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judith | DES MOINES METRO OPERA
"DMMO favorite, Sara Gartland matches him note for note as the doomed wife, Judith. This is an Everest of a role, and Ms. Gartland meets its every challenge with her radiantly produced soprano firing on all cylinders. She can ravish us with silvery floated high notes, chill us with robust chest tones, and hit us between the eyes with searing, poised, arching declamatory phrases. Her registers are beautifully knit, and she glides seamlessly throughout the demands of the part.
Vocally and dramatically, she totally embodies this complex, conflicted character, fearful of what secrets she may discover, but believably grounded in intense love for her husband. When she finally pleads her case near opera’s end, her plaintive singing goes into the ears and heads straight for the heart. This complex performance was deftly delivered, and to boot, her lovely presence is truthfully acknowledged when Bluebeard ultimately says she is the most beautiful of all his wives."
luebeard’s Castle
B
James Sohre
OPERA TODAY
Bluebeard's Castle
MARIE | DES MOINES METRO OPERA
"The poignant Marie of Sara Gartland was something of a revelation. Gartland delivered the character through a gleaming column of sound that remained incisive yet consistently beautiful throughout the range up to the top C."
ozzeck
W
MARK THOMAS KETTERSON
OPERA NEWS
“Sara Gartland sang the role of Marie, Wozzeck’s common law wife and mother of his child. Gartland portrayed this fallen and fragile woman with sympathy and maturity. It would be simple to condemn Marie for betraying her lover and sleeping with another man, but her circumstances leave her few choices. Gartland sang some of the most beautiful vocal lines of the opera, making atonal melodies feel just as luxurious as her more romantic roles.”
MEGHAN KLINKENBORG
SCHMOPERA
Wozzeck
MUSETTA | THE DALLAS OPERA
“His flighty Musetta, soprano Sara Gartland, is also a singer on her way up, as she graduates from regional companies to big-time opera houses. Vocally, she is a lyric powerhouse. Dramatically, she commands the stage every time she is on it. Her antics in the second act as she tries to dump the rich old coot who is her current sugar daddy to return to Marcello’s arms is hysterical. There is a cute bit with her summoning spotlights from lighting designer Robert Wierzel’s arsenal as she prepares to sing her big aria.”
OHÈME
B
LA
GREGORY SULLIVAN ISSACS
THEATER JONES
Boheme
MICAËLA | THE DALLAS OPERA
“From the start, Sara Gartland’s Micaëla is hardly the meek goody-two-shoes of tradition. She’s self-assured, and decisive in rejecting the soldiers’ crude advances. A late replacement in the role, she delivers a soprano of immediately arresting strength, clarity and expressive nuance.”
ARMEN
C
SCOTT CANTRELL
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Carmen
RUSALKA | DES MOINES METRO OPERA
“Sara Gartland delivered an exquisite account of the title role. The soprano’s voice continues to gain body in midrange yet retains a thread of silver that graces her sound with an ethereal shimmer. The song to the moon was entirely satisfying; but it was in her sensitively employed dynamic shading of Act III’s “Necitelná Vodní Moci” that Gartland’s performance reached its zenith. “
USALKA
R
MARK THOMAS KETTERSON
OPERA NEWS
Rusalka
“Sara Gartland was utter perfection in the title role, a performance on full throttle from first to last as she descended inexorably from infectious, hopeful girlish impetuosity to end up a pathetically defeated nonentity. Her singing was nothing less than radiant throughout. Ms. Gartland possesses a substantial lyric soprano of great beauty and rock solid technique that seems to know no bounds when it comes to alluring sheen, emotional connection, thrilling top notes, vibrant mid-range, floated pinaissimi, and well, any and all variation thereof. Moreover, her attractive presence and committed acting were all one could wish for this complex heroine. I would wager there is no one in the world singing this role better than Sara Gartland”
JAMES SOHRE | OPERA TODAY
“Sara Gartland was masterful in the title role of the opera. She beautifully portrayed Rusalka’s journey from restless optimist to defeated outcast. Gartland sounded reserved at the beginning of the famous “Song to the Moon,” but as the aria progressed, her voice blossomed into its full rich tone. Rusalka is a demanding role, most notably for its emotional range. She must be ethereal at times and heart wrenching at others, and Gartland excelled in all of the character’s vocal guises.”
MEGHAN KLINKENBORG | SCHMOPERA
JENUFA | DES MOINES METRO OPERA
“…an exciting breakthrough performance from Sara Gartland in the title role. The soprano has often been pigeonholed into “ina” roles when one suspects she is by nature a Mimì or a Marguerite. As Janáček’s heartrending heroine, Gartland displayed a most individual timbre and a considerable reserve of lyric weight in midrange. Her prayer in Act II was ineffable. Gartland has always been an appealing singer; here she emerged as a complete artist.”
ENUFA
J
MARK THOMAS KETTERSON
OPERA NEWS
Jenufa
In the title role, Sara Gartland is serving notice with a star-making performance of the first magnitude. Ms. Gartland not only has an incisive thrust to her robust soprano, but also she has a charismatic and persuasive dramatic delivery that commands out attention. There is no requirement of this demanding role that eludes her artistic fulfillment. She is able to first suggest an irresponsible, even cruel girlishness with ease, encompass the sufferings of a young mother betrayed in love, and ultimately assume a tragic stature worthy of a classic Greek heroine.
On the way, the soprano displays a full arsenal of effects. Her assured technique allows her to sing evenly throughout the range. Her unerring phrasing and sense of musical line is colored with underlying dramatic intent and infused with subtext. She exhibits meticulous control of even the softest, tenderest phrases, and then turns around on a dime to ravish our ears and stir our souls with throbbing forte exclamations riding easily over the full orchestra, that are laden with heartbreaking intent. Her great Act II prayer scene was a study in variety and total immersion in the musico-dramatic effect.
JAMES SOHRE | OPERA TODAY
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