SarahDufresne

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Soprano
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News

  • 18 March 2024

    Bayerische Staatsoper 2024/25 season to feature 23 Askonas Holt artists

    Read full article
  • 20 October 2023

    Askonas Holt welcomes soprano Sarah Dufresne

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Press

  • Carmen

    Royal Opera House
    Apr 2024 - May 2024

    • Speaking of people destined for bigger roles; I have been repeatedly impressed with Canadian soprano Sarah Dufresne. I first reviewed her very brief performance as a very aptly named ‘‘Voice from heaven’, in “Don Carlo” and she appears here as Frasquita, heavenly voice tangibly intact. She conducts herself with great physical confidence and is endowed with a beautiful, lyric soprano voice of some quality.

    • Kostas Smoriginas is a firm-toned, sharp-suited toreador in acid yellow flares with Sarah Dufresne and Gabrielė Kupšytė standing out as Frasquita and Mercédès.

    • Blaise Malabala was a strong Zuniga, while Sarah Dufresne and Gabrielė Kupšytė were a superbly matched Frasquita and Mercédès respectively.

    • Sarah Dufresne and Gabriele Kusyte made a lively pairing as Frasquita and Mercedes, bringing a lightness to their musical performance but also really leaning in to the idea of the two being hookers.

    • The smaller roles are all well taken. Royal Opera Jette Parker Young Artists of huge promise Sarah Dufresne and Gabrielė Kupšytė are as vivid a pair of frivolous friends as you’re likely to see or hear.

    • Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/c4a056b0-7948-42ba-920a-7fee967c51a5 Sarah Dufresne and Gabrielė Kupšytė, both Jette Parker Young Artists, sparkle as Frasquita and Mercédès, and there is a fine native French duo of smugglers, especially Vincent Ordonneau as Remendado.

    • Kostas Smoriginas is a suitably swaggering Escamillo, Sarah Dufresne and Gabriele Kupsyte bring infectious zip to the female trios with Carmen, and Olga Kulchynska invests the put-upon Micaëla with haunting pathos. And the star-crossed central pair seem made to destroy each other.

    • Jette Parker Artists Sarah Dufresne and Gabriele Kupsyté sparkle as Carmen’s girlfriends Frasquita and Mercédès with their trio “Les tringles des sistres tintaient” being a vocal highlight as they dance in a hybrid flamenco-disco style.

    • Prominent among the remaining cast are the bright, complementary voices of Sarah Dufresne and Gabrielė Kupšytė as Frasquita and Mercédès, faring well in the fortune-telling sequence.

    • Ottime anche la Frasquita di Sarah Dufresne e la Mercédès di Gabrielė Kupšytė che portano un po’ di brio.

    • Sarah Dufresne and Gabrielė Kupšytė provide excellent support as Frasquita and Mercédès, and the evening’s strong musical credentials also extend to Antonello Manacorda’s conducting.

    • There are very sparky performances from Sarah Dufresne and Gabrielė Kupšytė as friends Frasquita and Mercédès.

    • La Frasquita de Sarah Dufresne et la Mercédès de Gabrielė Kupšytė sont de belles promesses.

    • Kostas Smoriginas as Escamillo, unappetising in a lime green raw silk suit, Sarah Dufresne as Frasquita and Gabrielė Kupšytė as Mercédès led the large and admirable supporting ensemble.

    • Among the supporting cast, Pierre Doyen, Vincent Ordonneau, Sarah Dufresne and Gabrielè Kupšytė in particular provide superb performances as the smugglers and Carmen’s friends.

    • The supporting cast was exceptionally strong; bass Blaise Malaba (alumnus of the Jette Parker programme) was an arrogant Zuniga and current Jette Parker Young Artists Sarah Dufresne and Gabrielė Kupšytė were remarkably assured and engaging as Frasquita and Mercédès.

