“Hansel (Emily Fons) and Gretel (Simone Osborne) are marvellous, their effortlessly childlike demeanour never calling into question their formidable talents as singers. At once individualistic and complementary, their clear and articulate voices rise above the orchestra with youthful ease.”
Arlan Vriens, Opera Canada, 2020
Canadian soprano Simone Osborne has been hailed as "a joy to hear" (Los Angeles Times) with "a sweet and clear sound, sensitive phrasing and gleaming sustained high notes" (New York Times). Ms. Osborne was one of the youngest winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Simone begins the 2019-2020 season with a return to the Canadian Opera Company for Gretel in a new production of Hänsel und Gretel conducted by Johannes Debus followed by her role/house/country debut at Oper Frankfurt as Juliet in the Delius A Village Romeo and Juliet conducted by Elias Grandy and First Niece in Peter...
“But this all-Canadian-cast Faust, helmed by François Racine, also finds its depth in the music and acting—most notably in Marguerite, sung by stellar Vancouver-bred soprano and crowd favourite Simone Osborne.”
Janet Smith, The Georgia Straight - Marguerite in 'Faust' at Vancouver Opera
“The Kuyas lullaby is stunningly sung by Riel’s wife, Marguerite (soprano Simone Osborne)…”
Lynn Saxberg, Ottawa Citizen - Marguerite in 'Louis Riel' with the National Arts Centre (Canada)
“Osborne’s Mad Scene was the tour-de-force it needs to be, beautifully sung, convincingly and quite passionately acted, a woman who still has the touch of the girl as she loses her reason.”
Mark Morris, Edmonton Journal - title role in 'Lucia di Lammermoor' at Edmonton Opera
“It’s hard to explain. But something of a miracle occurred on the stage of Roy Thomson Hall Thursday night. Canadian soprano Simone Osborne was just wrapping up the final movement of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony…on Thursday, Osborne didn’t just sing that song, it’s as though she became the song, that hers was the voice that had created the entire symphony. It felt as though the 80-odd musicians on stage were somehow emanations of her and her musical presence, so thoroughly did she inhabit the music she was singing. Even though Osborne is on stage for a mere fraction of the symphony’s duration, it was as though she had been there the entire evening, as though we had been hearing her somehow make the symphony’s music.”
Robert Harris, The Globe and Mail - Mahler's 4th Symphony with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
“Simone Osborne shone and her voice soared as Nannetta, the Ford's daughter, as she was given one of the few real arias in the work, a third-act beauty which she delivered with grace and care.”
Robert Harris, The Globe and Mail - Nannetta in 'Falstaff' at the Canadian Opera Company
