Soprano Carla Huhtanen gave the evening’s most memorable performance. She sang with a soaring, translucent soprano that produced – in its highest register – notes of glistening weightlessness.
World-Herald, John Pitcher. The Blizzard Voices, Opera Omaha.
Carla Huhtanen tinged vivid, fine-toned, accurately-placed coloratura.
Roderic Dunnet, The Independent Monday Review. Rossini’s La Gazzetta, Garsington Opera.
Carla Huhtanen’s Cunegonde brought the house down with “Glitter and Be Gay” and conjured the right kind of brittle optimism.
The Guardian, Andrew Clements. Candide, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall.
Her dazzling virtuosity in ‘Glitter and Be Gay’ was the highlight of the evening, the voice control quite superb, the interpretative familiarity and understanding very evident. She made a very favourable impression, and I hope to hear a good deal more of her.
Music Web International, Glyn Pursglove. Bernstein on Broadway, Welsh National Opera.
For the role of the heroine Lisetta, Garsington has found a real star in the Canadian soprano Carla Huhtanen. Her coloratura was fluent and accurate, and she sang cantilena with a pure tone. She also has a winning stage presence – a noteworthy British debut. Her duet with her lover was one of the hits of the evening.
The Sunday Telegraph, Michael Kennedy. Rossini’s La Gazzetta, Garsington Opera.
From her first aria “Ritorna a lusingarmi”, Canadian soprano Carla Huhtanen (Costanza) establishes herself as the star of the cast. In the famous “Agitata da due venti” she has little to envy from Cecilia Bartoli. Her vocal importance, her flawless technique, the charm of her round timbre is very admirable.
Brigitte Cormier, Opera Forum. Vivaldi’s Griselda, Naxos Records.
…but for me, it was Carla Huhtanen…who stole the show with her wit, her energy, and her glorious voice, like a rippling brook sparkling in the sunlight.
Edmonton Journal, Paula Simons. Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Edmonton Opera.
…soprano Carla Huhtanen had the dual challenge of performing some of the sweetest, and the most dramatic and difficult notes in the repertoire. With laser-like precision and a sweet feeling of confidence and assertiveness, Huhtanen delivered the climactic money notes with style and good expression.
The Record, Stephen Preece. Carmina Burana, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.
…especially when performed with the conviction and taste afforded by the marvellous soprano Carla Huhtanen. Huhtanen is another musician too often overlooked in Toronto’s musical scene. Not that she isn’t active – quite the contrary. You’ll see her in an Opera Atelier production, on the Canadian Opera Company stage, working hard at Soundstreams’s Electric Messiah, or singing Steve Reich. She’s an amazingly versatile performer, but really understands ‘new’ music. Her soaring, bright soprano cut right through the texts of surrealist poet René Char, which Boulez sets in Le soleil, and from her first note the audience was in her hands.
The Globe and Mail, Robert Harris. Boulez’s le soleil des eaux, Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
It was a vivid if uncomfortably honest portrayal of an artist overcoming their fears and chasing the longtail of fame. The show would end with Huhtanen confidently standing up and assuming the role of the diva with her voice washing over the room.
Noisey/Vice, Greg Bouchard. Tap:EX Tables Turned, Tapestry Opera. Full article.
Interview: Q&A – 22 Questions for Carla Huhtanen
Huhtanen’s soprano spoke clearly throughout her range and lent itself beautifully to Boulez’s ebbs and flows, bursting out of the orchestra’s colorful splashes and acting as a shimmering extension of upward-reaching choral waves.
Bachtrack.com, Chanda VanderHart. Boulez’s le soleil des eaux, Toronto Symphony Orchestra European tour.
Huhtanen’s voice is quite breathtaking – the clarity of tone and smoothness of line is matched only by her exquisite acting; her ‘Glitter and be Gay’ was sensational and any singer, past or present would have put their name to it with pride.
Profile in Opera Now Magazine, Matthew Peacock. Bernstein on Broadway, Welsh National Opera Orchestra.
Carla Huhtanen has the bright, clear, flexible, lyric soprano needed for Susanna.
The Globe and Mail, Paula Citron. The Marriage of Figaro, Opera Atelier.
A powerful and eloquent presence.
Opera Canada, Wayne Gooding. The Marriage of Figaro, Opera Atelier.
Interview: Ten Questions for Carla Huhtanen
Even with an audience no more than an arm’s reach away, singers Huhtanen and Belluz inhabit their roles completely, and seamlessly overcome the many technical challenges in the contrasting musical scores. These have to be the bravest vocal performances we have seen in Toronto this year.
Toronto Star, John Terauds. Orlando/Lunaire, Opera Erratica.
