PRESS

"The Rhinemaidens, vassals and Norns, among whom contralto Claudia Huckle’s lustrous First Norn stood out, all sang from the choral benches at the back, but were never allowed to be overwhelmed..."

Martin Kettle, The Guardian

"Claudia Huckle [was] mesmerising...as the prologue's First Norn."

Jessica Duchen, inews

"And what a way to begin. The first chord was supremely together, and the First Norn (contralto Claudia Huckle) excelled in her first line, ‘Welch’ Licht leuchtet dort?’ (‘What light is gleaming yonder?)."

Colin Clarke, Seen and Heard International.

"Three fabulous Norns – Claudia Huckle, Claire Barnett-Jones and Evelina Dobračeva – knitted and nattered their way through the opening half hour..."

Mark Valencia, Bachtrack

"...there was a good trio of Norns, especially Claudia Huckle and Claire Barnett-Jones."

Richard Fairman, Financial Times

"The trios of Norns (Claudia Huckle, Claire Barnett-Jones, Evelina Dobračeva) and Rheinmaidens (Alina Adamski, Alexandra Lowe, Angharad Lyddon) were superbly blended."

Ivan Hewett, John Allison and Poppie Platt, The Telegraph

"Here, these stalls were used to better effect so that only some characters such as the Norns (an excellent Claudia Huckle, Claire Barnett-Jones and Evelina Dobračeva sang from them."

Sam Smith, Opera  Online

"The musical virtues started right there, too, with a nicely-cast trio of young Norns (the same goes for the light and jovial Rhinemaidens later on), blending beautifully without any hint of ponderousness."

Robert Thicknesse, Opera Now

“However, nothing could detract from the achievement of a trio who made Handel, even at his most courtly and florid, sound not just vocally beautiful but humanly credible: soprano Mary Bevan as Aci, contralto Claudia Huckle as Galatea, and bass Callum Thorpe as Polifemo.” 

- Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk

“Huckle’s commanding contralto exuded calm authority but never sounded so queenly that she lost, especially in the upper range of numbers such as “Benché tuoni”, the tender vulnerability that Polifemo seeks to exploit” 

- Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk.

“...this is also the best performance of a Handel opera in years, with three outstanding singer-actors. Close your eyes and just listen. Mary Bevan’s airy purity of line beautifies every aria from Acis, while contralto Claudia Huckle is thrillingly forceful as Galatea, and baritone Callum Thorpe’s Polypheme makes the earth shake: while stumbling through the filmmakers’ minefield, this valiant trio don’t miss a beat.”

 - Michael Church, inews.

“Mary Bevan (Aci), Claudia Huckle (Galatea) and especially Callum Thorpe (Polifemo) projected their glorious music with a vocal bravura that took the breath away.”

- Hugh Canning, Operalogue.

“The cast is excellent. Mary Bevan and Claudia Huckle are Aci and his/her lover, Bevan’s soprano gleaming, Huckle’s mezzo lusciously expressive. Polifemo is the bass Callum Thorpe, his voice imposing in the villainous bluster and moving in his moments of despair.” 

- Erica Jeal, The Guardian.

“What lifts the evening is the wit, passion and elegance of the musical performances, whether it’s Bevan’s steely sweet soprano, the mountain-stream vividness of Huckle’s contralto or the astonishing, cavernous range of Callum Thorpe, who plays Polifemo.”

- Rachel Halliburton, The Times.

“It helped that the three protagonists here were all world-class singers with a total mastery of Handelian style.”

-Nicholas Kenyon, The Telegraph.

They were all excellent, and entirely committed to the concept. Mary Bevan was an expressive Aci, Claudia Huckle’s voice burned with pain as the bereaved Galatea, and Callum Thorpe was absolutely thunderous as Polifemo – the air practically shook when he sang. Opera in a confined space is always a high-stakes game, but with a cast of this quality the pay-off in terms of sheer visceral impact is unarguable.

- Richard Bratby, The Spectator

"Claudia Huckle’s warm and deep mezzo was a marvellous foil."

- Robert Thicknesse, Opera Now

"The other three soloists are so ideally cast that I found myself wishing that Delius had given them a little more to do: (...) Claudia Huckle’s rich contralto brings real pathos to her wistful admonishment of the faithless Zarathustra (...)

- Katherine Cooper, Presto Music.

"Claudia Huckle is a true contralto – a rather rare commodity these days – and the warmth and richness of her voice is appropriate to this music, especially since the voice is well focused....Claudia Huckle offers calm and poised singing in her ‘O Zarathustra’ solo (from 9:58)."

- John Quinn, Music Web International

" ...and praise, too, for contralto Claudia Huckle, who brings a gloriously dusky resonance to ‘O Zarathustra!’ towards the close of Part 1’s substantial centrepiece."

- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone.

“All praise to the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Edvard Grieg Kor, Collegium Musicum Choir and soloists Gemma Summerfield, Claudia Huckle, Bror Magnus Tødenes and, in the prominent baritone role, Roderick Williams. I was converted.”

- Fiona Maddocks, The Observer.

"The soloists, who share the words of Zarathustra, offer a very colorful vocal palette in the gigantic orchestral texture. We want to highlight the elegant performance of baritone Roderick Williams, (...) and some of his musical colleagues, such as the brilliant soprano Gemma Summerfield, winner of the Viñas Tenor Competition (2022), the Anglo-German contralto Claudia Huckle, who brings us the passion, and the pure and flexible voice of the Norwegian tenor Bror Magnus Tødenes."                                                                

 -Núria Serra, Sonograma.

"He is supported by a stellar cast which includes soprano Gemma Summerfield, contralto Claudia Huckle, and tenor Bror Magnus Tødenes."

-Jean-Yves Duperron, Classical Music Sentinel.

"The soloists shone in their appointed moments of glory in particular. Rangwanasha, whose beautiful soprano has graced the Bridgewater Hall before now, soared clear and true in the “Quis est homo” duet alongside Claudia Huckle’s warm and insistent mezzo – and with a pretty impressive duet-cadenza to finish – and the former outstanding also in the full-throttle aria and chorus of “Inflammatus”, while the latter brought passion and distinction to “Fac ut portem”."

-  Robert Beale, The Arts Desk.

"….the exquisitely matched Three Ladies (Elizabeth Watts, Catriona Morrison, Claudia Huckle) were luxury casting."

- Andrew Clark, Opera Magazine

"...and there was a first-rate trio of ladies in Elizabeth Watts, Catriona Morison and Claudia Huckle."

- Simon Thompson, The Times

"Elizabeth Watts, Catriona Morison and Claudia Huckle were the three well-blended ladies, Watts’ silky soprano floating over the deeply rich contraltos, bickering furiously as they vied to be left alone with the handsome Prince Tamino."

- David Smythe, Bachtrack

"Elizabeth Watts, Catriona Morison and Claudia Huckle are luxury casting, and their precise ensemble singing is accompanied by astute comic acting.  When they’re joined in the quintet by Ilker Arcayürek and Gyula Orendt as Papageno – even briefly by Emelyanychev as he moves between them to conduct – it’s one of these astonishing moments where music-making and festivals all come right! (Is there perhaps an undiscovered sequel opera ‘The Further Adventures of the Three Ladies?’)"

- Kate Calder, Edinburgh Music Review

"The Three Ladies [Elizabeth Watts, Catriona Morison and Claudia Huckle] blended beautifully while each having a lovely voice and a very distinct personality."

-  Brett Herriot, Scots Gay Arts

"Claudia Huckle, Nicky Spence and Justin Brown’s minimalist  Mahler wants for nothing.... The contralto Claudia Huckle and  tenor Nicky Spence, with pianist Justin Brown, capture all the  vitality and intensity of this orchestral song cycle, completed in  1909: from the first entry of the tenor, who hurtles in on high  with his Drinking Song of the Earth’s Sorrow, to the infinite  tenderness of the contralto’s Der Abschied.... Huckle had the  idea to do the piano version during lockdown, feeling that post pandemic life might never allow her to sing the work in concert.  Let’s hope she does. She is perfectly suited"

- Fiona Maddocks, The Observer

"The project, though, originated with contralto Claudia Huckle - a  response to lockdown and the chance it gave her to contemplate  nature anew and finally take the score for Das Lied off the shelf.  Her voice is a superbly rich and seductive instrument with true

contralto colour. Her 'Der Abschied' is, as it should be, a moving  culmination of the album … this is a welcome recording that will,  one hopes, bring a new audience to this rewarding version of  this wonderful work."

- Hugo Shirley, Gramophone

"Here, perfect technique, deep expression and unique vocal  personalities combine in the singing of Scottish tenor Nicky  Spence and Anglo-German contralto Claudia Huckle, who’s done  so many distinguished things around the world yet not enough  in the UK – and who writes such a lovely foreword in the booklet  to complement conductor and pianist Justin Brown’s eloquent  words on the edition chosen and Richard Stokes’s insights into  the music.... We have to hear both these singers in the  orchestral version – but in the meantime how much there is to  admire here in the mesh of voices and piano.

- David Nice, BBC Music Magazine

"…Furthermore, this is an outstanding performance by any  standards. Huckle has a rich, dark contralto voice and a rare  way with the text. Accordingly, she’s deeply inside these songs, capturing their combination of valedictory wistfulness and  youthful enthusiasm, while clearly identifying with the  composer’s deep inner connection to the natural world. With  only piano to support her, she can focus on the storytelling, but  she never lets the words overpower the lyrical importance of the  vocal line. Another bonus of the slimmed down piano version is  that for once we hear a singer sail through the frantic passages  of 'Von der schönheit' without the usual desperate gasping for  breath."

- Clive Paget, Limelight Magazine, Editor’s Choice  Recording

"Huckle’s intense and moving performance brings us far deeper  into the emotional world of these songs, however. As she writes  in her liner notes, “One thing I realized during that beautiful  spring of 2020 was that if I never performed again, my greatest  regret would be never having sung Das Lied von der Erde.” Her  deep commitment shines through in every bar."

- Daniel Foley, The Whole Note

"...Claudia Huckle the warm-toned Mary of Egypt."

-The Guardian, Andrew Clements

"...rich-sounding mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston and contralto  Claudia Huckle."

- Seen and Heard International, Jim Pritchard

"... while Claudia Huckle (Mary of Egypt) and Jennifer Johnston  (Mulier Samaritana) both fashioned distinctive and involving  accounts, the four of them well balanced too in ensemble  passages."

-Bachtrack, David Truslove

"Claudia Huckle in the role of Suzuki was very natural and  moving, and in possession of an important voice for volume and  beauty."

- L'Ape Musicale, Irina Sorokina

"Next to her, Claudia Huckle as her servant Suzuki perseveres,  supports and suffers, with her beautiful contralto voice.  

- IOCO Kultur im Netz, Daniela Zimmermann

"Claudia Huckle as the maid Suzuki received a deserved final  applause."

- Frankfurt-Live, Karl-Heinz Stier und Ingeborg Fischer

"Claudia Huckle, whose deep contralto voice makes her an  imposing Voice from Heaven..."

- José Pons, Olyrix

"Claudia Huckle’s sensational, dark-burgundy alto was a standout  among the women, her spellbinding “Erbarme dich” seeming to  float around Matthew Truscott’s dusky violin line."

  - The Times, Simon Thompson

"Claudia Huckle’s contralto in Flosshilde/1st Norn is clean,  expressive, full-bodied and deep in the lower register."

- Par Vojin Jaglicic, Olyrix

The Norns and Rheinmaidens were on an equal footing with this  first-class ensemble of protagonists. In particular, Claudia Huckle was able to convince with her sonorous mezzo as 1st Norn and  Flosshilde."

- Klaus Billard, Opera Online

"Claudia Huckle, after being replaced in past performances by Anna Lapkovskaja, Marina Pinchuk and Christa Mayer, was a superb Flosshilde. Her voice was the biggest of the Rhinemaidens and her contralto-like tone alongside her generous volume, made her one of the best supporting singers of the night."

- Angel Parsifal, Emociones Liricas

"... contralto Claudia Huckle, gifted with a dark and fascinating voice..."

 - L'Ape Musicale, Luca Fialdini

"The dark glow of Claudia Huckle’s Flosshilde was already  noticed, and then the wonderful "alto-gold" streams of her Erda  filled the entire auditorium from the far end of the stalls."  

- Neue Musikzeitung, Wolf-Dieter Peter

"The three Rhine daughters (wonderfully harmonious: Liv  Redpath, Svetlina Stoyanova and Claudia Huckle).  The fateful curse of the Ring had already claimed its first victim,  as the great mother Erda (the great alto: Claudia Huckle)  warned in advance from the rank: “Weiche, Wotan, Weiche!"  

- Kultur Zeitschrift, Fritz Jurmann

"Claudia Huckle gives a wonderful Erda and forms part of a good  Rhine daughter trio with Liv Redpath and Svetlina Stoyanova." 

- Vorarlberger Nachrichten, Christa Dietrich

"The two soloists (soprano Christine Karg and contralto Claudia  Huckle) contributed with great commitment to Myung-Whun  Chung’s engrossing interpretation"

- Fabio Bardelli, Opera Click

"... the delicate tracing of ‘Urlicht’, well supported by the voice of  Claudia Huckle"

- Elisabetta Torselli, Giornale della Musica

"Claudia sang the best-known song ‘Where Corals Lie’ with a  haunting, yearning quality whilst reserving maximum vocal  power and her remarkable vocal range for the final song ‘The  Swimmer’... Claudia’s final climactic note was nothing if not a  force of nature in itself ... Claudia Huckle and Simon Lepper  [also] performed Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, the duo  inhabiting the world of the poems with rich, vibrant colouring of  the words. This was especially true in their sensitive (rather than  sentimental) performance of the opening song ‘Der Engel’ ...  There was one short encore, Benjamin Britten’s folk song  arrangement ‘O Waly Waly’, which gave us in a nutshell the  qualities of the Huckle/Lepper partnership: a deep richness of  sound, insight into meaning and sensitivity to tonal colour.  

- Nottingham Post, William Ruff

"Contralto Claudia Huckle (Angel/Queen) has the most beautiful  velvety voice and uses it to perfection. Her aria ‘O rest in the  Lord’ – with BBC SO principal flautist Daniel Pailthorpe  accompanying her with utmost musicality on his wooden flute –  did indeed feel comforting in many dimensions."

- Seen and Heard International, Agnes Cory

"No less impressive was the contralto voice of Claudia Huckle,  with its sensuous range of dark-chocolate and vanilla tones. Her  recitatives as an Angel were delivered with absolute assurance,  and in the moments of exposed writing in her arioso “Woe unto  them who forsake Him!” she moved effortlessly through all her  registers. An additional highlight was the gentle vibrancy she  brought to her aria 'O rest in the Lord'."

- Classical Source, Alexander Hall

"[Claudia’s] was a performance of elegance and poise...."

 - Herald Scotland, Keith Bruce

"Claudia Huckle’s contralto was in a dark bloom, with  characteristically wounding low notes (her ‘grief’ in ‘He was  Despised’ was heart-stopping)."

- Benjamin Poore, OperaOMH

"Contralto Claudia Huckle has a bewitching tone in amber  colours."

- Julian Sykes, Le Temps

"The prophetic mussel, which lives inside the radio but often  comes out on stage, is [sung by] Claudia Huckle, wrapped in  gold and with an angelic voice."

 - Giornale della Musica, Stefano Jacini

"Claudia Huckle is an enchanting Omniscient Mussel, with a dark  contralto voice of shapely velvet."

- Connessi all’Opera, Stefano Balbiani

"Claudia Huckle's Mussel, Thomas Hampson's Altair and Attilio  Glaser's Da-ud are all really sumptuous."

- NonsoloCinema, Luca Benvenuti

"On the whole, the complementary roles are particularly well  done, Claudia Huckle, the omniscient seashell asserts a beautiful  contralto voice with a velvety tone."

- Wanderer, Guy Cherqui

"Finally, Claudia Huckle's shimmering contralto, applauded in  Schwertleite three years ago [read our column from June 29,  2016], has a great effect in the role of the Prophetic Shell, to  which it lends a tender tone and perfect suppleness."

- Anaclase, Katy Oberlé

"Danae Kontora, Catriona Morison and Claudia Huckle added a  delicious effervescence as Rhinemaidens."

- Ken Walton, The Scotsman

"The contralto voice of Claudia Huckle appears in all its  comforting roundness accompanied by a distant fanfare. She  evokes the sky or God with much sweetness, with a smooth  Viennese legato softening the upper register of the voice in the  ascending phrases. This full and sonorous voice is needed when  the Lied (an extract from Knaben Wunderhorn) suggests the  impossibility of accessing the kingdom of heaven 'Ach nein! Ich  liess mich nicht abweisen!' ('No, I will not let myself be pushed  back!'). Her warm tone is accompanied by an expressive vibrato."  

-Frédérique Epin, Olyrix

"As the last notes of the thrilling third movement explode,  Claudia Huckle comes to the proscenium to open with remarkable serenity the brief fourth movement, "Urlicht". The  dense and airy timbre of her contralto is ideally matched with  the solemn chorale of brass, whose even and consistent sound,  similar to the colours of an organ, accompany with gravity the  declamation of the metaphysical text."

- Arthur Macé, Bachtrack

"The opera's two trios, Norns and Rhinemaidens, were pretty  much flawless. Contralto Claudia Huckle sang magically as the  First Norn…"

- Mark Valencia, WhatsonStage

"The Norns, led by Claudia Huckle, and the Rhinemaidens,  featuring a striking Lauren Fagan, were superb."

