PRESS ACCLAIM
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINER ZEITUNG
Bianca in Bianca e Falliero at Oper Frankfurt
“Der Sopranistin Heather Phillips gelingt ein famoses Debüt."
"The American soprano, who has made her European debut here, is not only a great performer: she begins as a sky-high, exultant, amorous girl in a pale pink pleated skirt with little golden boots, who is confronted with the cylindrically rigid towering walls of Venice as a symbol of inexorable power, then transforms into a sufferer with the terror-stricken look of a classical tragedienne and ends as a disillusioned, battered but inwardly strong woman."
- Wolfgang Fuhrmann, Frankfurter Allgemeiner Zeitung
OPERA ONLINE MAGAZINE
Bianca in Bianca e Falliero at Oper Frankfurt
"A model of bel canto singing.."
"In Heather Phillips, one admires the fluidity of her vocal runs, the breadth of her range (her lower register is rich and full), and the polish of her performance. The nobility of her phrasing and the refined lyricism in her cantabile passages are dazzling, but the greatest wonder comes from the exceptional quality of her coloratura, brimming with passion and precision. A model of bel canto singing that immerses the audience in an atmosphere of ineffable poetry, greeted by bravos both after her marvelous cavatina Della rosa il bel vermiglio and following her final rondo, borrowed from La Donna del lago (by Rossini himself)."
- Emmanuel Andrieu, Opera Online Magazine
OPERN WELT
Bianca in Bianca e Falliero at Oper Frankfurt
"Phenomenal soloists..."
"That this tour de force, this ride on the razor's edge succeeded in view of the horrendous vocal demands of Rossini's score, is primarily due to the phenomenal soloists. The two young singers, Heather Phillips as Bianca and Beth Taylor as Falliero, rose to a veritable frenzy. Even the trickiest fioritures, the most debauched vocalizes and trills they mastered with elegance, verve and put the audience under a magical spell. At no moment was their singing a meaningless end in itself, but always an expression of a dramatic or an emotional affect."
- Uwe Schweikert, Opera Welt
NEUE MUSIK ZEITUNG
Bianca in Bianca e Falliero at Oper Frankfurt
"Phillips showed strong nerves and high courage...shines radiantly..."
"The most prominent aria is Bianca’s 'Teco io resto' as an adaptation of 'Tanti affetti' from La donna del lago. The difficulties of Bianca e Falliero, however, lie less in Gioachino Rossini’s multiple adaptations and self-borrowings than in the extremely complicated part of the Venetian noblewoman Bianca. Hardly a phrase passes in this one without ornamentation in all registers. In this respect, the American Heather Phillips showed strong nerves and high courage in her European debut…Phillips as Bianca shines radiantly in her big arias at the beginning and end of the opera. At the end the music triumphs…Bianca remains alone with herself and her potential for violence, accumulated in the encounters with her father and Falliero."
- Roland H. Dippel, Neue Musik Zeitung
OPERA NEWS
Nannetta in Falstaff at Arizona Opera
“…she voiced her music beautifully, through to a shimmering Fairy Song complete with a diminuendoed high A flat.”
- David Shengold, Opera News
OPERATODAY.COM
Nannetta in Falstaff at Arizona Opera
“She and Heather Phillips, who sang Nannetta, stole the show…these two women produced some of the sweetest notes and most finely shaped phrases of the evening.”
- Maria Nockin, Opera Today
BROADWAYWORLD.COM
Micaela in Carmen at Austin Opera
“The cast is stellar...but there are a few standouts worthy of mention. Heather Phillips' Micaëla is beautiful and heartbreaking, she embodies unrequited love wonderfully."
- Lynn Beaver, Broadwayworld.com
PARTERRE BOX
Katie in Cold Mountain at Opera Philadelphia
“…and among a number of fine sounding singers, Heather Phillips stood out as one of a trio of deceptive sirens who lure Inman into a trap.”
- Albert Innaurato, Parterre Box
Adina in L'elisir d'amore - Staatstheater Darmstadt
"Heather Phillips as Adina and Georg Festl in the role of a gaudy, colorful quack doctor...proved their comedic abilities."