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R
EVIEWS
TURANDOT
Liù
ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQUE ET CHŒUR DES MÉLOMANES
MAISON SYMPHONIQUE, MONTRÉAL
"The four leads were frankly impressive... the amply voiced and passionate Sydney Baedke embodied a moving and convincing Liu, whose 3rd act Tanto amore segreto... Tu, che di gel sei cinta was sung to our appreciation and blissful admiration."
"Sydney Baedke is heartbreaking as Liu. The Canadian soprano was deeply committed, particularly in her 3rd act aria, Tu che di gel sei cinta."
"Sydney Baedke in the role of Liu offered a performance of great emotional delicacy. Thanks to refined technical mastery, particularly in the exquisitely gentle pianissimo passages, she conveyed all the vulnerability and depth of the character. Her expressive sensitivity, vocal balance, and ability to move the audience allowed us to fully feel the silent pain of this loving and devoted woman. A touching and sincere performance."
"... A luxuriously lyric timbre."
"Overwhelming fragility and emotion."
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO
Contessa Almaviva
PACIFIC OPERA VICTORIA
"No one sang better than soprano Sydney Baedke. Baedke made the character otherworldly, almost heavenly, giving The Marriage of Figaro a sense of pathos luminating the earthly rabble-rousing down below.The all-too-brief Porgi amor was notable for her exquisite legato phrasing. Immediately we realize this was a singer to be reckoned with. The famous Dove Sono was equally impressive, with Baedke revealing a sweet, pure voice that projected thrillingly."
"Baedke (making her role and company debut as the Countess) sang with a pure, well-projected voice and gave a moving portrayal of a young, deceived but still devoted wife."
"Sydney Baedke as the Countess [was] a vocal powerhouse. Baedke’s “Dove sono” positively brought the house down. Vocally brilliant and commanding, her Countess was despondent about her unfaithful husband and so sympathetic."
"Poignant and Perfect Production of The Rape of Lucretia at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden:The evening’s musical credentials are exceptionally strong... The performances from the young cast are uniformly stunning. ...The voices of Michael Gibson and Sydney Baedke as the Male and Female Chorus respectively frame the drama extremely well. All in all, there really is nothing in this production that is not of the highest quality."
"Young artists from Britten Pears Arts and Royal Opera impress:The performances were very fine indeed. [As the Male & Female Chorus] Michael Gibson and Sydney Baedke were both finely expressive, and both used the words well. What impressed me in this performance was the way Mears had drawn such deeply emotional and responsive performances from his young cast. All concerned were strongly drawn characters with a sense of complex involvement. A terrific achievement."
"The chorus roles are sung with passion and haunting sadness by Sydney Baedke and Michael Gibson. I must return to the music which is superb, and superbly delivered... all the singers thrived."
"Mears’s handling of the Male and Female Chorus (Michael Gibson and Sydney Baedke) is innovative and effective... Here, they were figures of flesh and blood, their suffering unmistakable and moving. At the end, Baedke seemed truly anguished, “Is this all loss? Are we lost? … It is all?”"
The Female Chorus
THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA
THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE/BRITTEN PEARS ARTS
"The Male & Female Chorus [Gibson & Baedke] worked supremely well together, both vocally and dramatically. This is not only the Royal Opera at its very best- it shows great hope for the new generation of singers coming into their own right now."
"The Female Chorus is played by Canadian soprano Sydney Baedke who takes up the story and impresses with the richness of her voice. This is an important and resonant production with a strong young ensemble cast that makes the case for the artform’s continuing relevance and vitality."
"The Royal Opera's devastating staging features a faultless cast of young singers... [as the Female Chorus] Sydney Baedke sang magnificently... her soprano was even throughout the range, expressive and free in the upper reaches of the role."
"The cast reacted to Mears’ challenging staging with a performative style of total commitment, both vocal and physical. Michael Gibson and Sydney Baedke were compelling as the Male and Female Chorus, [deployed] as a pair of obsessive civilian dissenters, clutching a battered dossier and a photograph of Lucretia, clearly in the grip of trauma... the authenticity conveyed by the cast made this an utterly gripping piece of theatre that we were privileged to see."
"Musically [the production] is extremely fine. [As the choruses] Gibson and Baedke are comparably strong... she offsets moments of steely authority with exquisite lyricism."
"A musical triumph: Mears has a cast of young singers at the beginning of their careers; they perform with the utmost commitment and no little finesse. Sydney Baedke and Michael Gibson make the choruses believable observers, wracked with pain at the story they’re telling."
"[The full cast] all had distinctive vocal timbres and dramatic intelligence. Most singular in varied colours was Sydney Baedke’s Female Chorus."
LA BOHÈME
Musetta
ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQUE ET CHŒUR DES MÉLOMANES
MAISON SYMPHONIQUE, MONTRÉAL
"Sydney Baedke [as Musetta] was the revelation of the evening, in terms of aura, vocal control, and dynamics. In our opinion, we would even be interested to see her take on Mimi, as she possesses the roundness and vocal warmth"
"Above all, [the 2nd act] is the moment of glory for the soprano who plays the role of Musetta and delivers the lyrical and captivating aria "Quando men' vo”. Here, the excellent Sydney Baedke performed with grace and elegance, with an agile & seductive voice, that she was able to project with notorious assurance, strength, & efficiency."
[Among] what we will remember most of this evening is the refreshing surprise offered by the luminous Sydney Baedke in Musetta. As soon as she entered the scene, she swept everything away, took everything away: we only saw her. Baedke seems to have all the attributes of a great performer and there should be no shortage of leading roles for her in the near future."
LA BOHÈME
Mimì
ORCHESTRE CLASSIQUE DE MONTRÈAL
"Mimì [Sydney Baedke] seduced with the richness of her timbre and the warmth of her interpretation."
DON GIOVANNI
Donna Anna
HAMILTON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
"Sydney Baedke was an elegant and vibrantly voiced Donna Anna. Her “Or sai, chi l’onore,” with its ringing high notes, was a high point in the opera. Yet that same voice was also capable of tenderness when portraying the grieving daughter."
KOERNER HALL
Recital
ROYAL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
TORONTO, ON
“Baedke’s voice is luminously clear and round. Her solid musicianship was evident in her delicately spun phrases and dramatically powerful climactic moments. Her singing conveyed the emotional impact of a Puccini aria while her three songs by Liszt displayed as sweet and pure a soprano sound as I have heard in some time.”
THE CORONATION OF POPPEA
La Fortuna/Valetto
OPERA THEATRE OF SAINT LOUIS
"Sydney Baedke dispatched shimmering runs as a chic, black-clad Fortuna and was virtually unrecognizable in travesty as the page Valletto."
"A virtually flawless cast... Sydney Baedke, Jennifer Aylmer and Michaela Wolz as the decidedly mortal trio of goddesses hold up their end of things gamely."
"Monteverdi's heavily ornamented music demands a lot from the singers, and certainly gets it from this excellent cast... Soprano Sydney Baedke makes her dual roles of the goddess Fortuna and the page Valletto so clearly different that I didn't notice at first that they were being sung by the same person."
"Sydney Baedke [was] a glamorous, seductive Fortuna."
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