  - Neil Fisher, The Times

"And the numerous red lines running through the cycle’s earlier  operas turn out to be threads woven by the all-knowing Norns,  magnificently sung here by Claudia Huckle, Irmgard Vilsmaier  and Lise Davidsen."

- Flora Willson, The Guardian

"It’s rare to be so gripped by the Norns as this audience clearly  was – and it was not just Lise Davidsen’s startling, Rita Hunter like attack which impressed, but Irmgard Vilsmaier’s dramatic commitment and Claudia Huckle’s warm, beautiful tone."  

- Melanie Eskenazi, MusicOMH

"The musical argument is carried principally by the chorus and  orchestra, which is not to denigrate the contribution of the four  soloists, especially Claudia Huckle as Cleopatra, whose final  soliloquy is exquisite."

- Gramophone magazine

"Claudia Huckle sings the contralto role of Cleopatra with total  conviction and impressive engagement. As a contralto her voice  has the right extra weight to its sound."

-Musicweb-International

"Yet this was also a performance in which the soloists were  beautifully cast and contrasted, from the stratospheric purity of  Joélle Harvey’s Mater Gloriosa to Claudia Huckle’s earthy Maria  Aegyptiaca…."

- The Times, Anna Picard

"Maria Aegyptiaca lies low but held no fears for the rich-sounding  Claudia Huckle."

- Seen and Heard International, Jim Pritchard

"The pleasures here were compounded here by Norwegian mezzo  Mariane Beate Kielland, an unusual timbre from a sympathetic  performer standing in for the peerless Christine Rice, true  contralto Claudia Huckle and reigning Wagnerian Stuart  O’Neill...."

- The Arts Desk, David Nice

"...Claudia Huckle as Erda was responsible for one of the best  moments of the entire performance."

- Seen and Heard International - Jose M. Irurzun

"Claudia Huckle begeistert mit ihrem dunkel gefärbten  Mezzosopran (sic) und ihrem warmen Timbre in beiden Erda Partien"

"Claudia Huckle thrilled with her dark colored mezzo-soprano  (sic) and her warm timbre in both Erda parts."

- O-Ton Kulturmagazin - Andreas H. Hölscher

"Claudia Huckle’s alto solos shone darkly, treading a line between  redemptive warmth and gentle sorrow. “Erbarme dich” was  delivered with breathtaking lyrical control, gently imploring, her  voice woven seamlessly with the fiercely expressive violin solo of  Matthew Truscott, both floating on the ethereal strings of the  OAE. Transporting stuff.'

- Bachtrack - Benjamin Poore

"... the lustrously youthful Claudia Huckle, whose sublime  Erbarme dich with Matthew Truscott’s eloquent violin obbligato  was the emotional climax of the piece."

- The Sunday Times - Hugh Canning

"…the lustrous contralto of Claudia Huckle."

- Evening Standard - Nick Kimberley

"-Claudia Huckle (with a beautiful contralto timbre) contained an  added emotion."

- El Pais

"Claudia Huckle made her debut as the Angel with a mezzo (sic)  of luminous, consoling empathy......"

- The Sunday Times, Hugh Canning

"Claudia Huckle’s Angel showed her true heft in the Elysian Fields."

- The Press, York, Martin Dreyer

"Alto Claudia Huckle is a rising star on the British scene for her  interpretations of Mahler’s vocal works and it’s easy to hear why.  She sang with a rich, dark voice that brought haunting beauty to  “Urlicht.”

- Boston Classical Review, Aaron Keebaugh

"It was the best live Mahler Second I've heard over the past 38  years....Contralto Claudia Huckle drifted on stage unobtrusively  as the third movement closed, without a book, and looked the  audience in the eye as she sang of the child who won’t let an  angel block her way to heaven."

- The Boston Globe, Jeffrey Gantz

"As Dalila, Claudia Huckle displayed astonishing mastery of this fantastic siren role; she has all the vocal qualities needed. She  also sings French extremely well, and has a superb sense of  line; add to which dangerous charm, and allure, and the moments where Dalila’s duplicity is revealed were the more chilling for being understated. Huckle made the part her own."

- Classical Source, Alexander Campbell

"Claudia Huckle was a rather imperial-looking Dalilah, but she used her lustrous, rich lower voice to reveal the temptress’s  dangerous voluptuousness. Indeed, though the role is designated for mezzo, Huckle describes herself as a contralto  and this was borne out by the authoritative amplitude and  plushness of her low voice. She moved seamlessly across registers; the far-reaching lines of “Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix” rose and fell languorously, the voice alluring and well supported.  No wonder Samson was blind to her treachery."

