sentiments expressed. Her cabaletta with its shining high notes and hair-raising coloratura was marvellously executed and received great applause.”
BadenOnline
Musetta: La bohème / Opera Holland Park
“…Hye-Youn Lee’s showstopper of a Musetta…”
Musical Criticism
“An absolute star turn and fire cracker performance came from the delectable Musetta of Hye-Youn Lee. Her outrageous performance in Café Momus as Marcello feigns ignorance at her presence was one of the highlights of the evening. Spiteful, capricious and thoroughly minxish, it was a masterclass in comic timing. Vocally she projected a bright vibrant sounding “Quando m' en vo”, that was rapturously received by the audience. The voice does have a quick vibrato which needs getting accustomed to, but it was a sensational performance far eclipsing some of the more famous interpreters of this role today.”
Opera Britannia
“The other top-class performance comes from Hye-Youn Lee. She sings superbly as the coquettish Musetta and brings life and depth to a role that is too often played in two dimensions.”
What’s On Stage
Cio-Cio-San: Madama Butterfly / Grange Park Opera ‘Rising Stars’
“Here in Hye-Youn Lee we have a Cio-Cio-San able to deliver the startlingly difficult vocal line while simultaneously producing a convincing dramatic performance as the cruelly abandoned child bride that cannot fail to move the audience to tears.”
OxfordTimes
Lisette: La rondine / Finnish National Opera
“…the mercurial Korean soprano Hye-Youn Lee as Lisette. A brilliant actress equipped with an equally brilliant voice…”
Seen and Heard International
Lisette: La rondine / Opera Holland Park
“Hye-Youn Lee was on terrific soubrette, comic-operetta form as the irrepressible Lisette.”
Classical Source
“…the incisive, highly promising Hye-Youn Lee as Magda’s maid Lisette.”
The Guardian
“…Hye-Youn Lee commands the stage bewitchingly whenever she is in view: this South Korean soprano is definitely a singer to watch.”
The Independent
“…Hye-Yon Lee an exceptional Lisette.”
Mail on Sunday
“Hye-Youn Lee is a delightful and intelligent Lisette…”
Music OMH
“Hye-Youn Lee’s Lisette scurried pertly, her sweet, clear soprano full of character…”
The Observer
“Hal Cazalet and Hye-Youn Lee were wonderful as the poet Prunier and his unlikely lover, Magda’s unsophisticated maid Lisette. Ms Lee is especially worthy of mention, her vibrant defence of Paris in the first act as stirring as her lamentations over her failed stint as an actress in the third were entertaining. Her scenes with Mr. Cazalet were genuinely funny; their improbable pairing granted wonderfully comic expression.”
Opera Britannia
“As Lisette, true star quality was shown by Hye-Youn Lee, who was hugely impressive last summer as Nevill Holt’s Butterfly. Look out for that name.”
Oxford Times
“As mouthy maid Lisette, Hye-Youn Lee is as dauntingly pert and precise as she was in OHP’s La bohème in 2009.”
The Stage
“Her crystalline voice and zing mark her out as a singer to watch.”
Sunday Express
“…Lee’s sparkling Lisette is a star in the making.”
The Times
“…the turn of the night comes from Hye-Youn Lee as the hyper-active maid, Lisette.”
What’s On Stage
Oscar: Un ballo in maschera / Opéra national du Rhin
“Finally, Hye-Youn Lee brought a pretty appearance to Oscar, which she sang without difficulty and with brilliant lightness.”
ConcertoNet
“The Korean Hye-Youn Lee performed Oscar with a flexible, refined voice and lively manner.”
Kehler Zeitung