Handel Singing Competition, London
'”In recent years, the standard of singing has risen consistently with some outstanding young artists emerging to confirm burgeoning careers: Andrew Kennedy, Iestyn Davies and Lucy Crowe to name just three. The winner of both the Adair (First) Prize and the Audience Prize (for once there was no difference of opinion) was clearly not a difficult choice for the jury: young Ruby Hughes, soprano, showed a professionalism and vocal finish in her programme which stood out head and shoulders above her rivals. Her larger instrument, with a warm, bright tone that was even through the range, enabled an expressive delivery that drew every bit of drama from her choices from Theodora, Giulio Cesare, Jephtha and Samson”
Opera Today
B Minor Mass / Kammerchor Stuttgart
“The tender, warm-toned soprano Ruby Hughes…the radiantly sensitive young soprano was outstanding…”
Eßlinger Zeitung
St Matthew Passion / National Theatre
“Soprano Ruby Hughes is poised…”
Evening Standard
“”Ruby Hughes (soprano), Sally Bruce-Payne (mezzo), James Laing (countertenor – his ‘Erbarme dich’, eloquently supported by Matthew Truscott’s solo violin, was the best singing I have yet heard from him), Benjamin Hulett (tenor) and Mark Stone (baritone) all made strong dramatic impressions in their arias.”
Opera
Lucinda: Don Chischiotte in Sierra Morena / Musikwerkstatt Wien
“…Ruby Hughes (as Lucinda) stood out with her beautifully inflected, well produced voice…”
Kultur
Acis and Galatea / English Chamber Orchestra
“…a delectable Galatea. Hers is a pure and pearly soprano…”
The Times
Atalanta / London Handel Festival
“Ruby Hughes brings Atalanta to palpitating life. She invests her coloratura arias with ravishing beauty.”
The Independent
“The singing is generally of a high standard, with a vocally brilliant (and suitably athletic-looking) Atalanta, sung by Ruby Hughes…”
The Stage
“...Ruby Hughes’ flutey, radiant Atalanta...”
The Times
Judas Maccabaeus / Huddersfield Choral Society
"For example, one of the most beautiful and moving moments in this Judas Maccabaeus was in the air and chorus “Ah! Wretched, wretched Israel!” Scored by Handel with a string accompaniment that lent an almost Purcellian melancholy, this section produced a deeply felt performance from all of the singers and the instrumentalists of the Manchester Camerata, coaxed beautifully by conductor Takuo Yuasa. Solo singer in this air was the soprano Ruby Hughes, who was, I think, the pick of the guest soloists. She skipped lightly over the Handelian rhythms and gave a delightful performance in the delicate air “O liberty, thy choicest treasure”, accompanied by just harpsichord and cello – a nice contrast to the rather contrabass-heavy scorings used almost everywhere else.”
HuddersfieldExaminer
Cleofide: Poro / London Handel Festival
“…soprano Ruby Hughes (as Poro’s lover Cleofide) brings a melting warmth of tone to her arias.:
Evening Standard
“Of the young cast, it’s the expressive soprano Ruby Hughes, as Cleofide, who makes the biggest, brightest impression.”
The Guardian
“Hughes’ powerful, well-rounded soprano shows huge promise.”
The Independent
“But on the singing front only counter-tenor Christopher Ainslie (Poro) and soprano Ruby Hughes (Cleofide) possess which might be described as the essential quality of rapture. Individually they shine, together they entwine with touching awareness of the orchestra’s luscious harmonic suspensions.”
The Times
Michal: Saul / Buxton Festival
“…Ruby Hughes was a good choice for Saul’s younger daughter Michal.”
Opera
“…Ruby Hughes’ bright-toned Michal…”
The Sunday Times
“…the sweet and true Michal of Ruby Hughes...”
The Times
A Handel Celebration / Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
“If Handel's life story was a bit laboured, the playing of 16 baroque trumpets and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Benedict Hoffnung was not, combining with the voices of the Oriel and St Cecilia Singers to make a cathedral of the Town Hall. More memorable still was the singing of Ruby Hughes, Neal Davies and Iestyn Davies.”
The Guardian
Exploring Handel / Ten Tors Orchestra
“But the real jewel in the crown was young soprano, Ruby Hughes, whose agile and well-pointed voice was the ideal vehicle for the many coloratura passages, while possessing the necessary tone and sufficient weight for moments where dramatic expression was required.”
What’s On South West
Handel Anniversary Concert / RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
“She displayed a warm, lithe, bell-like vocal presence in virtuosic arias from Alcina and Giulio Cesare and in “Rejoice Greatly” from Messiah.”
Irish Times
Handel 1710: Venice – Hanover – London / Wigmore Hall
“None of the concert’s five other Steffani arias could match it for quality: Handel never stole dross. But each vocal item here was socked out with equal commitment by the gifted young soprano Ruby Hughes, winner of last year’s London Handel Festival Singing Competition. No shrinking violet, this. She squeezed expression from every word. Torment transfigured her face, particularly as Handel’s heroine Agrippina…she’s made for the opera stage because she sings with such ringing belief.”
