BETH CLAYTON
M E Z Z
O S O P R A N
O
An interview with Ms. Clayton and Ms. Racette in
AfterEllen
Bizet's Carmen
(New York City Opera)
"Six feet tall and stunning, the mezzo Beth Clayton is a rare
bird: a Carmen naturally able to project the character’s tremendous
power and sexiness."
Anne Midgette - The
New York Times, November 16, 2007
“But
the real merit of ‘Carmen’ this season is the local debut of Beth
Clayton's Carmen. Looking more like a Goya princess than a gypsy
temptress, her dark-toned mezzo-soprano is a superb instrument superbly
used.”
Clive Barnes, New York Post, October 8, 2007
“The mezzo-soprano Beth Clayton
does not need to act to convey tremendous power. Six feet tall and sultry,
with a mane of dark hair, she took the stage of the New York State Theater
on Sunday afternoon as a Carmen prepared to eat the whole wimpy garrison
of soldiers for breakfast… She is a fine, impressive Carmen, and she has
the tools to become a truly great one.”
Anne Midgette, The New York Times, October 9, 2007
“[I]n Beth Clayton the opera has a
fully convincing Carmen. She is at once playful, fanciful,
insouciant, headstrong, and completely feminine. Moreover, she can
sing…These elements are, of course, central to the opera, and
Clayton’s naturalness in all aspects of the role was highly enjoyable
and completely convincing.”
Kenneth DeLong, The Calgary Herald, April 22, 2007
“Clayton, a 1995 apprentice now
enjoying a fastrising and artistically vivid career, fit perfectly into
Lars Rudolfsson’s modernistic Carmen production, throwing many
new and personal sidelights onto the character. She moved very well and
with excellent dramatic concentration, and some of her choices were
startlingly simple but quite insightful"
…
"Her ensemble work… was
top-notch. And she sang the “Card” aria with a controlled yet
desperate heat that burned like the core of the sun.”
Craig Smith, The Santa Fe New Mexican, August 25, 2006
Adams’ El Niño
“Mezzo Beth Clayton
brought gorgeous, dark, haunting tone to bear; singing to her unborn
child…Clayton touched a core of feeling that is recognizable yet deeply
private.”
Wayman
Chin, Opera News, March 2007
Handel's Orlando
(National Theatre, Munich)
"a bearded Beth Clayton brings
smouldering androgynous athleticism to the part of
Medoro."
Shirly Apthorp - Financial Times, May 22,
2006
Sutermeister's Die Schwarze Spinne
(with the Gotham Chamber Opera)
"Beth Clayton, a strong,
beautiful, dangerous presence with a warm, dark, round mezzo-soprano to
match, made everything that was to be made out of a little role,
delivering her intense arias with fine passion and soaring top
notes."
Anne Midgette - The New York Times, April 1,
2006
Verdi’s Rigoletto
“With
her sensual, pouty lips, flowing mane and rich mezzo-soprano, Beth Clayton
was a voluptuous Maddalena.”
Wynne Delacoma, Chicago
Sun-Times, Jan. 23, 2006
“As his sister and accomplice, a
barefooted Beth Clayton brings bedroom huskiness and an allure both
physical and dramatic to Maddalena.”
John von Rhein, Chicago
Tribune, Jan. 31, 2006
Bizet’s
Carmen
“From the opening Habañera, the young mezzo
displayed a technique that combined dead-on intonation with room-filling
projection. Her appoggiaturas were neatly turned, and her tessitura showed
no weaknesses.”
Marc Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News, November 8,
2005
“Clayton, singing in a limpid, husky voice the Habanera
and Sequidilla from Bizet's Carmen, was simply sensational, a brazen
seductress in love with love.”
Ted Shen, Chicago Tribune,
August 2000
Bennet’s The Mines of
Sulphur
“As Rosalind, a Gypsy girl who forms the third
part of the trio of thieves, mezzo Beth Clayton has the ideal dark, sexy
sound, which turns more and more frenzied as fear and remorse take hold of
her.”
Eric Myers, Opera News Online, November
2005
“Beth Clayton’s sung performance of Rosalind is
gorgeous—dramatically convincing…”
Jim Lovensheimer, Opera
Today, September 25, 2005
“Beth Clayton, the lovesick
wayward, handles frenzied vocals well.”
