Jane Henschel

• Mezzo-Soprano

Reviews

Jane Henschel press reviews

Elektra (Klytemnestra)
Festspielhaus Baden-Baden
January/February 2010
Münchener Philharmoniker / Christian Thielemann

"Jane Henschel was perfection as Klytanestra. With high-voltage singing combined with a detailed portrait, her role was much more that the cardboard-cutout evil one normally sees."
Playbill Arts, February 2010

“Bei Jane Henschel schließlich wurde selbst aus Klytämnestra kein überzeichnetes Monster, sondern ein an seiner Schuld leidender Mensch. Es hatte geradezu innovativen Reiz, diese Rolle wirklich einmal durchgängig gesungen zu erleben!”
Joachim Lange, Wiener Zeitung

“Jane Henschel als Racheobjekt Klytämnestra hält souverän mit, modelliert feine Abstufungen von Zögern und Unsicherheit in ihre Stimmführung, als sie sich fragt, welches Tier man nach altem Brauch schlachten müsse gegen ständig wiederkehrende Albträume, und schwingt sich zu einem erstaunlich subtilen Triumph auf, als die falsche Nachricht von Orests Tod die Runde macht.”
Hans-Jürgen Linke, Frankfurter Rundschau 

Review:
Suddeutchen Zeitung - 1 February, 2010 - pg 1

Suddeutchen Zeitung - 1 February, 2010 - pg 2

Interview: Berliner Morgenpost

Mahler Das Lied von der Erde
Houston Symphony Orchestra, November 2009

Ms. Henschel also fit the bill beautifully. Her magnificently warm voice and incredible vocal prowess only enhanced the evening to a level of unbridled perfection. Her best work coming in the last movement as she gives us her final farewell, "forever and ever." It was simply heart breaking.
Jake Johansen, November 20 2009, Examiner

In conversation with Jane Henschel:
Interview with the Examiner.

The more melancholy and introspective sections go to the other soloist and Henschel performed them with distinction. Her warm, rich mezzo and careful phrasing conveyed the wistfulness of The Lonely One in Autumn, with its haunting, delicate accompaniment. Beauty, her song describing young girls picking flowers, caught the youthful, birdsong gaiety of the moment — before its interruption by the brash orchestral outburst representing soldiers galloping past.
She was superb in the extended closing section, Farewell, her high notes soaring with power and clarity, her quiet utterances imbued with restrained pathos. The orchestra was at its best, too, with some of the most exotic tonal effects, insinuating motifs and rolling crescendos, all finally subsiding in an acceptance of parting as the earth goes on “forever and ever.”
Everett Evans, The Houston Chronicle, November 20 2009

Elektra – Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

“Jane Henschel's bloated and grotesque Klytemnestra, Anne Schwanewilms's creepy Chrysothemis and Johan Reuter's psychopathic powderkeg of an Orest all contribute to this rollercoaster ride of gathering terror. “
The Times / Richard Morrison / 10 November 2008

“Henschel, rich-toned and prone to fits of manic laughter, affords us insights into Klytemnestra's voluptuous past as well as her decrepit, drug-ridden present.”
The Guardian / Tim Ashley / 10 November 2008

“It was not all Bullock’s evening: she was given a strong cast against which to match her artistry. … Jane Henschel was a Klytemnestra almost stripped of her regality and ready for decay, returning to life only with the cackles with which she greeted the (false) news of Orest’s death.”
Opera / Michael Kennedy / January 2009

Salome – Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona

“Sa compagne Herodias, magistralement interprétée par Jane Henschel, sans doute la meilleure composition dramatique pour un second rôle vue au Liceu depuis longtemps, a complété le trio infernal de l’histoire.”
Web.Thea / 6 July 2009

“Una alcohólica Herodías (magnífica Jane Henschel) ataviada con un vestido de lentejuelas rojo acentúa la sátira.”
El Periodico / Cesar Lopez Rosell / 21 June 2009

“…die Szene robbenden Jane Henschel als Herodias.”
Die Welt / Manuel Brug / 29 June 2009

Elektra - Deutsche Oper, Berlin

“Jane Henchel’s show-stopping Clytemnestra head and shoulders above the rest.”
Financial Times (Shirley Apthorp) 6 November 2007