News, Reviews & Features
Critical Acclaim
SAN FRANCISCO RECITAL
“Grove pulls no punches in
her singing, deploying a vibrant, earth-colored
tone that combines agility with a low center of
gravity…And Grove's expressive impulse is never
less than forceful. She shapes legato phrases
with a rough-hewn elegance that stresses every
emotional nuance, and rises to a dramatic climax
with even greater vividness.”
Joshua Kosman, The San
Francisco Chronicle, January 17, 2006
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO:
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
“Jill Grove’s Preziosilla
would have been an arresting presence with or
without the garish costume; the mezzo-soprano
delivered the part with clear, ringing tone that
cut through even the largest choral outbursts.”
Georgia Rowe, Opera News,
February 2006
“There were more alluring
contributions from mezzo-soprano Jill Grove,
singing with fire and fervor as the morally
suspect Gypsy Preziosilla…”
Joshua Kosman,
The San Francisco Chronicle, November 4,
2005
“Jill Grove was an
outstanding Preziosilla, enlivening
scenes…Vocally varied, she phrased naturally
without distorting the rhythm, which is so
necessary in that part.”
Michael Zweibach, San
Francisco Classical Voice, November 2, 2005
IL TROVATORE: HOUSTON
GRAND OPERA
“Mezzo-soprano Jill Grove
offered a riveting portrait of Azucena in
Houston Grand Opera’s production of Il Trovatore.
Replacing an ailing Delora Zajick on two weeks’
notice, Grove excelled vocally and dramatically,
delivering “Stride la vampa” with power and
nuance, revealing the character’s vulnerability
as well as her anger. Throughout the evening,
Grove rose to the vocal challenge of Verdi’s
exacting vocal demands and then some; her chest
tones around middle C and below, as well as the
sheer volume of sound she generated in that
register, were most impressive."
Marcia C. Citron, Opera
News, April 2005
WOZZECK: METROPOLITAN
OPERA
“…the smooth, sly Margret of
Jill Grove…”
John. W. Freeman, Opera
News, March 2006
DER RING DES
NIBELUNGEN: LYRIC OPERA CHICAGO
“Jill Grove sounded like the
Voice of the Cosmos as Erda…”
Mark Thomas Ketterson,
Opera News, June 2005
“Jill Grove’s Erda sounded
an aural embodiment of wisdom, her reverberant
contralto intoning the low-lying vocal line with
the booming authority of an ancient cathedral
bell.”
Mark Thomas Ketterson,
Opera News, December 2004
“Jill Grove brought a
majestic stage presence and an abundance of
caressing, plummy timbre to her Lyric debut as
Erda.”
Mark Thomas Ketterson,
Opera News, March 2004
PETER GRIMES IN CONCERT AT
AVERY FISHER HALL
“Jill Grove was a deliciously
vulgar, two-fisted Auntie…”
F. Paul Driscoll, Opera
News, April 2004
LA GIOCONDA: COVENT GARDEN
“..the biggest impression was
made in the smallest role, by the impressive
Jill Grove,making her Royal Opera debut as old,
blind La Cieca.”
Richard Fairman,
Financial Times, August 9, 2004
“Jill Grove’s rich contralto
made her a striking La Cieca.”
Rupert Christiansen,
Daily Telegraph, August 9, 2004
“Grove is harrowingly intense
as Gioconda’s blind mother Cieca.”
Tim Ashley, The Guardian,
August 9, 2004
KONVANSHCHINA:
ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA
“There is also plenty of good
singing, particularly from Jill Grove as Marfa,
a woman who combines religious and sexual
passion in a particularly Russian way: an
extraordinarily powerful and focused mezzo
possessed of great lyricism and shattering
chest-notes.”
Robert Thicknesse, The
Times, January 25, 2003
“Jill Grove’s moving and
impassioned Marfa effortlessly encompasses the
role’s contralto range, her soft singing
catching at the heart.”
David Blewitt, The Stage,
January 30, 2003
“A very strong cast is led by
the fine American contralto Jill Grove, making a
welcome London debut as Marfa.”
Rupert Christiansen, The
Daily Telegraph, January 25, 2003
“The greatest performance
came from American mezzo Jill Grove as Marfa,
alarming in her depiction of the woman’s
conflict between religious devotion and
uncontrollable desire for Tom Randle’s sexy
dissolute Andrey.”
Alexis Petridis, The
Guardian, January 24, 2003
“The big discovery is Jill
Grove, an American mezzo whose Marfa has
dignity, looks, expressive intelligence and a
pure generous voice.”
Andrew Clark, Financial
Times, January 2003
“There was the excitement of
encountering a new talent in the rich voice of
the American mezzo Jill Grove as Marfa.”
Mark-Anthony Turnage, The
Telegraph
AIDA: DAYTON OPERA
“It was Jill Grove’s
portrayal of Amneris that stood out for its
depth of emotion. At times humorous, other
times vengeful, she understood the ebb and flow
of feelings that exist within the character she
portrayed.”
Nicole Hamilton, The
Cincinnati Enquirer, March 31, 2003
“Michelle Capalbo and Jill
Grove, as Aida and Amneris, created moments of
vocal and dramatic perfection. Each of their
confrontations made musical and dramatic
harmony.”
Burt Saidel, The Oakwood
Register, March 25, 2003
“Jill Grove (Amneris) was
also exemplary in her Dayton Opera debut. In
one of the most challenging roles, Grove played
Amneris and made sure that she conveyed the
proper amount of sincerity in order to avoid
coming across as overly snide or vindictive.
Grove performed well with Capalbo and they both
brought out the on-stage rivalry of their
characters.”
Russell Florence Jr, The
Impact Weekly, March 27, 2003
“The greatest applause on
opening night, however, went to mezzo-soprano
Jill Grove, whose characterizations of the
jealous and vindictive Princess Amneris is
chilling, yet sympathetic.”
Kate Brauer, Cincinnati
City Beat, April 1, 2003
VERDI REQUIEM:
TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
“Jill Grove, in full command
of her firm, gleaming mezzo, could not have been
improved upon, and her pitch was immaculate in
the famously treacherous unaccompanied
duet-at-the-octave in the Agnus Dei with
Brueggergosman."
Ken Winters, Globe and
Mail, May 16, 2003
DIE MEISTERSINGER:
METROPOLITAN OPERA
“Jill Grove brings to her
excellent Magdalene both a rich lover register
and youthful exuberance.”
Paul Griffiths, The New
York Times, November 19, 2001
“Rich-voiced mezzo Jill Grove
was winning as Magdalene, Eva's attendant."
Mike Silverman, Musical
America, November 20, 2001
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:
DALLAS OPERA
"The other vocal knockout was
Jill Grove as a diesel-fueled First Norn..."
Scott Cantrell, The
Dallas Morning News, January 12, 2002
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA:
WELSH NATIONAL OPERA
"The sensational Ulrica of
the American Jill Grove, the best I've heard in
any theater. "
Hugh Canning, The Sunday
Times, October 1998
"Jill Grove in her British
debut displays a contralto that comes from the
very abyss from which Ulrica summons Satan in
her opening invocation. She is a singer to be
reckoned with."
John Higgins, The Times,
October 1998
"Jill Grove reveled in the
role of Ulrica."
Mike Smith, The Western
Mail, October 1998
"There was ringing applause
for Jill Grove in her European debut as Ulrica."
Nigel Jarrett, The South
Wales Argus, October 1998
" An outstanding highlight
was the fortune-telling Ulrica by Jill Grove, a
powerful out-front performance that brought
forth roars of appreciation."
Jon Holliday, The Stage,
October 1998
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