Richard Margison: Reviews

Richard and daughter Lauren

SELECTED PRESS NOTICES
MEFISTOFELE
San Francisco Opera

"Richard Margison, the Canadian cast as Faust for the the first time in his extraordinarily promising career, brings ringing, golden tone to the challenge, not to mention musical sensitivity and dramatic acumen. He plays the old Faust like Emil Jannings in;The Blue Angel" - not a bad model - and adds a nice touch of self-mockery to his youthful reincarnation. At last, another tenor..."

• Martin Bernheimer, Music Critic
• LOS ANGELES TIMES - 18 November 1994

"Faust was tenor Richard Margison, who made an impressive debut here two years ago in Verdi's Don Carlo. He put his clarion tenor to good use again and turned in a lovely performance. The duets with both Margherita and Helen of Troy sounded particularly sweet."

• Joshua Kosman
• SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - 15 November 1994
  

• Hervé le Mansac
• OPERA INTERNATIONAL - PARIS - February 1995

"Canadian tenor Richard Margison¹s virtuosity was a surprise. He's young but there's no doubt about the heroic, clarion qualities of his voice. He soared up to high bravura notes with marvellous ease and caused several in the audience to compare him with a young Pavarotti. His voice has a wonderfully bell-like clarity and flexibility."

• Cheryl North
• THE OAKLAND TRIBUNE - 19 November 1994

MADAMA BUTTERFLY
Metropolitan Opera

"At the season's last performance of Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera, Richard Margison, in his Met debut as Pinkerton, impressed with a sturdily ringing tenor; his interpretation in line with the production's view of his character."

• Ruth Berges
  
• OPERA CANADA Fall 1995

"Certain opera-history parallels came to mind: 32 years earlier, a young Canadian tenor named Jon Vickers made his debut with the Royal Opera in the same role, and soon swept on to wider fame. The two are not similar in build and personality, but the younger singer's ability to grip the stage with his presence from his first moment to last and the appealingly full, honest, unforced quality of his substantial lyric tenor certainly made one wonder if a similar career progression might be in view."

• Max Lopper
• OPERA MAGAZINE 1989

Welsh National Opera, Cardiff, Wales

"Canadian tenor Richard Margison's Gustav is worth hearing; a splendidly vital and personable reading, consistently musical, which catches well the sententious frivolity that is the character's doom. 'Ella e pura', delivered from the floor and with a bullet in his chest, is as controlled as 'Dunque, signori', and as touching as his gallows love-song 'Non sia tu' -- passion with a boyish twinkle."

• THE INDEPENDENT - 26 February 1993

"Margison sang with the youthful brilliance, freshness, well-judged attacks and clarity of articulation for which the role of Ballo's Riccardo calls. He has a beautiful top, solid lower and middle ranges, and he makes changes in register with deceptive ease. His name was new to me and others in the audience, but I suspect that we will be hearing a lot more from him. Tenors of Margison's quality qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act."

• Stephen Wigler
• BALTIMORE SUN - 28 February 1994

• Rosemarie Hunziker
• GAZETTE - Baltimore - 2 March 1994

IL TROVATORE
Victoria State Opera, Melbourne, Australia

"The singing is glorious. Canadian tenor Richard Margison overwhelms as the troubadour Manrico. The arias 'Ah! si, ben mio' and 'Di quella pira' are the ultimate test for a dramatic tenor. Margison takes them with effortless bravura. His blend of sinewy vocal strength and lyrical colour makes him a rare singer."

• Chris Boyd
• OPERA

"Rarely has a tenor voice as thrilling as Richard Margison's been heard in Australia. On the evidence of his Manrico in the Victoria State Opera¹s Il Trovatore, this Canadian might even be Luciano Pavarotti's imminent heir. Manrico's is arguably the most difficult role in the opera, but Margison made it seem almost easy; his leonine, doomed troubadour stood there and filled the State Theatre with the most glorious sound one could hope to hear in a lifetime of Trovatores."

• Bob Crimeen
• SUNDAY HERALD - 31 July 1994

"The great joy of the evening was Canadian tenor Richard Margison's dazzling Manrico. Margison sang an impressive title role in VSO's recent Don Carlo. His performance as the troubadour of Verdi's opera's title was truly breathtaking, with a huge, ringing, heroic voice. The vocal power was of such dimension that he is surely on the verge of a tremendous international career; a performance reminiscent of the impact of Pavarotti's appearance in the 1960s."

• THE AUSTRALIAN - July 27, 1994

"The star of the evening was Canadian tenor Richard Margison as Manrico. An outstanding performance right from the moment his voice first wafted in from off-stage, his 'Di quella pira'was every bit as thrilling as it should be. To the final scene he brought an unusual intensity."

• Jim Davidson
• OPERA

Hamburg

"In his staging of Puccini's Il Trittico, Harry Kupfer fascinatingly captured the no-way-out situation of the three principals. Richard Margison's Luigi, a low-life macho out of some gangster movie, completed the triangle with tenorial vigor."

• Jochen Breiholz
• OPERA NEWS -September 1995

CARMEN

Metropolitan Opera

"Mr. Margison has a hefty physique and a voice to match: a bright,
ringing sound."

• Anthony Tommasini
• NEW YORK TIMES - 09 October '95

"Every opera house needs CARMEN and Bizet's cigarette girl is currently on view at the Metropolitan. Richard Margison presents a gorgeously vocalized Don José in Paul Mills's effective staging."

• Peter G. Davis
• NEW YORK MAGAZINE - 23 Oct. '95

Covent Garden

"It is a long time since any of us have heard Don José as easily sung as he is by Richard Margison. His tenor is fresh and athletic, encompassing proper delicacy in the duet with Micaëla and with a thrillingly heroic delivery of the third-act finale."

• Rodney Milnes
• LONDON TIMES - 21 April 1994

Toronto...
Weston Recital Hall

"The evening's star was indisputably Richard Margison, Canada's latest export to the Met. His powerful tenor energized the program, particularly in a vividly characterized scene from Verdi's ALZIRA. The finale, also a showcase for Margison, was Verdi's INNO DELLE NAZIONI. Margison never faltered, his ringing sound and triumphant high notes heroic beyond the call of duty."

• Elissa Poole
• GLOBE AND MAIL- 18 October'95

"The vocal star of the evening was clearly Richard Margison, whether portraying an Inca king or a bard in Verdi's Hymn of the Nations. Singing in a natural, open, ringing manner, Toronto's latest gift to the Metropolitan Opera sounded every decibel the world-class tenor he has become."

• William Littler
• TORONTO STAR - 17 October 1995

"A rich menu performed with stylish exuberance by Richard Margison, whose 'Nessun dorma' from Puccini's TURANDOT brought the whole audience to standing applause."

• Ronald Hambleton
• TORONTO STAR - 19 July 1995

"Richard Margison is perfect, that¹s it...we can move on. He is truly one of the great voices of this generation; a sweetness of tone, riveting delivery... he is the heir to Pavarotti and Domingo. He was divine!"

• Paula Citron
• CLASSICAL 96 FM - July '95

"Canadian superstar tenor Richard Margison's performances of arias by Meyerbeer, Bizet and Puccini were nothing short of magnificent, and showed why he has been hailed as the heir to Pavarotti."

• Tamara Bernstein
• GLOBE AND MAIL - 20 July '95

"Canadian tenor Richard Margison shows incredible strength: a powerful and true voice and what is more, beautiful, with perfect musical and textual articulation."

• Claude Gingras
• LA PRESSE MONTREAL - 8 July 1995