Audio selections

Biography

BARBARA SOLOMON's rich and vibrant voice has been heard at the Kennedy Center in Verdi's Requiem and at Avery Fisher Hall performing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. She has shared the operatic stage with such world renowned artists as Placido Domingo and Catherine Malfitano in such diverse roles as Azucena (Commonwealth Opera), Carmen (Providence Opera), Berta (New Orleans Opera), Florence Pike and Marcellina (Berkshire Opera and Adirondack Festival), Katisha (Opera Festival of New Jersey), Marquise de Berkenfield (Lyric Opera Cleveland), Prince Orlofsky (Opera of the Hamptons), Zita (Opera at Florham), a double bill of Zita/Principessa (Opera Theatre of Long Island), Dame Carruthers (Opera Roanoke), Maddalena, Berta, Siebel and Iolanthe (Singers' Theatre), and Menotti's Assunta in The Saint of Bleecker Street (The Wolf Trap Company), conducted by John Mauceri, which won her rave reviews from the Washington Post. As winner of the Mid America Worldwide Vocal Competition, Ms. Solomon was chosen to appear in the United States premiere of Tchaikovsky's Ode to Joy at Avery Fisher Hall in New York. A frequent oratorio soloist, Ms. Solomon's repertoire includes Handel's Messiah and Judas Maccabeus, Rossini's Stabat Mater, Bach's Magnificat, Saint-Saens' Christmas Oratorio, Vivaldi's Gloria and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass in which she has appeared in concert with the Delaware Symphony, Manhattan Philharmonic, Long Island Chamber Orchestra, Queens Chamber Orchestra, Bloomingdale Chamber Orchestra and Garden State Philharmonic. Ms. Solomon has performed in recital throughout the east coast with such repertoire as Debussy's Chanson de Bilitis, Mahler's Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen and Kindertotenlieder, Ravel's Deux Melodie Hebraique, Dvorak's Ciganske Melodie and de Falla's Siete Canciones Populares.

Concerts

VERDI

Requiem

Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C

BEETHOVEN

Ninth Symphony

Avery Fisher Hall, New York, NY

TCHAIKOVSKY

Ode to Joy

Avery Fisher Hall (U.S. Premiere)

MOZART

Requiem

United Choral Society

HANDEL

Messiah

Commonwealth Opera Chamber Orchestra

Delaware Symphony

Long Island Chorale & Symphony

Judas Maccabeus

Monmouth Civic Chorus

ROSSINI

Stabat Mater

Long Island Chorale & Symphony

BACH

Magnificat

Queens Chamber Orchestra

BEETHOVEN

Mass in C

Ocean Chamber Orchestra

HAYDN

Lord Nelson Mass

Bloomingdale Chamber Orchestra

VIVALDI

Gloria

Queens Chamber Orchestra

MENDELSSOHN

Hymn of Praise

Garden State Philharmonic

Awards

1995 Finalist - Liederkranz Vocal Competition Wagner Division
1992 Finalist - Friedrich Schorr Vocal Competition

Conductors/Directors

CONDUCTORS:  John Mauceri, Anton Coppola, Alfredo Silipigni, Timothy Lindberg, Fiora Contino, John Moriarity, Hugh Keelan, Joel Revsen, Benton Hess, Mark Shapiro, David Close, Richard Rescia, Peter Tiboris, Stefan Kozinski, Nicholas Armstrong.

DIRECTORS:  Jonathan Field, Frank Rizzo, Lou Galtiero, Rhoda Levine, Franco Gentilesca, Franco Gratale, Michael Capasso, Adelaide Bishop.

Reviews

  "Sturdy support comes from mezzo Barbara Solomon's marquise, who uses her height and low notes to amusing effect." --- James Damico, CLEVELAND FREE TIMES

"In the midst of all the marvelous soloists, Barbara Solomon's performance was outstanding. She is a natural, her voice a finely-honed sapphire, no, ruby." --- Karen Wilson-Plaza, DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE 

"Barbara Solomon's Assunta is wonderfully sung with a voice that acts as well as sings." Paul Hume, --- THE WASHINGTON POST
(Verdi Requiem)

"... mezzo soprano Barbara Solomon ... the most consistently satisfying soloist throughout the evening."
--- Joseph McLellan, THE WASHINGTON POST

"Mezzo Barbara Solomon made a fine Berta, deserving the inclusion of her often cut Act II aria."
--- BATON ROUGE MORNING ADVOCATE

"Likewise, Barbara Solomon as her (Lady Billows) housekeeper, Florence Pike, showed a real, if frustrated, woman beneath the tippling busybody." --- Tim Salvner, MUSICAL AMERICA 

"....Barbara Solomon, as Florence Pike, was not only a singer, but a comedienne." --- Gail Carson, UNION NEWS

"The fly in all this operatic ointment is Katisha, who may also have taken some lessons in personal appearance from Frankenstein's bride. Sung by mezzo Barbara Solomon, this character seems to be Gilbert and Sullivan's version of the Queen of the Night, and Ms. Solomon performs the role with the flair and snobbery most appropriate to a G&S musical smack at society." ---  Nancy Plum, TOWN TOPICS

"Barbara Solomon was hilarious as Katisha, the ugliest woman in Japan." --- Louis Cooke, THE TRENTONIAN

 "... the shrewish Marcellina as played and sung by Barbara Solomon was fleshed out with comic characterizations... a hilarious trio of bungling schemers..." ---  Simon Wainrib, THE BERKSHIRE RECORD (Bach Magnificat)

"The first solo for alto was sung by mezzo soprano Barbara Solomon with warm tone and good legato. She showed remarkable ease in the tessitura, smoothness of gradation through the register changes as well as excellent breath support and control ..... duet with Barbara Solomon was finely blended, well-balanced and a high point of the work." ---  BAYSIDE TIMES

Performance photos