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With the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Bernard Labadie in a Semi-staged performance of Mozart’s Requiem, directed by Joel Ivany
“Allyson McHardy held court with a gilded mezzo-soprano tone that has set her apart from her contemporaries.” (Toronto Star, 23 January 2016)
“Allyson McHardy a burnished mezzo.” (Globe and Mail, 22 January 2016)
As Suzuki in the Opéra de Montréal’s Madama Butterfly
“Among the other principal roles, the discovery of two beautiful and powerful dark voices: the Canadian mezzo Allyson McHardy and the American baritone Morgan Smith, she in the role of the servant Cio-Cio-San, he as the American consul. Moreover, the young McHardy brings to this secondary role much more power and humanity that one usually sees in this character.” (La Presse, 20 September 2015)
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About
A unique vocal colour and commanding stage presence are the hallmarks of performances by mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy. Hailed by Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle as “a singer of enormous imagination and versatility”, she has appeared with the Paris Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Chicago Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Glyndebourne Festival, San Francisco Opera, Boston Symphony, Canadian Opera Company, Warsaw Philharmonic and Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse. Adam Fischer, Seiji Ozawa, Jeremy Rohrer, Kent Nagano, Emmanuelle Haim, Bernard Labadie, Ludovic Morlot, Carlos Kalmar and Jesus Lopez Cobos are among the conductors with whom she has collaborated for performances of works such as L’enfant et les sortileges, La clemenza di Tito, Das Rheingold, Dream of Gerontius and Messiah.
Latest Album
Handel: Messiah
Music of the Baroque Orchestra
Recorded live in November 2021, Handel’s Messiah features the Music of the Baroque Chorus and Orchestra and soloists Sherezade Panthaki, soprano, Allyson McHardy, mezzo-soprano, Brian Giebler, tenor, and Matthew Brook, bass-baritone under the direction of Nicholas Kraemer.