Huhtanen handled the two styles with authority and grace – touching in the Handel (her aria Verdi, piante was a highlight) and instinctively finding in the Schoenberg the subtle blend of speech and song that makes this music live.
Globe and Mail, Ken Winter. Orlando/Lunaire. Opera Erratica.
Huhtanen handled the two styles with authority and grace – touching in the Handel (her aria Verdi, piante was a highlight) and instinctively finding in the Schoenberg the subtle blend of speech and song that makes this music live.
Globe and Mail, Ken Winter. Orlando/Lunaire. Opera Erratica.
Forget the stereotype that opera singers merely stand and deliver. Huhtanen regularly proved that her acting chops were as strong as her singing, and this year she showed off her skills in a variety of roles in Opera To Go and Opera On The Rocks as well as stealing the spotlight in Mozart’s Abduction From The Seraglio.
Now Magazine, John Kaplan. Top Ten Theatre Artists of 2008.
Listening to Carla Huhtanen produce the outcries of “Lilitu” lifted me out of this world. The spontaneous logic of her vocal attack, without vibrato, with exaggerated vibrato (both finely honed), crying, chanting, wild and then fading to a low, dying whisper, took me back to my own primal experiences. Though it was like no other music, it made perfect sense, and was totally enjoyable.
showtimemagazine.ca, Stanley Fefferman. Scelsi Revisted: Sound in Three Dimensions, Toronto New Music Projects
Huhtanen consistently brings down the house with her wry humour and immaculate vocal technique.
Opera News, Christopher Hoile. The Abduction from the Seraglio, Opera Atelier
Carla Huhtanen’s expressive, flexible delivery matched with a wonderful comedic sense informed her depiction of Blondie with an engaging sense of fun and style.
The James Wegg Review. The Abduction from the Seraglio, Opera Atelier
Blonde is played with enormous charm and a delicious clarity of tone by Carla Huhtanen, who is so sharp-witted you know the word “dumb” will never be added to her name.
Toronto Star, Richard Ouzounian. The Abduction from the Seraglio, Opera Atelier
Carla Huhtanen’s sparkling soprano engagingly animates the music of Costanza.
Opera Magazine. Griselda, Naxos Records
Top honours go to Huhtanen, a gorgeous toned soprano of immense vocal flexibility.
Globe and Mail, Paula Citron. Minerva/Amor in The Return of Ulysses, Opera Atelier
Carla Huhtanen displayed her amazing versatility by beginning the year as a materialistic courtesan in Toronto Operetta Theatre’s Candide and continuing a few months later as the severe goddess Minerva in Opera Atelier’s The Return of Ulysses. Her unwavering voice was ideal for the foresighted goddess of wisdom.
Eye Weekly, Christopher Hoile. Top Ten Great Individual Achievements, 2007
Soprano Carla Huhtanen gave a spectacular account of “Glitter and Be Gay,” with joyously secure top notes and beautifully precise runs, all the while acting out Cunegonde’s hilarious vacillation between conscience and materialism with aplomb.
Opera News, Christopher Hoile. Candide, Toronto Operetta Theatre
Carla Huhtanen rose to its [Glitter and Be Gay] challenges quite splendidly…she presented a feisty character and was strong in projection throughout the wide-ranging tessitura.
classicalsource.com, Timothy Ball. Candide, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall
Soprano Carla Huhtanen is Titania, queen of the fairies. She offers a very nice interpretation, her voice in accord with her character of a capricious queen.
Anaclase.com, Emeric Mathiou. Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, Theatre Toursky, Marseille
My laurels went to the Canadian Carla Huhtanen’s mischievous Serpetta.
The Independent, Roderic Dunnett. Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera, Garsington Opera, England
Carla Huhtanen is excellent!
The Observer, Edward Greenfield. Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera, Garsington Opera, England
…in particular, we appreciated Carla Huhtanen, with her impeccable lines of singing- her ease, her grace, with all her charming lightness.
La Marseillaise, Simone Serret. Concerts at the Opéra de Marseille and Opéra d’Avignon
One must really lend an attentive and ear and admire the prowess [of these performers]…notably to the soprano Carla Huhtanen.
La Provence, Arlane Allard. Concerts at the Opéra de Marseille and Opéra d’Avignon
Garsington Rossini Triumph – La Gazzetta…the excellent cast is led by Donald Maxwell and Canadian coloratura Carla Huhtanen as a bright, defiant Lisetta.
The Observer, Edward Greenfield
Lisetta is sung with bright agility by Carla Huhtanen.
The (London) Times, John Allison. Rossini’s La Gazzetta, Garsington Opera