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Opera Omaha - Rigoletto
"Rachele Gilmore, who sang the role of Gilda, was the audience favorite. Her crystalline voice and sensual shaping of 'Caro nome' had just the right amount of desire and innocence to realize her character vividly."
- Kevin Hanrahan for Opera News
"Soprano Rachele Gilmore was a glittering standout. She displayed a wickedly quick, agile and precise coloratura, making it appear effortless and seamless. The way she filled the Orpheum was particularly impressive given her slight and slender frame, and she has the talent to become one of opera’s greatest stars.
Her aria 'Caro Nome,' which she sang to the duke disguised as a student, was sweet, emotional and soulful. Gilmore also acted in a way that showed Gilda’s evolution from a naïve, obedient daughter to a woman determined to make her own decisions, despite the cost."
- Kim Carpenter for Omaha World Herald
Florida Grand Opera - La Sonnambula
"The star of the performance was the soprano Rachele Gilmore, a former FGO Young Artist from suburban Atlanta who has gone on to roles in the world’s leading opera houses. Dark-haired and petite, she sang with enormous vocal power, depth of feeling and beauty of tone, bringing the complete package to a role that requires both extreme virtuosity and a gift for the melodic long line.
The role of Amina not only requires the soprano to use every trick in the coloratura book, but for the singing to seem effortless, with no sign of strain impeding the flow of melody. Gilmore delivered on both counts, from the unforced high notes of the early aria Sovra il sen la man mi posa to the florid vocal embroidery that followed.
Gilmore enjoys some celebrity in the opera world for a 2009 performance at the Metropolitan Opera where she sang an A-flat above high C that many believe is the highest note ever sung on the Met stage. In her final aria Saturday night, the famous, elaborately ornamented Ah! non giunge uman pensiero, she sang a note that may well have been the highest ever heard at the Arsht Center opera house.
But as impressive as her speed and accuracy were, Gilmore’s greatest moment came not in one of the flashy soprano passages, but in the somber aria Ah! non credea mirarti. For this aria, she knelt in her white gown on the lip of the orchestra pit, spotlighted on the darkened stage, and expressed in heartfelt melody her sadness at the loss of her fiancée Elvino’s love."
-David Fleshier for South Florida Classical Review and The Miami Herald
"You don’t have to be a musicologist or opera aficionado to recognize the stunning meld of emotion and technique in the artistry of Rachele Gilmore’s performance of the title role in Florida Grand Opera’s production of La Sonnambula.
When she falls to her knees at the front of the stage, picked out of the darkness by a few lights, and pours her heartache out over the orchestra into the audience, the utter silliness of the libretto vanishes and listeners are transfixed by the seamless transmission of heart and head.
Gilmore, who hit an A flat above high C in her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, is more than enough reason for an opera fan to scrape together the considerable cash needed to see this classic tale about a young woman whose impending marriage is sidelined by scandal because of her unconscious habit of sleepwalking.
While her technical virtuosity and vocal pyrotechnics are stunning throughout the sadistically wide range that Vincenzo Bellini wrote into the bel canto score, it is Gilmore’s infusion of passion, ranging from ecstatic joy to bottomless grief, that pushes her performance into another dimension.
Playing the simple country girl Amina, Gilmore exudes an innocence and purity in her singing and personality that seem an impossible fantasy in this century, but which she persuasively sells to back reaches of the orchestra seats."
-Bill Hirshman for Florida Theater on the Stage
"In the role of Amina, soprano Rachele Gilmore is absolutely divine. On top of her supermodel good looks, her high notes are crystal clear, her florid coloratura passages are pitch perfect and her stage presence is unsurpassed. She is an up-and-coming soprano of the highest caliber and is on her way to opera super-stardom.
Amina is an excellent role to show off the beauty and power of her voice and the flawlessness of her vocal technique. Her performance of the second act aria "Ah! Non credea mirarti" was tender and touching and her interpretation of the following cabaletta "Ah! Non giunge" had all of the vocal fireworks you could wish for.
It was, by far, the best evening of operatic singing that South Florida has witnessed in many years."
-Jack Gardner for EDGE, Ft. Lauderdale
"This is Amina's opera and in Rachele Gilmore, a star was made. The sensitivity and absolutely gorgeous sound made this potentially insipid character a sympathetic heroine. The opera's most famous number, “Ah! No credea mirati” has never sounded as moving and sad; immediately after Gilmore takes us into near musical comedy territory with “Ah! non giunge uman pensiero” offering all the good cheer that Scotto clearly intended. This is a soprano who will be around a long time; someone as accomplished as this is not common, and the world can't help but notice."
