“Quinn Kelsey gives a stupendous performance that hits a high-water mark in his Met career. He has already distinguished himself as a Verdian in “Rigoletto” and “Aida,” using his generous, earthy timbre to imbue his characters with disarming humanity. His Macbeth is an altogether more sophisticated creation. When he enters, remarking on a day that feels somehow both foul and fair, his voice has a noble roundness and philosophical contemplativeness. His voice retains its refined grain as it rises through his range in gorgeous swells. This Macbeth is a good soul in a rotted landscape.
[…]
Kelsey’s triumph lies in the way he steadily charts each step in Macbeth’s decline. In the dagger soliloquy, a snarl creeps into his otherwise gallant sound, and his Macbeth roars with panic as venom overtakes his veins. After he murders King Duncan, his guilt-wracked voice peals forth in clear tones, the last gasp of a noble mind. Later scenes find him hollowed out, and by the time he sings Macbeth’s great Act IV aria “Pietà, rispetto, amore,” he is void of self-pity and full of self-recriminations, almost at peace in his self-loathing, his legacy deservedly tarnished. The Met restored the aria “Mal per me,” which Verdi cut when he revised the score, giving Macbeth an opportunity to regret his foolishness.
Kelsey’s highly individual technique fits the role particularly well. Verdi baritones often prize an unbroken legato, a steady emission of a rich, rounded, balanced sound. Kelsey is livelier, mixing straight tone with purring vibration and huskiness with brief, revelatory moments in the sun. His voice reacts dynamically to Macbeth’s struggles with the demons overtaking him.”
“Quinn Kelsey, who proved himself a masterful Verdian baritone in recent Met productions of Aida and Rigoletto, brought unmistakable authority to the title role. With his highly refined tone, magnetic stage presence and his remarkable ability to project emotional vulnerability, he created a brilliant portrayal of the weak general dominated by his strong-minded wife, marking a new milestone in his Met career. Singing throughout with unfailing taste, subtlety and imagination, he offered two standout moments that showcased his dramatic commitment and tremendous vocal control.”
“Quinn Kelsey was gripping as Macbeth. One of the great Verdi baritones of our day, Kelsey not only has a handsomely resonant tone and the ability to pour out long lines of liquid legato, he is also keenly sensitive to small details — leaning on little melodic aches and stabs, for instance — that deepen his characterisations. He projected Macbeth’s journey from ambitious pride to rueful desperation in a single, beautifully drawn dramatic arc.”
Financial Times
“Kelsey was so committed to his interpretation that we were moved and connected to him throughout. You could see his fear and hesitance in his monologue, “Mi si affaccia un pugnal! L’elsa a me volta?” which slowly built from piano singing to more fortes and showed cracks of insanity in Kelsey’s Macbeth. Then there was the banquet scene, which saw Kelsey’s madness awaken and the phrasing turned jagged and staccato-like with the baritone climbing on the table and attempting to knife the ghost of Banquo. It was a haunting scene and as Kelsey emoted the text, you sensed that this was a king unraveling quickly.
In the witches’ lair, Kelsey delivered a tour de force “Fuggi, regal fantasima,” which started with grit and force and slowly brought him into a crazed and confounded state. The sound got stronger and Kelsey dramatized every moment possible with bite in the text. “O mio terror!… dell’ultimo” was delivered with desperation and a powerful baritone that resonated throughout the auditorium. This was the moment when Kelsey really shined leading to a well deserved ovation.”
Operawire
“Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen are relatively new to their respective roles, although they had the benefit of appearing together in concert earlier this year with the Royal Danish Opera. Their Met role debuts are career-defining for both artists, confirming Kelsey as one of the preeminent Verdi baritones of his generation.
Kelsey began tentatively, vocally and dramatically, clearly marching to his wife’s orders. The equivocation was short-lived. His voice blazed in “Fuggi, regal fantasima,” an outburst of terror, guilt and defiance at the sight of Banquo’s ghost. In Macbeth’s great Act IV aria, Kelsey was no longer a swaggering tyrant but plumbed the depths of despair as he reflected that he had earned neither pity nor respect, let alone the love of his people. The sheer ease of his vocal production was itself a marvel.”
New York Classical Review
“Quinn Kelsey’s sumptuous baritone brimmed with lyricism along with its power, expressing Macbeth’s ambition and terror at the same time.”
Wall Street Journal
“Kelsey is vocally unimpeachable, with a lush baritone that never tires throughout a difficult two-and-a-half-hour score, and which beautifully illustrates Macbeth’s emotional life and what drives him.”
Theater Mania
“With her endless calm, she is a fine foil for the overwrought Macbeth (“Macbetto” in the libretto) of baritone Quinn Kelsey, who slips in and out of fury and remorse, terror and fear, less in control than she but exactly what the role calls for. He too was in fine, strong voice for the opening”
Broadway World
“Kelsey’s Macbeth is as fine a work of theatre as it is of vocal acting.”
The Times
“While Macbeth is constantly crawling out of his skin, Kelsey sings the role with a relaxed confidence that is a pleasure to listen to.”
Vulture / New York Magazine
“Kelsey once again laid claim to being the Met’s ideal Verdi baritone. His fierce yet at times achingly vulnerable anti-hero resounded with house-filling power while negotiating Verdi’s demanding lines with seemingly inexhaustible breath.”
Parterre