- Opera magazine, Claire Seymour

'Claudia Huckle is well known to Glyndebourne and Garsington  audiences, and it came as no surprise that hers is a Suzuki with  few equals; from her creamy, elegantly phrased singing to her  exact impersonation of the movements of a shy servant, she  drew the eye whenever she appeared."

- Music OMH, Melanie Eskenazi

"…. the ever-fabulous contralto of Claudia Huckle ensures that  Suzuki, the maid, all but steals the show."

- What's on stage, Mark Valencia

".….there is strong support from Michael Druiett’s Bonze and  Claudia Huckle’s velvet-voiced Suzuki"

- The Times, Neil Fisher

"Claudia Huckle delivered a rich-toned, sympathetic Suzuki"

- Opera magazine, Hugh Canning

"Francesco Verna and Claudia Huckle were stalwart and  sympathetic as Sharpless and Suzuki…"

- The Telegraph, Rupert Christiansen

"Claudia Huckle’s rich contralto gives her Suzuki vocal depth to match her portrayal’s compassion"

- The Stage, George Hall

"Claudia Huckle has an almost show stealing voice, but knows  how to use it well and allow Cio-Cio San to shine…"  

- The Latest, Andrew Kay

"….Suzuki - the excellent Claudia Huckle (…..)Huckle’s plum  toned Suzuki is silky and warm….."

- Bachtrack, Mark Pullinger

"Claudia Huckle’s Suzuki and Michael Druiett’s Bonze are the best  of a variable supporting cast."

- The Financial Times, Richard Fairman

"What luxury to have Claudia Huckle for the cameo role of  Hippolyta"

- What's on stage, Mark Valencia

"Claudia Huckle’s rich-voiced Hippolyta made more than most of  her sketchily conceived role."

- The Sunday Times, Hugh Canning

"There was also a richly regal Hippolyta from Claudia Huckle."  

- Bachtrack, Mark Pullinger

"He is finely contrasted with Michael Sumuel’s gentlemanly  Theseus, the arrogance in that couple definitely coming from  Claudia Huckle’s elegantly phrased Hippolyta."

- Music OMH, Melanie Eskenazi

"The women are no less magnificent, from Claudia Huckle's  mysterious earth goddess Erda through a hair-raising team of  Valkyries (.......)"

- What's on Stage, Mark Valencia

"Another highlight is Claudia Huckle as Erda. She looks young –  eternal youth, forever renewed. She also sounds mature,  imbued with the deep knowledge of the world and its history.  Sheer vocal beauty."

- Professor Phillip Kitcher, Opera North blog

"A luxurious line-up of valkyries was assembled, among whom  the thrilling steely tones of Katherine Broderick shone brightest,  along with Claudia Huckle's gorgeously rich-toned Schwertleite."

- Mark Pullinger, Bachtrack

"Claudia Huckle’s flamboyant Good Witch"

- George Hall, The Guardian

"Claudia Huckle's interesting performance as a psychoanalyst  Mérope was one of the vocal highlights, musically rich and warm."

- Opera Magazine, John Allison

"But this proved a suitable format for the discourse between  Oedipe and his adoptive mother, Mérope, sung here with  controlled elegance by Claudia Huckle."

- Opera Brittania, Gavin Dixon

"Claudia Huckle has the right warmth for anxious adoptive  mother Merope, to whom Oedipus confesses his fears on the  Freudian couch(.....)"

- The Arts Desk, David Nice

"(.....)contralto Claudia Huckle sang the role with richness."  

- Opera Today, Claire Seymour

"Most striking of all was the young contralto Claudia Huckle as  Marfa, battered between religious and political forces.  Mussorgsky gives her a substantial role and Huckle  accomplished it magnificently: genuine, graceful and touching hers is one of the richest, most beautiful contralto voices I've  heard in years."

- Opera Now

"But the best of these inventions is certainly the contralto, Marfa,  whom Mussorgsky saw as a complex, sexually motivated thirty something, but who is usually played as a frumpish matron with  no more than the embarrassing memory of a glad eye. Claudia  Huckle’s reading of this role brings it to life for the first time in  my experience. She makes Marfa both physically attractive and  believably a hysteric, without over-playing, but with superb  vocal sonority and control. She even – with a lot of help from  Hannah Mason – manages to give her strictly irrelevant scene  with fellow Old Believer Susanna some dramatic point, though the lesbian implications perhaps raise more problems than they  solve."

