soprano
PRAISE FOR
Confessions
"Strickling fulfills and FILLS this role, her voice as a siren-chameleon, changing shape and color and nature with total control as contexts switch and emotions bend ever so slightly from word to word.
Stephanie Boyd, American Record Guide
"While listening to Soprano Laura Strickling's latest album, Confessions, I was reminded of a phrase she has said countless times..., "Song Matters." Her new CD, available now from Yarlung Records, embodies this credo, that the combination of words and music is not a nicety or luxury, but rather an urgent human necessity. Both the music itself as well as Laura’s performances have an urgency that’s palpable. It’s at the same time a deeply personal and yet fully universal statement.
Michael Brofman, Classical Post
"The first thing that hits you when you listen to the album is the clarity and translucent quality of Stricking’s voice. It washes over the listener, enveloping them in her daydream...Strickling and Schreier seamlessly transition from anxiety to excitement and back to anxiety. Strickling uses her solid command of vocal technique such as diminuendos, ornamentation, and appoggiaturas to drive the narrative arc...Her command of vocal technique is definitely a hallmark of the album which serves her well..."
Greg Moomjy, Classical Singer Magazine
This extraordinarily expressive and versatile singer has with courageous specificity chosen songs that brim with delineations of her life. Strickling performs with an intelligent combination of restraint and letting go. Her voice is full and lustrous and then bright and nimble as she weaves her way through the four cycles and two individual songs that she has selected. Each song is an individual story beautifully rendered. Collectively they make a strong statement about the status of contemporary art songs and her commitment to them.
John Hohmann, Schmopera
"Strickling’s shimmering voice offers an animation that blends and lifts these songs off the page into another world. These three aspects of composer, vocalist, and pianist create the type of special moment so often sought after in the world of song...The title of the piece, Confessions struck me while thinking about the album as a whole. At first, it appears that the ‘confession’ is one of guilt; be it eating cake and pie, or buying that luxury handbag. However, when you listen to the care of execution that the performers and composers brought to this work of art, it is clear that this is not a confession of guilt. It is a confession of faith. Faith that music and art are what will get us through this pandemic."
Tim Bostwick, NATS
"...deeply expressive, secure voice. Her exposed highs are managed wonderfully, with notable beauty. A champion of Cipullo’s music, she does full justice to the music of the role. "
San Francisco Classical Voice
The Parting (Cipullo) - Music of Remembrance
"...brought a flexible voice, crystalline diction, and warm presence..."
The New York Times
Songs from Letters (Larsen) - Opera Moderne
"Soprano Laura Strickling's lovely diction and warm, clear sound bring
attractive immediacy to this cycle."
Opera News Magazine
New Voices CD - Brooklyn Art Song Society
"A sparkling collection of delicate and dazzling art songs – it’s worth buying for “The Vineyard Songs” alone."
New Voices CD - Brooklyn Art Song Society
"Times Alone captures the impressive dynamic power of soprano Laura Strickling..."
Andrew Quint, The Absolute Sound
http://www.yarlungnews.com/andrew-quint-reviews-matheson/
James Matheson CD
"Strickling’s shapely, nuanced voicings and emotional urgency in the first three songs has a striking directness. Thomas Sauer achieves some luminous sonorities in the final pair, blending admirably with Strickling’s deeply personal utterances."
Stephen Greenbank, MusicWeb International
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Sep/Matheson_quartet_25670.htm
James Matheson CD
"..Soprano Laura Strickling’s thrilling coloratura in “Rejoice greatly” – the fast tempo allowed her to sing the inhumanly long vocal lines in one breath."
http://nyconcertreview.com/tag/laura-strickling
Messiah (Handel)
"...brought ravishing tone to these brilliantly varied pieces..."
Les Illuminations (Britten)
"Strickling impressed with her powerful and expressive voice across a large range, her variety of timbre and character, and playful demeanor embodying lighter moments of this song-cycle."
Tanglewood Music Center - Les Illuminations (Britten)
"...clear, silvery sound and lyricism..."
Requiem (Brahms) - Bel Canto Chorus and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
"...is not one of those chirpy sopranos that often inhabit the Dew Fairy's role, and her strong and well-focused vocal instrument provided one of the most persuasive wakeup calls in memory at the beginning of Act III."
The Berkshire Eagle
Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck) - Berkshire Opera Company
"...offered the creamy, clear, younger-sister-of-Eva-Pogner instrument ideal for singing the role over full orchestration."
Opera News
Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck) - Berkshire Opera Company
SELECTED REVIEWS
ACCLAIM
Photography by Don Hebert
© 2021 by Laura Strickling