PRESS
“She allowed her full-bodied, extroverted singing to bloom completely naturally, never losing elegance, but steeped in exuberant theatricality.”
Le Salon Musical
Marguerite, La Damnation de Faust
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, cond. Kazuki Yamada, April 2024
“Grace Durham was a radiant Marguerite, her final “Ah” of the ‘King of Thule’ expressing a world of longing in a sighed syllable […] Durham conveyed the emotional desolation of ‘D’amour l’ardente flamme’ with a heartbreaking final ‘Hélas!’.”
Midlands Music Reviews
“Grace Durham was an affecting and dignified Marguerite”
The Telegraph
“As Faust’s vision of loveliness Marguerite, Grace Durham delivered key numbers such as the King of Thule with touching aplomb”
The Times
Traetta, Rex Salomone (Sadoc)
Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, August 2023
“Grace Durham displays a sumptuous timbre. Her voice seems to have taken on even more roundness and radiance. The competition that elected her the big winner of 2019 was not wrong.”
Baroque News
“Grace Durham’s Sadoc, a technically impeccable mezzo-soprano, absolutely in command of the music and the elaborate decorations in the da capos. Her richly textured voice projects superbly.”
Opera in Casa
Michelle Agnes Magalhaes, Après la tempête (world première)
Festival Messiaen au Pays de la Meije, July 2023
“We were floored by the acting talent and dramatic commitment of the three singers, all singing and speaking both English and French. The British mezzo Grace Durham enchanted us with her songs in the language of Shakespeare ; the voice is exceptionally supple and luminous”
ResMusica
“[Grace Durham], whose French sounds as native as her English, sings with an intoxicatingly full-bodied voice with a rich middle range”
Olyrix
Rossini, La Cenerentola (Angelina)
Nevill Holt Opera/Sage Gateshead, June 2023
“Grace Durham, in the title role, was entirely endearing; her expressive eyes and sad little sighs complemented singing that pulled off the unlikely feat of being both tender and brilliant.”
The Spectator
“Grace Durham brings real heart to the role of Angelina as she reveals a highly distinguished and moving mezzo-soprano.”
MusicOMH
“Cenerentola herself is sung with warmth, dignity and considerable technical aplomb by Grace Durham.”
The Stage
“Durham sings with a lush mezzo-soprano, and a sense of friendliness and self-worth.”
Seen and Heard International
Gluck, Iphigénie en Tauride (Deuxième Prêtresse/Une femme grecque)
Opéra national de Lorraine, March 2023
“Grace Durham’s beautiful, burnished mezzo caught our attention, and we were disappointed not to hear more of her”
Première Loge
“Grace Durham’s Second Priestess had a round, voluptuous timbre”
ResMusica
“Grace Durham’s dramatic intensity made a strong impression”
Opera Online
Dvorák, Rusalka (Kitchen Girl)
Garsington Opera/Edinburgh International Festival, summer 2022
“a lush mezzo, Grace Durham, a name to watch”
Opera
Verdi, Rigoletto (Giovanna)
Opernhaus Zürich, April 2022
“Grace Durham was a spirited, strong-voiced Giovanna.”
I Hear Voices
Recital with Edward Liddall
Bibliothèque La Grange-Fleuret, April 2022
“Is it impossible to sing French as it is spoken? Of course not – and it is a British artist who proves it, aligning herself with a long tradition of French singer-speakers in a way that many native Francophones would envy.”
Première Loge
Recital with Edward Liddall
Musée d’Orsay, March 2022
“In Haydn’s cantata Arianna a Naxos, Edward Liddall – so virtuosic in Ravel and Dvorak – played with pianoforte-like refinement, and Grace Durham allowed her true talent as a tragic actress to bloom. […] But it was in La dame de Monte-Carlo that all her qualities really came together: French that the French themselves would envy, a natural theatricality that brought every line of Cocteau’s text to life, and a superbly rich vocal timbre.”
Première Loge
“One of the great joys of a music-lover’s life is discovering new talents at the dawn of their career – and that of the London-born, Francophile mezzo Grace Durham is quite obviously exceptional. Her voice is rich and mellifluous, perfectly projected and technically secure; her charisma and intelligence are evident. […] This recital will remain a high point of the season, and the revelation of a radiant artistic personality.”
ODB-Opéra
Bizet, Carmen (Mercédès)
Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse, January 2022
“Very natural on stage, and with a tangy, well-projected mezzo and effortless high register, Grace Durham’s Mercédès brings energy to the ensembles and finales.”
Olyrix
“Grace Durham, a sparkling Mercédès.”
Forum Opéra
“Grace Durham is a delightfully energetic, sparkling Mercédès”
Olyrix
Philip Venables, Numbers
Festival d’Automne, Paris, October 2021
“In Numbers 81-85, Grace Durham’s voice is by turns spellbinding, mysterious, furious, nonchalant […] In 96-100, the more homogenous writing recalls a collective meditation; from a shout to a whisper, the English mezzo’s powerful, velvety voice moves through fragmentary phrases and moments of silence over the hypnotic movement of the instruments.”
Hémisphère Son
Plaisir d’amour ne dure qu’un moment, solo recital with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques
Festival Antiqua Bolzano, September 2021
“The English singer […] brought genuine theatre to the simple wooden stage and bare stone walls of the Bolzano castle. […] Purcell was the high point of the entire concert. Here, she could allow her full-bodied, extroverted singing to bloom completely naturally, never losing elegance, but steeped in exuberant theatricality. Without a stage, without props, with nothing but her voice and the occasional gesture, the English mezzo-soprano gave an intelligent depiction of the character of each fragment, whether it be Bess of Bedlam, The Fairy Queen (the wonderful Let me weep) or the Yorkshire Feast Song.”
Le Salon Musical
From Purcell with Love, solo recital with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques
Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, August 2020
“Grace Durham’s performance of this music, traditionally sung by lighter voices, surprises us with its fullness – her rich, round, supple mezzo gives weight to every note and every word. The text is as clear as if it were spoken, and we discover this music in a new light.”
Baroque News
International Cesti Competition for Baroque Opera
2019
“In fact, nothing seems beyond her; she has a secure grasp of breath control, vocal flexibility, clarity of attack, quality of projection, energy and expressivity. Her vocal timbre is very attractive, and her stage presence entirely professional. […] The icing on the cake was the accompanied recitative preceding the aria – it was absolutely perfect, showing her to be a true actress. […] There is little doubt that one day, Durham will be dazzling us with vocal fireworks in the manner of Hallenberg or Genaux.”
Baroquiades
“The jury’s winner was mezzo-soprano Grace Durham from Great Britain […] She chose not Handel but Johann Adolph Hasse’s Cleofide, and from this opera presented the title character’s aria “Son qual misera colomba”. She began with an extended recitative, before putting the great flexibility of her warmly flowing mezzo-soprano to the test in breakneck runs. The variations and ornaments she added further allow us to imagine that this singer has a great career ahead of her.”
Online Musik Magazin
“We agreed wholeheartedly with the jury’s verdict. The winner was the British mezzo-soprano Grace Durham, whose voice is rich in timbre and technically secure. […] Her extremely welldeserved victory came with her second aria, “Son qual misera colomba” from Hasse’s Cleofide, a score replete with obstacles not only in terms of coloratura but also, and especially, for the variety of colours it requires. All this goes to show that in competitions – at least in those as unarguably serious as the Cesti – the winners are those who dare to put themselves completely on the line.”
Le Salon Musical
Philip Venables, 4.48 Psychose (Clare)
Semperoper Dresden, 2019
“Grace Durham provides one of the most strongly emotional moments of the evening with a song in the style of Purcell.”
Concerti
“The six excellent singers act and sing their challenging roles within the complex, multi-layered structure of the piece with intense passion and high-class vocalism.”
Deutschlandfunk
Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino)
Semperoper Dresden, 2018
“Grace Durham’s Cherubino came up trumps.”
Seen and Heard International
