Felicity Palmer, Mezzo Soprano Countess In Tchaikovsky The Queen ...
FELICITY PALMER, MEZZO SOPRANO
Countess in Tchaikovsky The Queen of Spades
The Metropolitan Opera / cond. Seiji Ozawa / dir. Elijah Moshinsky
"Palmer stood out with a harrowing portrayal of the Countess, who dies of fright when Ghermann
tries to find out the secret three-card sequence."
Ronald Blum, San Francisco Chronicle, December 2008
"The opera is dominated by and named for a supporting role, the Countess, Lisa’s grandmother,
portrayed grippingly here by the veteran mezzo-soprano Felicity Palmer. In her youth the Countess,
called the Queen of Spades, was also obsessed with gambling. She is thought to be guarding the
secret to the three cards that can win at the tables. In the scene in which the Countess, returned to
her spacious bedroom after an elegant ball, thinks of the days when she was young and desirable
and sings the refrains of an 18th-century French aria by André Grétry, Ms. Palmer conveyed the
imposing old woman’s vulnerability through a worn, crackly and affecting voice."
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, December 2008
Marquise de Berkenfield in Donizetti’s La fille du regiment
The Metropolitan Opera / cond. Bruno Campanella/ dir. Laurent Pelly
“Felicity Palmer capitalised on crusty chest-tones as an endearingly supercilious Marquise of
Berkenfield”
Martin Bernheimer, Financial Times, April 2008
Kabanicha in Janácek Katya Kabanova
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / cond. Sir Charles Mackerras / dir. Trevor Nunn
“Felicity Palmer, singing the Kabanicha, incredibly for the first time here, incarnates a Tsar-like
tyranny in her rigid presence, and in an iron voice that finds its serrated edge just where it hurts
most.”
Hilary Finch, The Times, June 2007
“Palmer never descends into caricature, so her tight-lipped venom is all the more terrifying, every
note wrenched from somewhere dark and cavernous.”
Nick Kimberley, Evening Standard, June 2007
Madame de Croissy in Poulenc Dialogues des Carmelites
Lyric Opera of Chicago / cond. Andrew Davis / dir. Robert Carsen
“The loudest ovation deservedly went to mezzo-soprano Felicity Palmer for her mesmerizing
portrayal of Madame de Croissy, the fatally ill prioress. She brought profoundly human conviction to
the mother superior's death agonies, in which she bitterly questions why God should abandon one
whose life was based on faith and humility.”
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, February 2007
La Marquise de Berkenfeld in Donizetti La Fille du régiment
Royal Opera House / cond. Bruno Campanella / dir. Laurent Pelly
“It’s the quality of the performances that makes this a must see…Felicity Palmer’s terrifying then
touching Marquise de Berkenfeld summons up quaking vocal reserves from the baritone register
then displays deft digits on the ivories in the singing lesson.”
Richard Morrison, The Times, January 2007
“A marvelous character actor/singer our own Felicity Palmer ensure that the comedy is well
anchored”
Edward Seckerson, The Independent, January 2007
“As La Marquise, Felicity Palmer was impeccable”
Fiona Maddocks, Evening Standard, January 2007
“There are scene stealing character parts for Felicity Palmer and the wonder of it all is that her
French dialogue comes across as if it were English.”
Andrew Clark, Financial Times, January 2007
“Felicity Palmer’s Marquise is a sort of cross between her ENO Katisha and Covent Garden
Klytaemnestra, simultaneously hilarious and touching”
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, January 2007