-Jeff Haller for Concerto Net
Portland Opera - Candide
"As Cunegonde, soprano Rachele Gilmore was the standout...her stratospheric display in the big show-stopper, "Glitter and Be Gay," should have pleased anyone who turned up just to hear it."
-James McQuillen, The Oregonian
"As Cunegonde, Rachele Gilmore sang and acted superbly. Her singing of “Glitter and Be Gay,” with some stratospheric high notes thrown in, was a show-stopper."
-James Bash, Oregon Music News
Teatro alla Scala - Les contes d'Hoffmann
"As for the cast, all very well: Ramón Vargas, Ildar Abdrazakov, Ekaterina Gubanova, Genia Kühmeier and Veronica Simeoni. The Olympia Rachele Gilmore, however, is exceptional."
-Enrico Girardi, Corriere della Serra
"Rachele Gilmore lends a voice to the crystal acrobatic coloratura of Olympia. There are roulades, trills, ascending and descending scales, glissandi available without trouble. The high notes are bright lightning."
-Ugo Malasoma, OperaClick
"With the famous aria of Olympia, "Les oiseaux dans la CHARMILLE", the American soprano Rachele Gilmore did show off her flawless agility...her dazzling high notes had an ecstatic echo."
-Courtney Smith, Grazia.it
Michigan Opera Theatre - Rigoletto
"Rachele Gilmore sang Gilda's music with skill, her coloratura supple, her ptiches perfect."
-John Quinn, Opera News
"As Gilda, the young coloratura soprano Rachele Gilmore provides a sparkling complement to Thomas' darkness. She tosses off Verdi's soaring high notes not only with ease but with expressive point. She's a tremulous birdling, a teenager scarcely yet flown from the nest. The outside world, love, the amoral Duke: Gilda is about to take it all in at once, with inevitable consequences. Gilmore portrays a girl we genuinely care about and frames her in singing to be relished. Her rapturous aria "Caro nome" brought down the house."
-Lawrence B. Johnson, The Detroit News
"In a memorable MOT debut, Gilmore, a young American soprano, sang her first Gilda and revealed herself as a Verdi heroine of great promise. Verdi demands an unusual combination of power and grace from his leading women, and Gilmore offered lots of both, singing of love in her showcase "Caro nome" with sweetness, poise, control. Her leaping coloratura lines floated effortlessly high above the stage as if riding a cloud."
-Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press
Knoxville Opera - I Puritani
"The draw for sopranos in the character of Elvira is, of course, the Act II mad scene (“Qui la voce… Vien, diletto, è in ciel la luna”). As Elvira sank from happiness into despair, Gilmore showed not only the seemingly effortless and focused, thrill-inducing coloratura high end that she is capable of, but also a rich, flexible depth of mid-range that described her psychological journey. As a woman at the mercy of romantic and political pressure, Gilmore’s dramatic arc seemed to be an extension of her vocal soul."
-Alan Sherrod, Metro Pulse
Grand Théâtre de Genève – Alice in Wonderland
“The remarkable Rachele Gilmore has a perfectly tapered, exquisite voice.”
-Betrand Tappolet, Gauchebdo.ch
“The coloratura of Rachele Gilmore does not get into the shrill, and she maintains the rounded, shapely phrasing of Alice fresh, often with a melancholy smile.”
-Didier van Moere, Concertone.net
“Rachele Gimore, the American coloratura soprano, who has clear diction and a voice that is like a jet spray, running as high as nearby Lake Geneva, made us believe in the 12 year-old Alice and her at times malicious behavior.”
-Caroline Alexander, Webthea.com
Boston Lyric Opera - Ariadne auf Naxos
"As Zerbinetta, soprano Rachele Gilmore, in sunglasses and Gibson Girl bloomers, displayed more talent and charm than any one person should be allowed to possess. In her hands, "Grossmächtige Prinzessin" was not merely an astonishing pyrotechnical display (although it certainly was that) but a joyous expression of Zerbinetta's character, the bushels of notes and baskets of embellishments an overflowing abundance in keeping with her view of life and love."
-Kalen Ratzlaff, Opera News
"Gilmore and Owens held court for the "Opera" portion, embodying both ends of the diva spectrum, with Gilmore's coloratura acrobatics at one end, and Owens' Wagnerian presence at the other. Gilmore's performance as Zerbinetta was near impeccable. Gilmore also resisted the temptation to make Zerbinetta too much of a stock character, and this made her ultimate pragmatic truths resonate over her follies and antics."
-Rebecca Marchand, The Boston Music Intelligencer
"Gilmore is the whole package-a clever actress with a top-notch voice and a willing manner."
- Keith Powers, The Boston Herald
"Rachele Gilmore was a winning Zerbinetta with all the coquettish charm this role demands and also the secure technique and theatrical flair to make the role's big coloratura number feel organically connected to her character rather than like a stretch of disconnected virtuoso preening."
-Jeremy Eichler, The Boston Globe
"As Zerbinetta, the comic Colombina figure, coloratura Rachele Gilmore is utterly charming. Her frothy soprano has the just the right weight and color for the role. Wisely, she underplayed the coyness in her portrayal of the character, singing the role in a straightforward manner. She posses vocal flexibility, and an easy extension to the upper reaches of the voice. The centerpiece of the entire opera, her treacherous aria, "Grossmächtige Prinzessin," was put away with èlan and astounding ease."
-EDGE
"Rachele Gilmore's bright high soprano filled the hall as Zerbinetta and made me wonder at how it's possible for such a voice to come from such a slight and beautiful woman. She, with the added comedy and voice of Julius Ahn, glowed, and used her troupe as a springboard to add life to the slow moving whole."
-Boston Theater Review
Lucia di Lammermoor - Knoxville Opera
"Without doubt, the first-ever performance of the role by a soprano can be a telling indicator of whether she has those extraordinary qualities that define a great Lucia- the ability to thrill an audience with a unique vocal prowess and the ability to paint a dramatic portrayal with both subtlety and boldness. Rachele Gilmore, in Knoxville Opera's production of Lucia di Lammermoor last weekend, did just that- she thrilled a cheering, applauding audience in what was the most solidly accomplished KOC production in recent history. Gilmore has what sopranos dream of: clear-as-a-bell, seemingly effortless high notes, and vocal flexibility with power throughout her range. Her size and voice seemed perfect for her fragile and haunted Lucia. In the famous Mad Scene...Gilmore's Lucia was the image of tragedy, alternating between a pale, dying flower and a menacing fiend. As the tensions built and the impact of the tragedy upon the wedding guests edged higher, Gilmore's vocal madness rippled like waves in a bloody pool. And, those infamous high notes cut through it all like the bloody dager in her hand. In the end, this was Rachele Gilmore's evening- her first Lucia, but obviously not her last, given the tumultuous ovations she received here."
-Alan Sherrod, Metropulse
"As everyone who heard Gilmore at Friday night's opening performance knows, she is doing it again. gilmore's Lucia simply radiates from the stage...It's gilmore's voice that one can simply not get out of one's head. She was superb. If she keeps singing like this, no one will be forgetting her."
-Knoxnews
Metropolitan Opera - Les contes d'Hoffmann
"Making her Met debut, Rachele Gilmore brought the house down as Olympia. Her flawless coloratura in "Les oiseaux dans la charmille" was quite literally show-stopping, as she gave a delightfully comedic portrayal of the automaton."
-Classical Source Online
"A young American woman named Rachele Gilmore, who flew up to solid and beautiful high G's and one A-flat (that's five notes above high C) that has never been heard at the Met in this part. I felt lucky to see and hear her."
-Broad Street Review, Philidelphia
"Rachele Gilmore, who made such a hit with Indianapolis Opera audiences in the company's production of "The Tales of Hoffman" in 2008, cast a similar spell upon the Metropolitan Opera late last year in it's prodution of the Offenbach's work. After Gilmore gets wound up for the showcase aria of the doll, you can see and hear her deft characterization (tricky, when the character is a machine) and commanding coloratura."
-Indianapolis Star
Ariadne auf Naxos: Indianapolis Opera
"Rachele Gilmore's ebullient Zerbinetta scattered vocal filigree with abandon."
-Opera News
"Coloratura Rachele Gilmore as Zerbinetta delivered equisite high pitches in both parts, her "speech" to Ariadne about love- "Grossmächtige Prinzessin" in the Opera- being the evening's high point."
-NUVO: Indianapolis Alternative Voice
"More than doing justice to Grossmächtige Prinzessin one of the opera's most famous arias, was Rachele Gilmore, whose coloratura soprano voice delighted an engaged and highly responsive audience."
-The Examiner
"Rachele Gilmore reveled in the agile display required of the wise, fickle Zerbinetta."
-The Indianapolis Star