Multiple Grammy Award-winning Isabel Leonard continues to thrill audiences both in the opera house and on the concert stage. In repertoire that spans from Vivaldi to Mozart to Nico Muhly, she has graced the stages of the Vienna State Opera, Paris Opera, Salzburg Festival, Bavarian State Opera, Carnegie Hall, Glyndebourne Festival, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Angelina in La Cenerentola, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Charlotte in Werther, Blanche...
Isabel Leonard
Mezzo-Soprano
ManagersNathan Wentworth Tim Fox
Territory
Worldwide
Press Resources
“Leonard is a true treasure . . . immensely talented and charismatic . . . already one of the world’s leading artists though still relatively early in her career.”
Eric C. Simpson, New York Classical Review - Recital at Carnegie Hall
“[Isabel Leonard] was a major reason to be there. Her deeply-colored Latin tone eloquently lined up behind the lyrics. You wouldn’t expect such a tone-heavy voice to nail lighter moments, such as “I Feel Pretty,” but she did — in the best rendition of that song I’ve ever heard.”
David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer - Maria in 'West Side Story' at the Philadelphia Orchestra
“Leonard, so appealing as Rosina in Lyric's 2013-14 Rossini "Barber of Seville," was even more appealing as Angelina. The mezzo has the vocal and physical beauty, the natural stage charisma, the sure dramatic instincts, to win all hearts from the outset. She also commands the coloratura agility, flexibility and precision to satisfy the role's stiff technical demands and graceful bel canto lines. Rossini does his rags-to-riches heroine no favors by placing her florid showpiece, "Non piu mesta," at the end of a long, vocally taxing opera. But Leonard sailed through the tricky roulades, runs and other embellishments with grace and aplomb, making Angelina's joy at being united with her prince palpable in every ornate flourish.”
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune - Angelina in 'La Cenerentola' at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
“Isabel Leonard’s role debut as Adalgisa, Norma’s acolyte/BFF/rival, was equally nuanced and complete. Leonard is perhaps the finest acting singer we’ve had on the COC stage for some time, and those theatrical chops, combined with her thrilling, beautifully expressive voice, made her an absolutely riveting character every time she stepped on stage. She was able to match Radvanovsky run for run, emotion for emotion – no easy feat.”
Robert Harris, Toronto Globe and Mail - Adalgisa in 'Norma' at the Canadian Opera Company
In the Met’s ‘Figaro,’ a Scene Stealer in Her Element: Few operatic characters are better equipped to steal scenes than the adolescent page Cherubino in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro”: a young man ridden by hormones and given gorgeous arias pulsing with sensuality. That the role is allotted to a grown woman only increases the opportunities for sophisticated humor and low farce. So it came as little surprise that on Thursday evening, when Richard Eyre’s 2014 production of “Figaro” returned to the stage of the Metropolitan Opera with the wonderful Isabel Leonard again in that role, Cherubino ruled. Ms. Leonard’s lustrous, full-bodied mezzo-soprano and her exquisite comic timing seized attention at every turn.
James R. Oestreich, New York Times - Cherubino in 'Le nozze di Figaro' at Metropolitan Opera