The Magic Flute
Susan Whitenack's raging, glittering, intense Queen of
the Night ... Whitenack, sparkling in a Renaissance-style Spanish gown,
wrapped her wonderfully controlled voice around Mozart's ornamental
passages with verve and grace. (January 1997)
In the end, though, opera is music, and artistic
director Francis Graffeo beckoned impressive young talents, Susan
Whitenack, a spectacular Queen of the Night ... (March 1997)
-The Register-Guard, Eugene, OR
Soprano Susan Whitenack was heard in the final Mozart
selection, "Der Holle Rache" from "The Magic Flute."
This aria, a showpiece for the evil Queen of the Night, is a tour de
force, a challenge that Whitenack clearly relished. She has a voice of
great clarity and dazzling beauty, strong in every register. Her voice
seemed almost superhuman as she not only sustained high notes but expanded
and embellished them. (May 1997)
-Mary Johnson, Baltimore Sun
The third Mozart work was the aria "Der Holle
Rache" from "Die Zauberflote." Ms. Whitenack quietly walked
to the front of the stage with the conductor, then the music started and
Ms. Whitenack became the Queen of the Night. Her performance, from start
to finish, was exciting and beautiful; the staccato vocal passages were
brilliantly executed and there were no flaws. The accompaniment by the
orchestra and the tempo set by its conductor gave a very good reason for
attending live concerts. It is these momentary heights that artists can
achieve in front of an audience that are rarely duplicated on recordings.
(May 1997)
-Leonard Moses, Annapolis Capital
Tales of Hoffmann
Susan Whitenack sang brilliantly as the doll, Olympia.
She tossed off the vocal fireworks with sparkling ease ... a vivid musical
performance ... performed with distinction ... (Robert Baxter, November
1996) Particularly memorable, said Ty Triplett, 16, of Medford, NJ, was
hearing Susan Whitenack perform during last year's The Tales of Hoffmann.
"When she sang, we all missed our cues because she was so
fantastic," Triplett said. (Sean Kim, Sept 1997)
-The Courier-Post, Southern NJ
On the bus ride to New York, I spotted Susan Whitenack,
a Doylestown opera singer I'd written about. We shared a taxi to the
luncheon and she told me she was going to sing for The Maestro [Luciano
Pavarotti]
...After lunch, Susan sang the "Doll Aria"
from The Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach. She was dressed like a
wind-up doll with a magic wand.Someone wound her up and she started
singing. It sounded great to me and Pavarotti seemed to agree, as he sat
enraptured with a big smile on his face. Suddenly, in the middle of her
aria, the doll ran out of energy, started stuttering and then stopped
singing.
The same someone wound her up and she sprang back to life, finishing her
song. Pavarotti cheered and whistled and Susan tapped him on the head with
her wand as she made her exit.He roared and so did everyone else.
(September 1997)
-Steve Wartenberg, Intelligencer Record
"Bellissima!"
-Luciano Pavarotti, Sept. 1997
...a brilliant coloratura voice, matched by a fine
sense of timing and comic thrust... -Princeton Packet One of the evening's
best moments came from a mechanical Coloratura Soprano Doll named Susan
Whitenack. Introduced as "the world's most fabulous Christmas
present," Ms. Whitenack's performance of Offenbach's "Tales of
Hoffmann" aria, "Les oiseaux dans la charmille" as a
mannequin, was beautifully sung and utterly captivating. She returned
later with a sweet and moving rendition of Cesar Franck's all-purpose
"Panis Angelicus." (December 1997)
-,Iames Avis, Annapolis Capital
Other
This production ... boasted a genuine beauty in Susan
Whitenack, whose supple coloratura was the show's chief selling point. In
addition to her often gorgeous singing - and the added gorgeousness of her
face and figure - Whitenack is a fine comic actress whose considerable
charm and apt timing made for a fetching Nadina.
-Bucks County Courier Times
... [an] exceptionally gifted artist ... It would be
difficult to say who stole the show ... Susan Whitenack as the pretty
although despotic servant girl Serpina has an attractive
coloratura-soprano voice and sang with style and an effective expressive
manner
.-Doylestown (PA) Intelligencer-Record
... my choice for the star of the evening goes to Susan Whitenack as
Rosina. She was ... beautiful, charming and enchanting ... [and] sang the
Rossini melodies with agility and poise. Miss Whitenack treated all to a
perfect portrayal of the role with her fine acting and her pleasing vocal
ability..."Una voce" was the highlight of the evening.
-Here's Brooklyn Magazine
One highlight of the concert [Carmina Burana ] was ... when Whitenack
displayed her stunning coloratura training as she sang of sweet love and
wavering emotions.
-New Hope (PA) Gazette (August 2001)
The soloists were all splendid .... Soprano Susan Whitenack's dramatic
interaction with [her] colleagues was solid and impressive, [her] acting
was convincing ... her rendition of the touching aria "O mio babbino
caro" from Gianni Schicchi was sensitively phrased and moving,
revealing a rounder and more substantial vocal quality than that heard in
many other high soprano voices. (May 1997)
-The Press, Ridgefield (CT)
... her (Whitenack's] Musetta left me wanting more, and
her one aria ["O mio babbino caro"] displayed a pretty voice
capable of beautifully shaped phrases.
-Reading (PA) EagleITimes
A standing ovation went to Susan Whitenack for her
breathtaking performance of "the ultimate coloratura aria 'Glitter
and Be Gay' " from Bernstein's Candide. The audience was moved from
astonishment at Whitenack's vocal acrobatics to laughter at her portrayal
of a courtesan trying on jewels that were purer than she.
-New Hope Gazette
Whitenack ... brought the audience to their feet with
the dramatic coloratura aria "Caro nome" from Verdi's opera
Rigoletto ... The audience turned their heads to follow her as she walked
up the aisle, singing, and exited at the back of the hall with a burst of
vocal fireworks. There was a stunned silence and then a roar of applause
as the guests jumped to their feet.
-New Hope Gazette
The treasure of the afternoon was Susan Whitenack, a
perfectly tuned and versatile soprano who is equally at home in romance
and comedy - the two essential ingredients of operetta. Where has she been
hiding? ... Someone with a million dollars to spare should revive this
show [Up in Central Park] and hire Susan Whitenack to sing "April
Snow." She is enchanting. (Sept. 1998)
-Dick Saunders, Main Line Times, Phila
... very fine voice carries her assignment with zest
and comic aggression.
-The Denver Post
... full of passion splendid delivery, beautiful
ensemble and fine youthful camaraderie. -The Cincinnati Enquirer Most
enjoyable is Miss Whitenack's rendition of "Harlem on My Mind
Whitenack's coloratura takes on a husky blues quality that's complemented
by her sultry form, and she sells the piece for all she's worth. I enjoyed
her performance most throughout the evening because of her presence and
polish.
-Trenton (NJ) Time