 -The Arts Desk, Stephen Walsh

"The fast-rising British contralto Claudia Huckle was brave and  intelligent as the strange, schismatic Marfa."

- The Observer, Fiona Maddocks

"It’s the singers’ intensity and veracity that count – qualities  exemplified by Claudia Huckle’s sensuous, impassioned Marfa."  

- The Financial Times, Andrew Clark

"The opera is notably well sung : (. . .) Claudia Huckle's Marfa -  Andrei's discarded lover - is a lush-toned siren."

- The Sunday Times, Hugh Canning

"....musical standards and the quality of individual performances  are both extraordinarily high(.......)Best of all are Keel Watson as  a bold messianic Dosifei, leader of the ultra-conservative, anti abortion, anti-gay True Believers, and Claudia Huckle as his  daughter Marfa, whose unswerving love for Andrei Khovansky  provi"des the emotional heart to what can be an intimidatingly  unsparing work.

 - The Guardian, Andrew Clements

"The star of the evening, apart from Laird’s uplifting chorus and  Stuart Stratford’s wonderful, brass-enriched CBSO, was  prizewinning young contralto Claudia Huckle. What a voice: rich,  ringing, poignant – a sound one would travel miles to hear;  Khovanskygate’s true soul. Hers is a performance to treasure for  a long time to come."

- Exeunt Magazine, Roderic Dunnett

"Claudia Huckle sang with absolute conviction as Marfa."  

- Opera Magazine, Hugo Shirley

"Behind Claudia Huckle's compelling Lucretia one really can sense  the distant presence of Kathleen Ferrier, the great contralto for  whom this role was written; Huckle's performance is finely  judged, with its climax all the more thought-provoking for being  understated - this Lucretia's post-rape 'shame' is existential." 

 - The Independent, Michael Church

"Huckle, infinitely vulnerable, unflinchingly registers Lucretia's  agony."

- The Guardian, Tim Ashley

"And Shaw draws magnificent performances from a mostly young  cast...Claudia Huckle’s deeply touching and vulnerable  Lucretia...."

- The Telegraph, Rupert Christiansen

"Claudia Huckle’s Lucretia holds darkness and light in equipoise in  her mobile contralto."

- The Times, Hilary Finch

"Claudia Huckle's Lucretia, impossibly moving....."

- New Statesman, Alexandra Coghlan

".....delicately vulnerable Lucretia (the beautifully dark-toned  contralto Claudia Huckle) horrified and disgusted at her  violation."

- The Observer, Stephen Pritchard

"......her velvety dark voice enfolding her lines in beauty..."  

- Financial Times, Andrew Clark

"Claudia Huckle as Lucretia, with a wonderfully rich but clear contralto.

- The Times Literary Supplement, Guy Dammann

"Claudia Huckle gave us a very noble and dignified Lucretia and  she seemed to retain the sense of dignity even after the  climactic rape. Like Kathleen Ferrier for whom the part was  written, she has a wonderfully rich and highly coloured contralto  voice and she was able to inject considerable dramatic power

into the proceedings when required particularly in the second Act."

- Seen and Heard International, Robert Beattie

"The singers are close to ideal, every one of them. There's no  bargain-basement casting for this tour; it's an A-list ensemble of  exceptional quality, and everyone's exemplary diction makes the  surtitles quite unnecessary(.......)Claudia Huckle's vulnerable,  shift-clad Lucretia...."

- What's On Stage, Mark Valencia

"Claudia Huckle sings Lucretia with passion and grace." 

- The Stage, Edward Bhesania

"Claudia Huckle's voice makes for a sensual Lucretia." 

- The Big Issue, Rosenna East

"Claudia Huckle is a stylish Lucretia"

 - The Mail on Sunday, David Mellor

"........she produced an intense and affecting performance. She  acted with intelligence and commitment. A voice that initially  embodied lightness and composure, transmuted after her  violation to darker tones conveying vulnerability and self castigation. Her confession was rich, mobile and expressive, her  exposure unveiling a troubling guilt as Tarquinius’s desire  became her crime. Huckle’s Lucretia is no artificial idol; rather  she is a real, flesh-and-blood woman, shocked and destroyed by  her own unbidden passions."

- Opera Today, Claire Seymour

"But the stand-out vocal performance came from her stage  brother, Claudia Huckle as Hänsel. Huckle absolutely nailed the  part, singing with a strong, very well-focused contralto and  projecting both her stage and her vocal personality with  apparent ease. I do not know if she was this good earlier in the  run – I caught the last performance, not only of the production but of the Garsington season – but this was outstanding, truly  impressive singing. She is someone to be watched."

