Composer: Jennifer Higdon

Artists: Isabel Leonard, Nathan Gunn, Jay Hunter Morris, Emily Fons

Label: Pentatone

CD Release Date: 1 Apr 2016

ASIN: B01B3QS1RS

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* 2017 GRAMMY Award nominee – “Best Opera Recording” *

Reviews:

“Isabel Leonard was a beautiful, believable Ada, the richness of her mezzo evoking Ada’s reserve and desire.”

Heidi Waleson – The Wall Street Journal

“Isabel Leonard traced Ada’s journey from belle to brave with her soaring, radiant voice. She is a singer who has grown from coloratura to lyric-with-punch, and the Santa Fe Opera has been a crucial factor in that journey.”

Rodney Punt – San Francisco Classical Voice

“The mezzo Isabel Leonard vividly projected the heartbreaking war-weariness of a shattered Confederacy . . .”

T.R. Reid – The Washington Post

“Singing with velvety yet focused tone, Ms. Leonard comes across as prim and pretty rather than formidable as Ada.”

Zachary Woolfe – The New York Times

“SFO gives the work its grand luxe treatment—no stronger cast could be found . . . Mezzo Isabel Leonard sings Ada, a soaring, intimately understood portrait of a lady.”

John Stege – Santa Fe Reporter

“For her part, Isabel Leonard’s Ada proved a worthy choice as the object of Inman’s ultimately tragic devotion. This spring, we enjoyed Ms. Leonard’s touching performance as Angelina in Washington National Opera’s antic production of Rossini’s popular “Cinderella” (“La Cenerentola”). It was a surprise and a delight to rediscover her great talent in an entirely new light last week in “Cold Mountain,” where she proved equally adept as the strong and faithful heroine of an American Civil War tragedy.

Alternately projecting strength and vulnerability, Ms. Leonard’s supple soprano quickly adapted to chart her character’s rapidly changing emotions in a fine performance further enhanced by the genuine romantic chemistry she generated with Mr. Gunn. The tension of Ada’s and Inman’s mostly long-distance relationship is the driving force at the vital soul of this opera, and along with Mr. Gunn, Ms. Leonard never failed to generate warmth and sympathy in her sensitive performance.”

Terry Ponick – Communities Digital News

“Isabel Leonard sings ardently as she portrays Ada’s transformation from clueless city girl to a woman who knows her way around a rifle.”

Scott Cantrell – The Dallas Morning News

“As Ada, Isabel Leonard sang with ample clarity and moved efficiently between the naivete her character starts with the wisdom she gains the hard way.”

Ray Mark Rinaldi – The Denver Post

“Two splendid mezzos, Isabel Leonard and Emily Fons, sing Ada and her street-smart (or rather country-smart) companion Ruby. A lyrical high point is an aria for Ada in praise of Ruby, sung over the unconscious body of Ruby’s ne’er-do-well father.”

George Loomis – The Financial Times

“On stage in Santa Fe, some of the biggest names in the opera world — baritone Nathan Gunn and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard — are singing the lead roles of Inman and Ada; it’s hard to imagine a better cast . . . All four seem to revel in singing Higdon’s vocally grateful music.”

Gregory Sullivan-Isaacs – Star-Telegram

“It is hard to imagine a better cast that what the Santa Fe Opera put on the stage . . . soprano Isabel Leonard plays the steadfast Ada . . .”

Gregory Sullivan Isaacs – TheaterJones

“Everything was so singable that baritone Gunn (the deserter Inman), soprano Leonard (the woman waiting for him) and Morris (the unscrupulous villain) all did some of their best-ever work . . .”

David Patrick Stearns – The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Higdon had a fine cast of singers to work with. Baritone Nathan Gunn and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard made a handsome Inman and Ada. Both have rich voices infused with luster that lends clarity. Leonard got the opera’s finest aria . . . a deeply affecting number in the second act (“I feel sorry for you”) where she is left alone with the unconscious Stobrod and sings about how she wishes he could appreciate Ruby as she does, covering two octaves and sculpting her lines with passionate sweep.”

James M. Keller – Santa Fe New Mexican

“. . . and the radiant Isabel Leonard was ideal as a “beautiful” Ada in a role like Massenet’s Charlotte which grows as the opera progresses.”

{. . . y la radiante Isabel Leonard fue ideal como “belle” Ada en un papel que como la Charlotte massenetiana crece a medida que avanza la ópera.}

Sebastian Spreng – Miami Clásica

“The absolutely lovely Isabel Leonard was the most effective of the evening as Ada, and she sounded and looked stunning. In fact, you’d almost mistake her for Scarlett O’Hara in one scene where she wore a emerald green sateen dress and floated majestically across the Academy stage. Ms. Leonard’s full range, both vocally and emotionally, was put to the test throughout the night, and she met the challenge with a relaxed air about her. In short, she’s the real deal and it shows.”

Bryan Buttler – Philadelphia Magazine

“The ensemble, led by Nathan Gunn as Inman, Isabel Leonard as Ada and Emily Fons as Ruby gives a solid performance, so that the two and a half hours pass by in a flash.”

–pizzicato