R E V I E W S
KOMPONIST Ariadne auf Naxos, Longborough Festival Opera
"Clare Presland (Composer) is a revelation." - Seen and Heard
"Clare Presland took over the Prologue with her thrilling Composer, playing character's vulnerability, ambition and force of personality with a touching honesty & with singing that took no prisoners." - Opera Magazine
"The highest accolades in the Prologue, however, go to Clare Presland as The Composer, whose extremely powerful soprano has real edge at the top of the register and equally strong low notes. Her rapport with Zerbinetta is excellent as she warms to seeing things differently, but she also helps us to see The Composer as Ariadne before her transformation as at the end he says he just wants to curl up alone and freeze." - musicomh.com
"Clare Presland is superb as the Composer, capturing the ardour, youth, sexiness, and commitment to art. Her voice has a wonderful, unique timbre and her acting is completely appealing." - Plays to See
"Clare Presland’s intense Composer, just the right mixture of arrogant aesthetic focus, youthful bravado and desperate vulnerability: Presland’s explosive realisation that “Musik ist heilige Kunst” was tearjerking, while her relationship with Darren Jeffrey’s tawny-voiced, worldly Music-Master felt both tempestuous and longstanding." - Backtrack
"Just as effective in driving Strauss’s and Hofmannsthal’s extraordinarily layered blend of homage and pastiche is Clare Presland’s thrilling Composer in the Prologue (although this trouser-role appears, in character, among the audience at the start of the Opera, just to remind us that this is his creation). Presland’s mezzo has a seductive lower range to set against a more strident top, and the vocal extremes set up the Composer’s temperament so that however insufferable and arty he is we sympathise with him." - Classical Source
"The conflicted young composer, brilliantly sung by Clare Presland, who would rather die than compromise his beloved opera."- Mark Ronan
"Clare Presland is deeply touching as the Composer, both in her scene with Zerbinetta and in her climactic “Musik ist eine heilige Kunst” ("music is a holy art').....It’s a pleasure to hear Negus in something other than Wagner. Presland sings radiantly." - Arts Desk
"Absolutely gripping portrayal of the Composer by Clare Presland." - Midland Music Reviews
COUNTESS SUSANNA Il segreto di Susanna, Opera Holland Park
"Both performances are exceptional. Clare Presland brings wit and style to Susanna, whose terrible secret is (spoiler alert) that she’s a smoker" - The Stage
"Clare Presland’s Susanna flirts and schemes delightfully, conspiring with the audience in every glance and self-conscious gesture. Musically too, she holds the centre, matching John Andrews’ orchestra for lush, Italianate warmth" - Arts Desk
"Susanna - the irrepressible soprano Clare Presland" - The Guardian
"The piece comes to life thanks to stage-filling performances by Richard Burkhard as blustery Gil, Clare Presland as wily Susanna and John Savournin as their Basil Fawlty-esque servant" - The Guardian
"Clare Presland's performance was a winner" Opera Magazine
"Clare Presland brilliantly clouds Susanna’s confidence and vivacity as she battles with her cravings, she gives a lift of conversational nuance to every phrase, and if there was such a voice-type as a dark soubrette, Presland has it here, attached to an irresistible stage presence and incisive comic timing" - Classical Source
HERMIA A Midsummer Night's Dream, English National Opera
"Among the mortals, Clare Presland’s feisty Hermia stands out" - Financial Times
"Clare Presland's sparky Hermia, rich toned and incisively sung was the most successful" - Opera Magazine
"Clare Presland's beautifully considered Hermia" - WhatsOnStage
VARVARA Katya Kabanova, Opera Holland Park
"Presland is a young mezzo destined for great things – her Varvara is full of spunk and drive, progressive but still proficient" - Exeunt Magazine
"Clare Presland was a charming, characterful Varvara, her strophic songs offering some much-needed, if temporary, relief from the prevailing tension. Presland used her full-toned mezzo to communicate Varvara’s free-spirited amorality: she believes that it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you don’t get found out. But, this was a rounded portrait and Presland did not suggest that Varvara was blameless." - Opera Today
"Varvara, is superbly depicted by Clare Presland, another OHP debutante who has already appeared at ENO (four parts in Lulu) as well as the Royal Opera at both Hammersmith (4.48 Psychosis) and the Linbury (Glare). Preland shone in her role: one sees her career going from strength to strength. Her contribution to the third act, in particular, was notably impassioned." - Seen and Heard
"Further skilled and equally finely sung assumptions from Clare Presland as the foundling girl Varvara" - The Stage
"Clare Presland produces a clear and elegant tone for the role of Varvara, the scheming mezzo of the piece" - The Arts Desk
"Varvara, a sparkling Clare Presland." - Culture Whisper
Salome, English National Opera
"Stuart Jackson and Clare Presland make something rather beautiful of Narraboth’s opening dialogue with the page" - The Telegraph
"Clare Presland makes a mark" - The Guardian
"Stuart Jackson and Clare Presland likewise impressed in sensitive – especially given the context – performances, attentive to word and line, of Narraboth and Herodias’s Page" - Seen and Heard
Previous reviews
"Clare Presland uses the full range of her smoky mezzo" - The Times, Carmen
"Rhian Lois and Clare Presland are the classiest, brassiest Frasquita and Mercédès you're likely to see and justifiably steal centre stage more than they probably ought" - Whats on Stage, Carmen
"Clare Presland made a big impact" The Guardian, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
“Clare Presland (mesmerising) has an intensity that almost sears the flesh” The Times, Death of Klinghoffer
“The big arias are truly showstopping such as the Palestinian mother (Clare Presland)” - The Independent, The Death of Klinghoffer
“Mezzo Soprano Clare Presland as the Palestinian woman puts in a performance of penetrating emotional conviction” - classicalmusic.com, The Death of Klinghoffer
"Clare Presland's Margret revealed a voice of unique colour" - Capriccio Music, Wozzeck
"The show’s star, Presland, really deserves the plaudits for bringing the piece to life so vividly. Her portrayal is compelling - as a one woman show, Presland not only has to make her own role believable, but also convey the personalities of the unseen characters, and this feat she undertakes effortlessly" - Metro, The Looking Screen
"This one-woman show features the refined mezzo voice of Clare Presland, whose dramatic interpretation and vocal premise remained flawless throughout. Her natural charm, comedic skill and a somewhat misguided Internet lifestyle made for a LOL (laugh-out-loud) characterisation" - Huffington Post, The Looking Screen
"Clare Presland was incredible as poor Annabel Clark. Her frantic portrayal was perfect and had the audience in stitches. Performing a one woman opera cannot be easy but Clare's performance was intense and thoroughly engaging throughout" - West End Frame, The Looking Screen
"Amongst the cast, there was a stellar performance from Clare Presland...her acting ability was matched with a fabulous rich tone, and soaring coloratura" - The British Theatre Guide, Messiah Staged
“There's some fine acting amongst the singing, especially from Clare Presland as the faithful servant Suzuki” -Westend Broadway, Madama Butterfly
“Clare Presland’s vital Musetta was the pick of the bunch” - The Times, La Boheme