P
ress
"Madison Leonard, as Juliette, anchors the cast with her bright and fluttery soprano that easily fills the Barns theater. That it wasn’t supposed to be her role—the whole cast had to be reshuffled after two singers dropped out earlier this year—is all the more impressive."
WASHINGTON CITY PAPER
R
Austin Opera
November 2019
"Every note, every step, every gesture radiated young love with a freshness and honesty that made you fall for her Gilda the way she fell for the Duke. And that voice!"
igoletto
AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN
"Madison Leonard made Gilda absolutely her own, adding charming trills to a triumphant 'Caro Nome' and a haunting tone to later scenes."
AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN
"As the ingenue Gilda, Madison Leonard wins our hearts with her outstanding vocal gymnastics, along with her heartfelt love for her father and her lover."
BROADWAY WORLD
R
Seattle Opera
August 2019
"As Gilda, Leonard was a totally natural stage presence with nary a false moment. Her pure, appealing lyric soprano had a slight fluttery spin reminiscent of Pilar Lorengar, and her clear upper extension ensured that the staccato cadenza to the high E-flat was pristine and the big high E-flat at the end of the vengeance duet blew my hair back. 'Caro nome' was the vocal highlight of the evening: set in Gilda’s bedroom, we saw and heard a breathless teenager, hugging her pillow at the joy of it all."
igoletto
OPERAWIRE
"As Gilda, Madison Leonard commanded both delicate filigree and remarkable vocal heft, and her portrayal suggested a good deal more agency and emotional complication than victimhood. Hume staged her first scene with the Duke, disguised as Gualtier Maldè, as one of panic, face-to-face with a sexual predator, but this was contradicted by the warmth of her great solo that followed. The scene of her kidnapping, as the all-male chorus surrounded her with flashlights, was genuinely eerie. Gilda's final exchange with her father was both radiant and heartbreaking.”
"Madison Leonard captures the attention of the hall from the first moment, and expresses in detail the contrasts of Gilda's character: from naivety to forgiveness, from shame to deception. The intensity of her central sound combines sweetness and moving fragility in the acute texture; the
passages are agile and sustained. 'Caro nome' has in it all the elements of the sighs of love with nuanced dynamics exploited to the maximum for interpretative purposes and with well calibrated attacks and breath."
OPERACLICK
BACHTRACK
"Both Gildas make their big solo moment, the aria 'Caro nome,' the production’s vocal highlight, affecting and technically sure."
THE SEATTLE TIMES
"Madison Leonard was an endearingly naive and warmly sung Gilda. When she was onstage, Montanaro eased up on the pressure and let her spin out her arias with sweetness and grace. At these moments, Verdi's score was given its full elegance and power."
OPERA MAGAZINE
J
Wolf Trap Opera
July 2018
"Juliette certainly gave Leonard more dramatic scope than Ilia in “Idomeneo,” and as a character she was one of the most affecting Juliettes I’ve seen. She also sings with a natural sound rather than a self-consciously stentorian Opera Voice, a huge asset."
uliette
THE WASHINGTON POST
"Leonard is appearing at Wolf Trap Opera this summer on the heels of her Met National Council Audition win and she sure sang like it. Her voice sparkled and sighed and soared, and never showed a hint of stress or strain. She sang the intense Poison Aria, which easily trips up the kinds of lighter sopranos who take on this role, like an honest-to-god star, without ever becoming heavy or harsh as the orchestra swelled around her."
"Madison Leonard, as Juliette, anchors the cast with her bright and fluttery soprano that easily fills the Barns theater. That it wasn’t supposed to be her role—the whole cast had to be reshuffled after two singers dropped out earlier this year—is all the more impressive."
WASHINGTON CITY PAPER
SCHMOPERA
M
'An Afternoon of Opera Stars in the Making' by Anthony Tommasini, May 1, 2018
"The three other winners struck me as more fully formed...Madison Leonard, 26, a soprano, brought a bright, dexterous voice and sassy charm to an aria from Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel,” and was especially at home in “Caro nome” from Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” She seems headed intrepidly into the lyric-coloratura repertory."
et
THE NEW YORK TIMES