- Musical criticism, Mike Reynolds

"The vocal ingredients here are particularly good.......Anna Devin  and Claudia Huckle are note-perfect and a near ideal match:  Devin's sharp-witted Gretel complements Huckle's convincingly  boyish Hansel, whose elegant contralto sets off the charm of her  stage-sister's pristine soprano."

- The Guardian, George Hall

"And the central performances are exceptionally strong. Claudia  Huckle and Anna Devin play very convincingly off each other as  Hansel and Gretel, with Devin’s delicately-shaded soprano  complemented by Huckle’s sumptuous contralto."  

- The Independent, Michael Church

"Garsington can be proud of their Hansel and Gretel, which  enshrines several performances as good as I have encountered  at both Covent Garden and the Met. Claudia Huckle and Anna  Devin are outstanding. Both are young, and this so helps their  riveting portrayals of Hansel and Gretel as engaging but clumsily  gawky pre-teens."

- The Mail on Sunday, David Mellor

"Pack tissues if you’re going, for an Evening Prayer more  exquisite than that sung by Anna Devin (Gretel) and Claudia  Huckle (Hänsel) is hard to imagine."

- The Independent on Sunday. Anna Picard

"Such a strong production needs first rate singers, and there was  not one weakness in the cast. Claudia Huckle has a truly  beautiful contralto voice, exceptionally opulent and even  throughout the range, and her Hänsel was the most credible I’ve  seen; it helps that she’s elfin and looks about twelve, but it was  her lively, engaging acting which made her character rounded.  She will sing the title part in the Glyndebourne Tour’s Rape of  Lucretia– definitely one to see."

- Music OMH, Melanie Eskenazi

"Martin André's orchestra is dazzling, as are the performances of  Claudia Huckle and Anna Devin in the title roles and the talented  chorus of children."

- Wall Street Journal, Paul Levy.

"Devin and Huckle made a believable Hansel and Gretel,  recognizably childish in their personalities and certainly not  good. Sometimes the action of act one can seem a little  awkward and arch, but here Fuchs developed a fine naturalistic  relationship between Devin and Huckle. Huckle made one of the  most believable boyish Hänsels I have seen in a long time and  Devin was certainly no cute, goody two-shoes Gretel. The set  pieces were well sung and the two singers were well balanced,  and gave completely engaging performances. Unlike some  performances, acts one and two positively flew by."  

- Opera Today, Robert Hugill

"Claudia Huckle's Hänsel and Anna Devin's Gretel offer no less  remarkable performances. Huckle's Dennis the Menace-style  strutting, face-pulling Hänsel grows into the brave soldier  denoted by the costume he is given by the Witch. Wide-eyed  Devin constantly analyses the women around her, eventually  facing her own womanhood and the threat of the 'awfully big  adventure' with aplomb. Superb diction, Devin's nimble tone and  Huckle's touchingly lustrous contralto provide appealing  catalysts to the tale."

- Entartete Musik

"Hänsel and Gretel proved to be an indomitable pair, dressed as  an old-fashioned cosy ideal of German children, all wholesome  pigtails, smocks and lederhosen. Claudia Huckle’s rich, supple  contralto was a great pleasure, and her movements and  mannerisms gave Hänsel an appealing authenticity."  

- Classical Source, Peter Reed

"Claudia Huckle and Anna Devin interact and sing superbly as  Hansel and Gretel, with Devin’s bright, light soprano voice  playing off Huckle’s warm contralto. Huckle has an expressive  face too, making it plain Hansel may be hungry, but he has not  lost his boyish high spirits."

- Oxford Times

"Claudia Huckle and Anna Devin both put in outstanding  performances as the leading pair. From their perfectly believable  childish dancing in the first scene to their sincere terror when  figures in creepy animal masks prowl at night, they capture the  sense of helplessness that face two babes lost in the woods.... Huckle as Hansel was appropriately boyish in her  mannerisms – surely an achievement given the way this trouser  role struggles against a libretto that keeps emphasising Hansel’s  budding masculinity. Huckle’s contralto voice gave us beautifully  rich tones......"

- Bachtrack

"The stars, contralto Claudia Huckle as Hansel and soprano Anna  Devin as Gretel are mesmeric, tossing recriminations and fun at  each other ...."

- Bucks Free Press - Liz Collins