OPERA NEWS
News
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)
As Hippolyta in the Aix-en-Provence Festival’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“Scott Conner and Allyson McHardy, in the bespangled throwaway roles of Theseus and Hippolyta, make their mark late on by injecting earthly dignity into the midnight mayhem.” (Backtrack, 06 July 2015)
“Scott Conner (Theseus) and Allyson McHardy (Hippolyta) add their stately, but nonetheless spicy, presence to this exhilarating microcosm.” (L’Avant-Scène Opera, 07 July 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.