The Times
Narcissa: Philemon und Baucis / Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci
“…the delectable soprano Ruby Hughes…”
Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten
Haydn: Nelson Mass / Chantry Singers
“…Ruby Hughes, a resplendent, totally fearless coloratura soprano, filling the abbey with effortless power.”
BathChronicle
Mahler: Rückert Lieder / BBC Philharmonic
“She sang beautifully, with great expression and a warm tone in the five songs…”
The Arts Desk
“…touchingly sung by the young soprano Ruby Hughes.”
The Sunday Times
Minerva: The Return of Ulysses / English National Opera
“…the mesmerising Ruby Hughes.”
The Arts Desk
“Ruby Hughes is one of several singers who excel in this production.”
Classical Source
“The cast certainly has its fair share of gems. Ruby Hughes’ Minerva has a sensuous presence and proud sense of superiority…”
The Londonist
“The cast combined experienced ENO regulars, including Diana Montague as the nurse and Nigel Robson as Eumete, with newer talent (notably Thomas Hobbs as Telemaco, Ruby Hughes as Minerva) to gripping and traumatic effect.”
The Observer
“One very pleasant surprise in this production is Ruby Hughes, who sings the role of Minerva. This young soprano won the 2009 Handel Singing Competition. She stalked the stage with great poise and elegance and revelled in the plethora of arioso sections which Monteverdi granted her as an immortal. She sings with warmth, superb clarity and control as well as great conviction.”
Opera Britannia
“…Ruby Hughes’ ambiguous Minerva, another fine portrayal.”
Seen and Heard
“Ruby Hughes shines as the goddess Minerva...”
The Stage
“Mr Andrews has succeeded in casting singers who are particularly skilled actors, especially Mr. Randle, whose baritonal tenor is almost crooner-like, and Pamela Helen Stephen as Penelope, Diana Montagu as his old nurse and Ruby Hughes as Minerva.”
Minerva: The Return of Ulysses / ENO / Wall Street Journal
“…Ruby Hughes impresses as a striking Minerva.”
What’s On Stage
Don Ramiro: La finta giardiniera / Royal College of Music
“…Ruby Hughes was the travesti Ramiro, quite equal to the coloratura, right in character as the tormented seria lover…”
Opera Now
Mozart: Requiem / Musikkollegium Winterthur
“The soprano Ruby Hughes made a superb replacement for the indisposed Sibylla Rubens.”
Der Landbote
Belinda: Dido and Aeneas / West Green House
“With a glistening clarity that was a joy to hear…”
Opera Now
She: King Arthur / Der Lautten Compagney
“But this moving, sexy show was a company effort, and the 10 ensemble singers, most of them German, were its motor, vocally and physically, with Ruby Hughes and Matthias Viewig the pick.”
Opera Now
Roggiero: Tancredi / Theater an der Wien
“…Ruby Hughes performed the small role of Tancredi’s Page Roggiero with skill and energy displaying a youthful, clear soprano.”
OMM
“Isaura (Liorna Grodnikaite) and Roggiero (Ruby Hughes) completed the cast. The soprano Ruby Hughes appeared very youthful, she impressed with a nicely sung aria.”
Oper in Wien
“…Ruby Hughes an engaging Roggiero.”
Opera
Rose Maurrant: Street Scene / The Opera Group
“Ruby Hughes as Rose and Adrian Dwyer as Sam hit exactly the right note of thwarted longing.”
The Guardian
“Ruby Hughes’ Rose is also touching in her struggle to cling to her dreams, as in the exquisite ‘What Good Would the Moon Be?”
The Independent
“Rose was sung with an open, appealing tone by Ruby Hughes…”
Opera
Rose Maurrant: Street Scene / Opéra de Toulon
"One must pick out, in particular, the sweet and sensitive Rose of the English Ruby Hughes."
Le Figaro
Handel & Vivaldi / Ten Tors Orchestra
“Soprano, Ruby Hughes, was in fine voice in arias from Handel’s Alcina and Judas Maccabeus, where her powerful delivery was finely matched by some extremely sensitive quieter moments, with coloratura passages sung with real gusto… Ruby Hughes’s deeply-emotional reading of Handel’s With Darkness Deep, and her briskly- despatched Nulla in mundo pax sincera by Vivaldi, brought this satisfying feast of Baroque music to an effective close.”
PlymouthHerald
French Cantatas / Göttingen Festival
“…Ruby Hughes utterly bewitched her listeners. She displayed a bright soprano of wonderfully beautiful timbre that carried well even in the lower register.”
Göttinger Tageblatt
“The soloist Ruby Hughes emphasised dramatic effects: with strong expression and a resonant, even incisive, soprano, she brought the varied rhetoric of the Rameau Cantata to life. There was deep sadness in the Aria “Amour, amour”, and a cheeky self confidence in the moralizing final aria about the dangers of impatience in love.”
HNA
Who’s Hot in Opera
“As usual it was the RCM singers who impressed me the most. Ruby Hughes, a poised singer with a lovely soulful tone and great legato who I've seen in a couple of Handel productions and a Purcell…she has great stage presence too.”
OPERA NOW