Jonas Kover, The
Observer-Dispatch, July 24, 2004
Adams’ Doctor
Atomic
“The mezzo-soprano Beth Clayton made an impact
in two mysterious scenes as the Oppenheimers' maid, who sings totemic
songs to the couple's children.”
Anthony Tommasini, The New
York Times, October 3, 2005
Strauss’ Der
Rosenkavalier
“…the best-kept secret of Vancouver
Opera’s most expensive production ever is mezzo-soprano Beth Clayton…She
bends gender brilliantly, swaggering like a virile young suitor, courting
the women rapturously, and glorying in a full-bodied lower register. And
when she scales high notes, they ring like bells.”
Louise
Phillips, The Vancouver Courier, October 20,
2004
“Mezzo-soprano Beth Clayton's Octavian sounded
marvelous, and she handled her gender-bending role with panache -- richly
comic when disguised as a servant girl, and passionate and convincing as a
romantic foil to both the Marschallin and Sophie.”
David Gordon
Duke, The Vancouver Sun, October 18, 2004
“Beth Clayton, a
mezzo-soprano who brought a rich tone and expressive depth to the
arias.”
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, March 22,
2005
Handel’s Xerxes
“Beth
Clayton was lovely as the sulking (and skulking)
Amastre.”
Jeremy Eichler, The New York Times, April 6,
2004
“Clayton employed a rich, dark honeyed mezzo with
marvelously clear coloratura to make Amastre, the jilted princess, into a
truly noble character -- better dramatically and vocally than
Xerxes.”
Harvey Steiman, Seen and Heard International, March
30, 2004
“…the dashing Beth Clayton is easily the best
Amastre I have yet seen.”
David Shengold, The Gay City News,
April 22-28, 2004
“The cast is ideal…Beth Clayton impresses
in the somewhat nowhere role of Amastre.”
Robert Levine,
ClassicsToday.com, March 30, 2004
Rossini’s
Ermione
“Beth Clayton’s performance as Andromaca
was a special treat for Dallas audiences…her deep mezzo was always robust,
luminous and penetrating.”
Chris Shull, Opera Now, May/June
2003
“As Andromaca, mezzo Beth Clayton registered as a noble,
attractive presence…”
William V. Madison, Opera News, May
2003
Wagner’s The Rhinegold (with the
Eos Orchestra)
“Of the ladies, honors go to Beth Clayton…she is
an imaginative singer who has the intelligence to adapt her lyric mezzo
convincingly to the subterranean phrases of Erda. She’s a breathtaking
beauty, too, the very definition of ‘statuesque’.”
James
Jorden, The Gay City News, May 2002
Dratell’s
Lilith
“…in her company debut as Lilith…[Beth
Clayton’s] voice…is cool and radiant…Though her Lilith is a slinky,
fearsome night prowler, Ms. Clayton makes the character also seem a sad
captive of her own resentments and cravings.”
Anthony
Tommasini, The New York Times, November 13, 2001
“With her
arresting physical beauty and her corporeal confidence (at times she
riveted the audience by barely moving), Clayton was fully credible as a
slayer of men.”
Joshua Rosenblum, Opera News, March
2002
“In her portrayal of Lilith, the debuting Beth Clayton
used her well focused, honey-toned mezzo voice to give this role
substance…”
Maria Nockin, Opera Japonica, December 2,
2001
“… the forcefully sung, suggestive portrayal by
debutante Beth Clayton in the title role…”
Shirley Fleming,
Musical America, November 2001
Handel's
Agrippina
“Clayton's mezzo-soprano is especially
vibrant in her third-act aria, arguably the most exciting moment in the
opera, with its dazzling display of vocal fireworks.”
David
Abrams, The Syracuse Newspapers, July 2001
“As Nerone, her
mama’s-boy son with ambitions of his own, mezzo Beth Clayton looked and
sounded dark and slick, singing with the enthusiasm and confidence of a
Cherubino.”
John W. Freeman, Opera News, December
2001
Janacek’s The Cunning Little
Vixen
“Beth Clayton gave a strong, vibrant performance
as the Fox.”
Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning News, January
8, 2000
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