    • Enfin, Sarah Dufresne en Frasquita et Gabrielė Kupšytė en Mercedes se montrent comédiennes investies, aux timbres lumineux et clairs, et dont les légers accents apportent leur touche de charme.

  • Concert with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

    Winnipeg
    Feb 2024

    • Exsultate jubilate, K. 165, a religious motet that has been, in essence, a showcase for multitudes of sopranos since it was penned by the Wunderkind in 1773, provided further taste of Dufresne’s artistry. She soared through her opening Exsultate, jubilate: Allegro, including dazzling colouratura, before delivering an effortless recitativo, Fulget amica dies, performed with a spot-on continuo. [...]her ringing high notes, flawless intonation and nuanced dynamic palette, including shading pianissimos in her uppermost range, rightfully earned her a standing ovation, leading to a final encore from Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte.

  • Hansel und Gretel

    Royal Opera House
    Dec 2023 - Jan 2024

    • Darren Jeffery and Susan Bickley do well with thin pickings as the children’s parents while Isabela Díaz and Sarah Dufresne contribute exquisite cameos as the Sandman and Dew Fairy.

    • Isabela Díaz was bewitching as the Sandman (Sandperson?), while Sarah Dufresne, who just continues to impress time after time, was easily her equal as the Dew Fairy.

    • Sarah Dufresne’s Dew Fairy adds a dash of vocal sparkle and the children’s choir is impressively drilled.

    • Special mention should also be made of Isabela Díaz who gives a highly accomplished performance as the Sandman, as does Sarah Dufresne as the Dew Fairy at the start of the following act.

    • The resurrected children’s chorus at this point is excellent; there are crisp cameos by Isabela Díaz as the Snowman and Sarah Dufresne as the Dew Fairy;

    • Isabela Díaz brings the necessary magic to the Sandman, as does Sarah Dufresne to the Dew Fairy.

  • L'elisir d'amore

    Royal Opera House
    Sep 2023 - Oct 2023

  • Carmina Burana

    Maison Symphonique de Montreal
    Aug 2023 - Aug 2023

    • Côté solistes, une irradiante merveille : Sarah Dufresne, de Niagara Falls et titulaire d’une maîtrise de McGill qui a de la graine de Sabine Devieilhe en elle (traduction : un potentiel de vedette internationale).

  • Don Carlo

    Royal Opera House
    Jun 2023 - Jul 2023

    • Despite only being heard at the end of Act III, and even then from offstage, Sarah Dufresne, with her beguiling soprano, leaves quite an impression as the Voice from Heaven.

    • Two other soloists that merit a mention, firstly Canadian soprano Sarah Dufresne who plays the very aptly named “Voice from heaven,” given her divine performance. She is heard at the end of the third act where she sings “Volate verso il ciel, volate, povere alme, volate a goder la pace del Signore.” A single passage, but sung with such sweet, angelic intonation that it compels one to wish to hear more.

    • Sarah Dufresne offered a truly celestial Voice from Heaven.

    • Ella Taylor made a strong impression; as did the fresh, pure strong Voice from Heaven, Jette Parker Artist Sarah Dufresne, who keeps on impressing (most notably as Tusnelda in Handel’s Arminio recently). The Voice from Heaven’s contribution is markedly short in Don Carlo, but Dufresne certainly made it count.

  • Arminio

    Linbury - Royal Opera House
    Apr 2023 - May 2023

    • Of the four Jette Parker singers last night, Sarah Dufresne stood out for me, with a truly stunning pure soprano, seemingly effortless throughout her range in a role that could have been written for her.

    • Of the singers, soprano Sarah Dufresne is particularly gifted with a voice of many colours and really musical phrasing. She has already made her mark at Covent Garden in the title role of Benjamin Britten's Rape of Lucretia, and is absolutely an artist to watch. Here she plays the loyal and courageous wife of Arminio, a Germanian prince raised in Rome who rebels against his country's imperial invaders.