Sieglinde in DIE WALKÜRE
New York Philharmonic
“Sieglinde [was] the radiant soprano Heidi Melton... Singing with bloom and richness, Ms. Melton was a tender, vulnerable Sieglinde.”
-Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
"And while the concert presented only this excerpt, it was quite enough to give a taste of things to come under the new conductor: especially in his bold-face execution, sure-handed with the complex music and monumental forces on stage, and choice of soprano Heidi Melton as Sieglinde, the female half of the Ring's incestuous twins. New Yorkers should feel lucky to have heard Melton as Sieglinde, since she seems to be tending more toward Brunnhilde these days and who knows how long she'll keep this role around. With endless, precise legato, the music poured out of her like lava from Mt. Etna, combining both beauty and stentorian sound when called upon. Dramatically, she was a perfect match with tenor Simon O'Neill's Siegmund; they acted as if they've been doing this together forever. And the audience ate her up."
-Richard Sasanow, Broadway World Opera
"Soprano Heidi Melton was most impressive as Sieglinde. Her warm and gleaming voice was well suited to the woman who was in an abusive marriage and yet acted with insight and wisdom. She impressed with good acting with words, hand gestures and body language."
-Ako Imamura, Bachtrack
"Heidi Melton has an enormous voice... such a sensitive singer, with such a huge range of color, and such a fine actress. Her physical work was true and touching, even while Sieglinde was technically offstage, and the final clinch with Siegmund was just right — convincing, satisfying, still a little ambivalent, and perfectly thrilling. This was billed as a concert performance, but it was more convincingly theatricalized than any “semi-staged” performance I’ve ever seen, and actually more consistent in that regard than a lot of performances in the opera house."
-Christopher Johnson, ZEALnyc
"Melton has a warm, billowing, massive voice with formidable reserves at the bottom. She sang excitingly and with considerable feeling and responsiveness..."
-David Shengold, Opera News
"As Sieglinde, Heidi Melton was passionate and fiery, a far cry from the servant wife we often get. Her voice has a hard edge which one might associate more readily with a Brünnhilde, but on this night she wielded it quite beautifully to dramatic and musically emotional effect. Her exchanges with Relyea’s Hunding were some of the most memorable of the evening as she snapped back at him with forceful tone in a manner one isn’t accustomed to seeing from a Sieglinde. This alone made you believe that she would fearlessly run away with a stranger at the end of the act. And this sense of power and strength was also present in other major moments, most notably as she told Siegmund his new name, her sound accented and purposeful. You’ve probably never heard so much certainty and poise from any other Sieglinde these days. Her interactions with O’Neill ranged from intensely passionate to sweet and gentle, but she was compelling in her involvement when she wasn’t singing. There was not one instant where she wasn’t interacting in some manner with her colleagues, whether falling in love with O’Neill’s Siegmund or building hate for Relyea’s Hunding."
-David Salazar, Opera Wire
“As Sieglinde, Melton displayed a sizable and attractive voice right from her first big utterance, “So bleibe her!,” and she brought rich sounds too much of her music thereafter. Hers seems more of a Brünnhilde than a Sieglinde voice, however, and it’s not surprising that she sings the role of the valkyrie in the new Siegfried recording, although her reactions to the drama were often keen.”
-George Loomis, Musical America
“Soprano Heidi Melton proved nearly ideal as Sieglinde. She brought a rich voice to the role, showing smooth tenderness through most of the act, but was capable of thrilling energy, as well."
-Eric C. Simpson, New York Classical Review