Young American dramatic soprano Heidi Melton has been called “the Wagnerian voice we have been waiting for since Flagstad and Nilsson” (La Presse), a voice that is “big, gleaming and tonally resplendent” (San Francisco Chronicle). She begins the 2019-2020 season as Sieglinde in Act I of Die Walküre in her debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Karina Canellakis conducting, and the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mark Russell Smith. Additional engagements include returns to the Badische Staatskapelle for Erwartung, Justin Brown conducting, Deutsche Oper Berlin for Gertrud in Hänsel und Gretel, and a debut at the...
Heidi Melton
Soprano
ManagersNathan Wentworth
Territory
Worldwide
Press Resources
“However, the winning performance of the dramatic soprano Heidi Melton, a member of the ensemble from 2011-2013, together with a sovereign and well-prepared Badische Staatskapelle under General Music Director Justin Brown, should have appealed to and touched every listener...The occasionally incoherent sequence of the smallest musical motifs in the precise and agile orchestra was brought together by Heidi Melton's well-understood text, with which she led the story to it’s harrowing conclusion.”
HD, Badische Neueste Nachricht, October 30, 2019 - Soprano Soloist in 'Erwartung' with Badische Staatskapelle
“American Heidi Melton is a Wagner soprano on the rise with a flourishing, mellow soprano voice not unlike the young Nina Stemme.”
Camila Lundberg, Dagens Nyheter, October 4, 2019 - Sieglinde in Act I of 'Die Walküre' with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
“Soprano Heidi Melton proved nearly ideal as Sieglinde. She brought a rich voice to the role, showing smooth tenderness through most of the act, but was capable of thrilling energy, as well.”
Eric C. Simpson, New York Classical Review, February 15, 2018 – Act 1 of ‘Die Walküre’ with Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic
“Melton, who was outstanding singing Brünnhilde alongside Eric Owen’s Wotan with the New York Philharmonic in January, was superb again. She sang with a ringing, vibrant tone, and a way of phrasing that was natural and ideal. Her characterization was full of human, rather than grandiose, dignity.”
George Grella, New York Classical Review, February 28, 2016 - Brünhilde's Immolation Scene with the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall
“Melton sang her first monologue with vocal richness of detail. She also sang pianissimi with incredibly lyrical qualities, displaying the diversities of her gorgeous and nuanced soprano. In unusual beauty, the voice unfolded in heartfelt emotion with the passage "Er sah mir in die Augen". Without blemish, flourishing in tone, dynamically dramatic outbursts, overpowering the orchestra with sonorous, stunning volume, coupled with dreamlike piani and in the love duet, she displayed an all-embracing, overwhelming vocal focus. Brimming soft, glowing arches gave Heidi Melton the final Liebestod an almost mystical transfiguration.”
Gerhard Hoffmann, Der neue Merker, March 28, 2016 - Isolde in 'Tristan und Isolde' at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe
“And so it went with the rest of the weekend’s Wagner: compelling excerpts from “Götterdämmerung” on Saturday, with the soprano Heidi Melton giving full, rich voice to Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene.”
James Oestreich, New York Times, March 2, 2016 - Brünhilde's Immolation Scene with the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall
“The American soprano Heidi Melton demonstrated complete certainty and succeeded in singing the murderous part of Brünnhilde strongly until the very last note.”
Allgemeine Zeitung, 16 October 2017 – Brünnhilde in ‘Götterdämmerung’ at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe