Caroline Worra
Reviews
"...the singer who stood out was Caroline Worra...She is simply the most instantly communicative and immediate artist I have seen on the stage since Beverly Sills...the audience was electrified...the vocal quality is luminous, there is a throb in the vibrato that gives a real sense of vulnerability and femininity, and she has precisely the same magical quality that Sills had - the ability to seem, on stage, completely self-confident and self- possessed, and yet with a warmth in her voice and manner, a sense of being 'personal' and 'caring', that spoke directly to the audience...and that wonderful smile...there were moments when she was singing when I was close to tearful, hearing such an intimate and personal sense of presence in a young singer...She is, I believe, on the verge of a stellar career...We have heard a number of very fine young sopranos in recent years,...but Worra is I think unique among them in the sheer human communication and expressivity she is bringing to the stage right now." (2009) Beckmesserschmitt - OPERA-L
"Caroline Worra is a compelling performer with quite extraordinary technical abilities." (2010) David Shengold - Opera News
"...the great Caroline Worra...she made Elettra's final meltdown one for the vocal and dramatic history books." (2010) Review from Mozart's Idomeneo
"...there were two really high spots...the second one was truly spectacular, and it was interesting to hear the giggles of the audience morph into silence, then awe, and then fierce applause - Electra's flipped out aria. Caroline Worra was amazing..." (2010) Review from Mozart's Idomeneo"One outstanding voice" (2008) London Financial Times
"A singer without Worra's warm naturalistic delivery couldn't pull this off." (2007) Joshua Rosenblum - Opera News
"...singing and acting with an arresting emotional rawness." (2005) Marion Ligana Rosenberg - Opera News
"Soprano Caroline Worra stole the show...She handled the coloratura challenges with panache, inflecting ornate parts expressively, tossing off a fabulous fast trill, and projecting thrilling high notes above high C. She is as impressive singing softly as powerfully, and was sensitive in ensemble work. Worra is a singer to watch."(1999) Pittsburgh Tribune
"Worra's complete vocal and physical involvement in the final frightening revelation was shattering." (2004) Stephen G. Landesman - OPERA-L
"...sung with explosive ferocity by Soprano Caroline Worra." (2004) The Wall Street Journal
"If Verdi demanded bel-canto brilliance, Stravinsky challenges with irregular intervals. Worra triumphed over both. She has quite a career ahead of her." (2000) Pittsburgh Tribune
"...all around powerhouse performer Caroline Worra..." (2008) American Opera Projects
"Worra sang all of her music wonderfully, with clean attack and informed stylistic mastery: clearly this is a serious artist destined for international stages." David Shengold - Opera News
"The revelation in the cast was Caroline Worra ... who provides the evening's terrifying climax ... with a superb soprano and solid technique ... she delivered the final twist with fearsome power, landing on a molten high B that produced an almost physical reaction from the audience." (2009) Brian Kellow - Opera News
"Carolines an immaculate musician and vocally complete, but thats only where a singer starts. Her sound is utterly her ownrich, bright, crackling with electricityand every time I hear her shes a bolder, more inventive actress...her intensity was such, you could hardly draw breath...as Leonard Bernstein once said of Maria Callas, if I could sing like that Id never write another note again."(2008) Mark Adamo - Time Out New York
__________2011 Reviews__________
AGRIPPINA
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA
"Of course, no production of this opera can work without a compelling Agrippina, and soprano Caroline Worra was all that and more. Put simply, she had it all - a beautiful voice, dynamic stage presence, tremendous technique and a keen dramatic instinct. Worra's performance was so richly charismatic that her presence was felt even when she was absent from the stage - which is exactly the way Agrippina would have wanted it." (Opera News - Karen Ratzlaff - March 11, 2011)
"As Agrippina, exquisite Caroline Worra woos us into her world of intrigues while demonstrating the years of vocal training. Every note from her is a gift, and all of her arias are limpid and satisfying. She is conniving, enticing, disdainful, and beautiful...What else can we ask for from a diva?" BostonEventsInsider.com - Lily Thompson - March 14, 2011
A Remarkable Performance
"As the manipulative matriarch herself, soprano Caroline Worra gave a remarkable performance. Her bright, focused soprano soared across the florid passages with ease. Although her comic sense was innately keen, she was equally strong in dramatic moments, such as the astounding "Pensieri" aria, in which her voice took on a plangent quality. An endearing stage presence, she made it difficult to completely detest this Agrippina." EDGEboston.com - Ed Tapper - March 12, 2011
"Soprano Caroline Worra makes a kind of mad stage mother of Agrippina - she seems to be devouring the role as we watch; but she's also in glorious voice, and when the empress is suddenly struck by guilty doubts, suddenly Worra is dramatically riveting, too." The Hub Review - Thomas Garvey - March 14, 2011
"Worra spun out elegant coloratura lines - Handel was in his Italian phase, and some of her arias have that "how can she do that?" quality." BostonHerald.com - Keith Power - March 13, 2011
"...in the title role, Caroline Worra was vocally and dramatically commanding as a free wheeling Agrippina, crazed with blind ambition for her son yet not without her own sympathetic vulnerabilities." The Boston Globe - Jeremy Eichler - March 14, 2011
"Beautiful Soprano Caroline Worra, who thrilled audiences in "Idomeneo" last year, is deliciously scheming as Agrippina." The Theater Mirror - Sheila Barth - March 15, 2011
"In the title role, soprano Caroline Worra made the most of her juicy part, offering scintillating coloratura and a three dimensional characterization of the emperors wife, by turns arrogant, scheming, and tormented by misgivings...Musical highpoints for me included Agrippina's first aria "I exult in the rage of the storm" whose fearless brilliance evokes the character's dauntlessness." The Boston Musical Intelligencer - Geoffrey Weiting - March 15, 2011
"As Agrippina, soprano Caroline Worra...acted with great comic timing. In her scheming - and her frustration when her plans went awry - I thought of Lucille Ball more than once. She understands Baroque style, and her trill is something to treasure." BerkshireFineArts.com - David Bonetti - March 13, 2011
"Caroline Worra, who plays the titular mother, is most notably adept at these complicated, difficult and incredibly fun to hear musical moments. Her commanding soprano and delicate trills fit the demanding role perfectly, and she delivers difficult arias such as "Pensieri, voi mi tormentate," which the character deftly and expertly sings during her "mad scene." (The Tufts Daily - Emma Bushnell - March 18, 2011)
"The star of the night was Caroline Worra's performance as Agrippina. Her voice soared the entire night and never faltered...This was a great role for her...and she stood up to the challenge." (JJK - Boston Theatre Review - March 19, 2011)
TOSCA
CEDAR RAPIDS OPERA THEATRE
Tosca is Triumph for Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre
__________2010 Reviews__________
IDOMENEO
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA
Opera News - Kalen Ratzlaff
August, 2010
"Soprano Caroline Worra, stalking the stage in a wild whirlwind of fury, was a vivid presence as the crazed Elettra, daughter of the murdered Greek king Agamemnon and, in this narrative, Illia's jealous rival for Idamante's love. She navigated the chromatic passagework of her rage arias with ease, exhibiting sureness of pitch and control, and she also found a surprising shading of character in her Act II aria of love for Idamante, "Idol mio," conjuring up an image of the innocent, loving girl she might have been in gentler times."
community.netscape.com - Karen Lindsey
April 29, 2010
"...there were two really high spots...the second one was truly spectacular, and it was interesting to hear the giggles of the audience morph into silence, then awe, and then fierce applause - Electra's flipped out aria. Caroline Worra was amazing and I'd love to see her do Lucia di Lamermoor."
The Hub Review - Thomas Garvey
April 27, 2010
"...was simply up-staged by the great Caroline Worra...the spurned Elettra. Worra is blessed with a beautifully burnished timbre, and threw herself into her role with abandon, at times even teetering at the edge of comedy - she made Elettra's final meltdown one for the vocal and dramatic history books."
The Boston Musical Intelligence - David Shengold
April 26, 2010
"Caroline Worra's Elettra was also worthy of international stages: extremely well-sung (the tricky "Soavi zeffiri" a particular sensuous highlight) and thoughtfully enacted."
The Justice online.com - Hannah Kirsch
May 4, 2010
"Although the entire cast of Idomeneo was very strong, the clear stars of the night were mezzo-soprano Sandra Piques Eddy in the role of Idamante and soprano Caroline Worra as Elettra. ...As a BLO staff member explained, during the orchestra's first rehearsal with Worra, the musicians cheered following the conclusion of "D'Oreste, D'Aiace," the aria during which Elettra goes insane with jealousy and rage. Her performance Wednesday night inspired similar enthusiasm from the audience, which applauded unrestrainedly as she tore offstage, cackling and screaming.
Boston Arts Diary - BADMan
June 20, 2010
"Caroline Worra (Elettra) was wonderfully and exuberantly dramatic in a final mad scene."
Julie the Jarhead
June 1, 2010
"Then there was Electra, a character who defines the overused phrase "kick ass." A ballsy soprano of the old school, Ms. Caroline Worra shone, moving from love-struck to spurned to vengeful with aplomb."
The Greenwich Citizen - Helen Neafsey
April 23, 2010
When I first arrived at the Shubert Theatre, where the Boston Lyric Opera holds their performances, I spoke with the conductor, David Angus. He said that during a previous rehearsal the other night, the orchestra gave Caroline a cheer after that third aria. That doesn't happen much with orchestras, he said. Angus went on to say that every now and then there is a WOW! in an opera. In "Idomeneo Re Crete," he said, Caroline is the WOW.
Angus has worked with Caroline at Glimmerglass Opera in the past and knows her well. "Caroline is an exceptional artist, both technically and musically," he told me. "In a business where sopranos infamously drag behind the beat, she is the first one I have ever met who says that she want to go faster than I do, and actually means it!
"She has the technique to do so, with total accuracy and a beautiful tone," he added. "She is a consummate professional, a great musician and actress, and I hope to work with her very often in the future. She is also a lovely person, and a great colleague -- almost too good to be true!"
ARIODANTE
PRINCETON FESTIVAL
Opera News - David Shengold
September, 2010 - Vol. 75. No. 3
"Caroline Worra is a compelling performer with quite extraordinary technical abilities. Sometimes she started lavish decorations in the first A sections and took them to Silsian lengths. One admired her daring... Early on, she evoked Sill's broadly smiling "TV" hostess manner..."
Central Jersey.com - Michael Redmond
June 23, 2010
"...partnered brilliantly by Caroline Worra as Ginevra. Ms. Worra's handling of one of the opera's early mad scenes, "Il mio crudel martoro" stopped the show."
OPERA-L Archives
June 21, 2010
"An equally demanding role is that of the princess Ginevra, which Caroline Worra performed in an enchanting and amusing manner. Her clear and powerful soprano voice was a joy from start to finish."
OPERA-L - James Camner
June 20, 2010
"The cast was led by Caroline Worra who has already built a considerable reputation. She sang well from the first showering the audience with cascades of trills."
N.J.com - Ronni Reich
June 22, 2010
"Worra was riveting as she portrayed Ginevra's madness."
Town Topics - Nancy Plum
June 23, 2010
"Soprano Caroline Worra also took over the stage as Ginevra, the daughter of the king and betrothed to Ariodante. Ms. Worra also sang with a voice full of color and runs came easily to her throughout the music. She also convinced the audience well of her despair as she was denounced by her father at the end of the second act. Ms. Worra had her work cut out for her in her "Furies" aria and closed Act I with a glorious ending to the aria encouraging "cupids to fly."
From dane 101.com - Maddie Greene
January 29, 2010
"Anyone with a heart will thrill to soprano Caroline Worra, an absolutely delightful performer. I smiled when she smiled, I frowned when she fretted. Her performance as the Governess is exhilerating."
From The Daily Cardinal - Katie Foran McHale
January 28, 2010
"But it is Worra's show all along. Her incredible enunciation makes the display of the libretto seem unnecessary, and the way she approaches melodic climaxes by way of phrasing and melodic contour is tremendously moving."
From The Capital Times - Lindsay Christians
January 28, 2010
"Worra is a fine dramatic performer, with a bright, clear soprano. When the governess frets before meeting the children in the first scene, Worra's voice reveals doubt but her tone never falters."
From The Mad Opera Blog - Brian Hinrichs
December 8, 2009
Eye on the Cast: Caroline Worra
Madison Opera's casting high point promises to be the gifted Caroline Worra as the Governess in The Turn of the Screw...
-Opera News, "Hot Tickets"
Soprano Caroline Worra has been hailed as "a new soprano powerhouse" by The New Yorker. In Time Out New York, the composer Mark Adamo had this to say: "Caroline's an immaculate musician and vocally complete, but that's only where a singer starts. Her sound is utterly her own--rich, bright, crackling with intensity--and every time I hear her, she's a bolder, more inventive actress." From January 28-31, you can hear her sing the role of The Governess in Madison Opera's production of The Turn of the Screw.
There's a reason our casting of Ms. Worra as The Governess caught the attention of Opera News magazine: she is known for excelling in contemporary repertoire. I first heard her as a stunning Eurydice in Philip Glass's Orphee at Glimmerglass Opera in 2007; with that same company, she earned a Grammy nomination for a recording of The Mines of Sulphur and high-praise for creating the title role in The Greater Good: The Passion of Boule de Suif. Earlier this season, she was Miss Rose in the world premiere of Stephen Schwartz's new work, Seance on a Wet Afternoon.
But to focus only on her work in contemporary opera would ignore her huge range. She's recently performed Marguerite in Faust with Opera Memphis, and this month, she is in Chicago at the Lyric Opera for Hanna in The Merry Widow. Perhaps these two videos of Caroline (Verdi's Il Corsaro and Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress) capture it best.
Rehearsals for The Turn of the Screw start January 11th, and we can't wait!
__________2009 Reviews__________
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
From Opera-L - Beckmesserschmitt
June 28, 2009
"I spent the afternoon in Princeton, New Jersey, with a very rewarding Midsummer, of which more a bit later in the day, but the singer who stood out was Caroline Worra, incandescent in the roll of Helena. She is simply the most instantly communicative and immediate artist I have seen on the stage since Beverly Sills. Worra has been singing for almost 14 years, if I look at her performance history, although she couldn't be much over thirty two or so, and when she began to sing her plea to Hermia, the audience was electrified. I do not think it is necessarily a large voice, although that's hard to tell in the McCarter Theatre, but the vocal quality is luminous, there is a throb in the vibrato that gives a real sense of vulnerability and femininity, and she has precisely the same magical quality that Sills had - the ability to seem, on stage, completely self-confident and self- possessed, and yet with a warmth in her voice and manner, a sense of being 'personal' and 'caring', that spoke directly to the audience. There is also a bit of physical similarity to Sills - the large front teeth, the way she has of tossing her head at times, and that wonderful smile. Perhaps it was just the mood of the afternoon, but there were moments when she was singing when I was close to tearful, hearing such an intimate and personal sense of presence in a young singer.
She is, I believe, on the verge of a stellar career - she's been covering now at the MET, is getting just the reviews she deserves (and more so), and it's just a matter of a couple of years for her to meet up with a signature role which will skyrocket her to where she is entirely entitled to be. If I were Princeton Festival next year, I'd mount Baby Doe for her. This summer you can hear her in the Wintergreen Festival in Virginia (including Barber's Knoxville - THAT might be worth a trip - and later in the year she will be the Governess in Screw in Madison (which really would be worth while, and in the Spring of 2010 Elettra in Boston. You can find out more about her here
http://www.carolineworra.com/
We have heard a number of very fine young sopranos in recent years, including Irini Rindzuner, Fabiana Bravo and Eglise Guttierez, but Worra is I think unique among them in the sheer human communication and expressivity she is bringing to the stage right now."
KNOXVILLE, SUMMER OF 1915
From Opera-L - Beckmesserschmitt
July 21, 2009
"...to the Wintergreen Festival in Southwestern Virginia to hear Caroline Worra sing Knoxville as part of the Festival. I had raved about Worra after hearing her as Helena in Midsummer in New Jersey... the drive south was more than worth it for these 17 minutes hearing Caroline Worra, and I expect to hear her do Elettra in Boston in the Spring, I may try to make it for her Governess in Madison in January (but then, I love Britten and cold weather) and those in the Chicago area should know she's covering Elizabeth Futral as Hanna at Chicago Lyric Opera, and though I like
Futral, I'd hightail it to any performance that Worra got to do if I were you. Her singing in English - which I think is really a golden
language for her - is always clear and she has a special way in making the words bear emotional content without overemphasizing them. The breath support is really impressive and she is just great to watch and 'communicate with' on stage - again, she reminds me of all of the wonderful parts of Sills without that last dollop of aggression that Sills sometimes forced into her comic roles - and I'd think she'd be a spectacular Hanna if given the chance.
...she is such a luminous presence on stage, and such an incandescent artist, that you really should do everything you possibly can to experience this type of artistic communication, which is increasingly rare today, I am afraid."
THE MINES OF SULPHUR
WEXFORD OPERA FESTIVAL
WINNER BEST OPERA OF IRELAND AWARD 2009
From Opera News - Brian Kellow
February, 2009
"The crowning glory of the 2008 season was Michael Barker-Caven's engrossing staging of Richard Rodney Bennett's 1965 The Mines of Sulphur. Seldom have I been more unnerved by anything on the opera stage; ...The Mines of Sulphur is a small twelve-tone masterpiece that deserves the attention it has gotten since its recent rediscovery courtesy of Glimmerglass Opera and New York City Opera. It's a chilling ghost story... The revelation in the cast was Caroline Worra as Jenny, a member of the acting troupe, who provides the evening's terrifying climax. ...with a superb soprano and solid technique ... she delivered the final twist with fearsome power, landing on a molten high B that produced an almost physical reaction from the audience."
From The London Financial Times - Andrew Clark
October 21, 2008
"This was one of the most homogeneous Wexford casts I've heard, with one outstanding voice - Caroline Worra's Jenny, who made much of Bennett's grateful soprano lines while also articulating her poignant role in the drama."
From The Sunday Tribune (Ireland) - Karen Dervan
October 26, 2008
"...there were vocal talents aplenty to admire (Caroline Worra in particular)."
From Spectator.co.uk (Ireland) - Tom Sutcliffe
October 25, 2008
"The best show this year is Richard Rodney Bennett's The Mines of Sulphur...it's character's gripped...and Caroline Worra as Jenny the actress, who proves infected with plague, all acted and sang enthrallingly. Wexford's new era is better than ever"
FAUST
From The Commercial Appeal - Christopher Blank
April 27, 2009
"The opera "Faust" by French composer Charles Gounod may begin with a contract between a man and the devil, but it ends on a love story between a woman and God. The love story in particular sticks with you long after soprano Caroline Worra sings her final redemptive notes as Marguerite...It's Worra's madness and salvation that finally illuminates the opera, which swirls with haze and darkness. She caps the show with her emotional delivery and spot-on singing...few will fail to be moved by her final scene ending the season on a haunting but epic note."
MOTEZUMA
LONG BEACH OPERA
From Opera Chocolate - Mark D'Aquila
April 5, 2009
"Caroline Worra who played Asprano really stole the show...when she sang her first aria she was astounding and really electrified the theater. I highly recommend getting familiar with her because she is destined for the larger stage."
From The OCRegister - Peter Lefevre
March 29, 2009
"Worra earned two of the loudest ovations during the evening, infusing her role with startling energy, vocal thrill, and tremendous charm."
From www.afoolintheforest.com - George M. Wallac
April 6, 2009
"LBO veteran Caroline Worra's giddily courageous functionary-turned-cut throat Asprano was the clear favorite of the sold out crowd, especially in the wake of her final, roof-raising aria."
From Gazettes.Com - Jim Ruggirello
April 1, 2009
"...Caroline Worra....managed not only to sing beautifully, but also to make dramatic sense of the coloratura, often nothing more than an obstacle course for most singers. And Worra's metamorphosis from museum functionary to Aztec general was particularly cool."
From Opera West - David Gregson
March 29, 2009
"...and super-butch Mexican general Asprano is sung equally flawlessly by the marvelous soprano Caroline Worra (who was one of the many good reasons to visit Ireland's Wexford Festival last season.)"
From Out West Arts - George M. Wallace
March 30, 2009
"...I was also fond of Caroline Worra's Asprano, Montezuma general. She has a wonderful sequence where she sheds her business attire to don feathers and a quasi-Aztec war garb. It was hysterical in a good way."
From Signal Tribune Newspaper - Cory Bilicks
April 3, 2009
"...Caroline Worra, whose transformation from a quiet, modern-day personal assistant to Mexican general Asprano is one that takes place before the audiences eyes, as she belts out her aria. To witness her come to life after passively sitting upstage for nearly an hour is a visual and aural pleasure."
From Easy Reader
April 3, 2009
"Worra was a nice surprise, especially in that she spent so much of the first act seeming like a member of the audience who had wandered by mistake onto the stage. Her metamorphosis into Motezumas fierce general, and then back again, is quite an accomplishment."
From Stage Happenings - Michael Van Duzer
April, 2009
"Caroline Worra was an effervescent delight as a highly unlikely Aztec warrior called Asprano."
From The Beverly Hills Outlook - Wendy Kikkert
March 29, 2009
"Caroline Worra underwent an astonishing transformation from museum curator to Asprano, the General of the Mexicans, shedding her pants suit for war paint, headdress and leopard bustier. All this while slashing with her sword and executing flawless pyrotechnics."
From LA Times- Mark Swed
March 29, 2009
"The cast is full of dynamic, daring actors. ....Caroline Worra (Asprano) made a delightfully spectacular transformation from museum assistant to Mexican general."
THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME
From The New York Times - Allan Kozinn
January 9, 2008
"Caroline Worra brings a persuasively carefree style and a lovely vocal timbre to "The Girl I Left Behind Me."
From Sunday Arts Blog - Jennifer Melick
April 23, 2008
The three singers in the show each portray a character based on short stories: Franz Kafkas A Hunger Artist (about the predicament of a man who hates food), Muriel Sparks The Girl I Left Behind (about a young woman struggling with a strange kind of memory loss), and Edgar Allan Poes well-known A Tell-Tale Heart. Nathan Lee Graham, with a resume that is a mix of television and movie roles, Broadway, and classical, portrays Kafkas hunger artist, while Michael Slattery (Poes guilt-plagued murderer) and Caroline Worra (the woman trying to remember what she is missing) are both well established in the classical universe.
Id somehow managed to miss Worra when she sang Jenny in Bennetts The Mines of Sulphur at New York City Opera in 2005, for which she got excellent reviews, and was glad of an opportunity to hear this singer that has had New Yorker critic Alex Ross calling her a new soprano powerhouse. Worra is intriguing indeedshe has a big voice of exceptional beauty that has sharp edges and is also capable of precise coloratura, and she has a voracious appetite for new music. She sings everything from Handels Semele to Mozarts Donna Elvira to music by composers such as Stephen Hartke, Philip Glass, and Richard Rodney Bennett; one the upcoming performances shes most excited about is the Composers & the Voice Workshop Series, presented next month in New York by American Opera Projects. This fall she takes on a world-premiere opera, Blizzard Voices, at Opera Omaha, and reprises her role as Jenny in Bennetts The Mines of Sulphur at Irelands Wexford Opera.
When I spoke to Worra for a few minutes after her Sunday performance in Three Lost Chords, she explained how it is she has come to sing so much new music. Im a fast learner, was her understated response. Uh, it turns out she learned the lead role, Boule de Suif, in Hartkes The Greater Good in exactly one week when she sang that at Glimmerglass Opera in 2006. She says it helps speed up the learning process that she started off as a piano major before switching her main focus to voice; she still has a piano teaching studio of 35 students. Right now, shes excited about her first Metropolitan Opera engagement: understudying the role of Mrs. Naidoo in Philip Glasss opera Satyagraha, a highly anticipated co-production with English National Opera, scheduled to have its Met premiere on April 11. This is not Worras first Glass opera; she sang in his Orphe last summer at Glimmerglass. As she describes it, In Satyagraha, there are a lot of instructions in the score like repeat these two measures eight times or sing this whole section twice. The wonderful acting troupe Improbable is constantly onstage with us, manipulating these giant puppets and crinkling paper and so forth. I play an Indian lady whos an adviser to Gandhi. There are no Met Titles at all! Its in Sanskrit, and there will be just a few projections of text on the stage, so people have a general idea of whats going on.
Since Worras an understudy in Satyagraha, youll only hear her in that if someone else gets sick. This Wednesday, April 9, is your last chance to hear her in Three Lost Chords. Definitely worth a listen.
THE GREATER GOOD
From Opera News - Joshua Rosenblum
September, 2007
"As Boule de Suif, Caroline Worra, in a glowingly humane performance, gives the piece its moral frame of reference. Her candid, emotionally revealing aria about being left in Rouen with the occupying Germans reveals layers of roiling emotion, and the women respond to her as a person for the first time. A singer without Worra's warm, naturalistic delivery couldn't pull this off."
From NPR's World of Opera
August 19, 2007
",,,starring Caroline Worra in a brilliant and touching portrayal of Boule de Suif.
The normally svelte soprano Caroline Worra needed some high-tech costuming to portray the notoriously rotund Boule de Suif. "
From Naxos.com (Classical Music Review) - David's Review Corner
July, 2007
"The role of Boule is that of a dramatic soprano, here taken with vigour, refinement and impeccable intonation by Caroline Worra, an extremely gifted young singer who has come through the Glimmerglass Young American Artists Program."
From All Music Guide (CD Reviews)- Stephen Eddins
July, 2007
"Soprano Caroline Worra, as Boule, stands out for the richness of her voice and the warmth of her portrayal."
From Classics Today.com (CD Reviews) - Robert Levine
July, 2007
"The cast is excellent, with Caroline Worra shining as Boule, expressing the character's complexity well."
From San Francisco Chronicle (CD Reviews)- Joshua Kosman
July 8, 2007
"...the cast...led by former Merola soprano Caroline Worra in the title role, does a wonderful job of bringing out its twists and turns."
From The New Yorker
July 21, 2007
"...the City Opera stars Lisa Saffer and Caroline Worra take the leading roles."
From Opera Today - James Sohre
August 27, 2007
"Phillip Cutlip and Caroline Worra each contributed solid singing and dramatic commitment as the title role and his doomed spouse...both fleshed out their portrayals with fire and commitment."
From The Wall Street Journal - Heidi Waleson
August 16, 2007
"The best show of the season turned out to be the most recent: Philip Glass's "Orphee" (1993)....."Orphee" also had the most consistently top flighted cast:...Caroline Worra was forthright and warm as Eurydice, an ordinary girl saddled with a genious."
From Syracuse New Times - James MacKillop
August 15-22, 2007
"...In contrast, tall, blonde Caroline Worra's golden soprano as Eurydice captures the sunshine of life."
From Ithica Times - Jane Dieckman
August 14, 2007
"Eurydice was played by soprano Caroline Worra who performed her special situations with strength and clean intonation."
From Financial Times - George Loomis
August 8, 2007
"...and Caroline Worra in luminous voice as Eurydice."
From Classics Today - Robert Levine
August 4, 2007
"Caroline Worra, a soprano making quite a name for herself, was an appealing Eurydice, the point being that she was worthy of not only attention, but being brought back to life."
From Post Standard Critics (Syracuse) - Chuck Klaus
July 22, 2007
"The Eurydice of Caroline Worra is both sweet and robust both in voice and presentation."
From Oneida Dispatch.com - Wayne Meyer
July 23, 2007
"Sopranos Saffer and Worra were a double treat handling a score that kept the pressure on...Worra and Saffer filled Kaye Voyce's costumes nicely."
From Times Union.com (Albany) - Joseph Dalton
July 23, 2007
"Sopranos Caroline Worra as Eurydice and Lisa Saffer as the Princess were both excellent."
From The New Yorker
June, 2007
"Three estimable singers - Phillip Cutlip, Lisa Saffer, and Caroline Worra take the leading roles."
From Opera News Online - Janet A. Choi
June, 2007
"Anne Manson conducts and Sam Helfrich directs a stellar cast - Phillip Cutlip's Orphee, Caroline Worra's Eurydice, and Lisa Saffer's princess."
From Memphis Commercial Appeal - Christopher Blank
March 27, 2007
"The brilliant, classic opera voice in the production belonged to Caroline Worra, crying out in desperation as Micaela."
From Opera in America - J. Valois
December 13, 2007
"Caroline Worra...a coloratura with a bright yet handsome sound, her performance as Sister Constance made the character believable."
From Texas Monthly (High Notes) - Chester Rosson
February, 2007
"...most of the entertainment came from the comic duo of soprano Caroline Worra as Magda's maid Lisette and Gordon Gietz as the flippant Prunier...Both were refreshingly funny and also excellent singers in their supposedly secondary roles."
From Star-Telegram.com - Matthew Erikson
January 28, 2007
"The evening's most outstanding voices came in the supporting roles...Massimo Giordano...the perky soprano of Caroline Worra...and Gordon Gietz."
From Dallas Opera Press Release - Jonathan Pell, Dallas Opera Artistic Director
October 4, 2006
"Caroline is a remarkable young soprano who has an amazing ability to impact audiences in a way they don't easily forget. We are extremely lucky to get her."
_________2006 Reviews_________
THE GREATER GOOD
From Opera News - John W. Freeman
November, 2006
"Worra, leading light of the Greater Good"
"Caroline Worra, visually and vocally blooming, musically pin-point accurate, (after "cramming" the difficult role in two weeks), radiated Boule de Suif's simple warmth..."
From The New Yorker - Alex Ross
August 14-21, 2006
"The radiant Caroline Worra takes the leading role."
"Caroline Worra created a radiant and heart breaking Boule de Suif."
From The Wall Street Journal
August, 2006
"The excellent Caroline Worra...."
"Caroline Worra has a rich soprano and her demeanor nicely characterized Boule de Suif."
From Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - John Pitcher
July 16, 2006
"In addition to some old favorites, Glimmerglass' lineup includes a new opera starring a gifted young soprano"
"It's every opera company's worst nightmare, losing its star singer before a historic performance... Clearly, whoever was going to be [the replacement] would have the unenviable task of having to learn a challenging contemporary opera role from scratch, no mean feat. But Glimmerglass had at least one soprano on hand who was equal to the challenge. Caroline Worra, a graduate of Glimmerglass' Young American Artists Program, had already appeared in two of the company's recent contemporary opera productions. Mark Adamo's Little Women (2002) and Richard Rodney Bennett's The Mines of Sulphur (2004). So she was practically like a house soprano. More importantly, though, Worra is a consummate musician. In addition to being an opera singer, Worra is a gifted pianist...If anyone was going to memorize Hartke's new opera in a flash, it was going to be Worra. "This is a tough opera full of spiky melodies," says Glimmerglass spokesman Donald Marrazzo. "It's mind boggling that Caroline could learn it so quickly."
From Oneida Dispatch - Wayne Myers, Dispatch Drama Critic
July 26, 2006
"Greater Good gets a grand world premiere at Glimmerglass Opera"
"Soprano Caroline Worra delivered a vocally elegant performance as the buxom Boule de Suif, achieving more and more poignancy and sympathy in the role as pressure on the character mounted. This thin lady sings a great fat lady. (Worra, a New York City opera favorite who appeared as the plague carrier Jenny in Richard Rodney Bennett's The Mines of Sulphur at Glimmerglass Opera in 2004 wore a fat suit with "strategically placed" ice packs for the role.) Worra learned the role of Boule de Suif on short notice."
From The Ithaca Journal - Stephen Landesman
July 24, 2006
"The main role of Elisabeth was splendidly performed by Caroline Worra, the slender, sickly ingenue of last year's The Mines of Sulphur, here transformed into the very plump but pretty prostitute. Worra, unsparing of voice, sang some demandingly high passages with great clarity, but also a more sweetly subdued "I have a child" in response to her companions' curiosity about a chance village baptism."
From Syracuse.com - The Post Standard - Chuck Klaus
July 24, 2006
"The singers and elements of this production could scarcely be improved upon... As Boule de Suif, the noble lady of the evening, soprano Caroline Worra displays a fine, clear voice and alert dramatic abilities."
From Austin360.com - Michael Barnes
July 23, 2006
"On opening night, the cast handled the difficult, often dissonant score with generous aplomb, especially immensely likeable Caroline Worra as the Boule de Suif."
From Los Angeles Times - Mark Swed
August 1, 2006
"The singers were all impressive, with Caroline Worra making an especially winning protagonist."
From Metroland Online - B.A. Nilsson
August 3, 2006
"Not Greater, Greatest"
"Boule de Suif, played by Caroline Worra in a beautifully designed fat suit (credit to David Zinn, whose work throughout the piece was magnificent), this is a character of rich complexity, and a role with extraordinary musical demands. You may leave the opera with a silent picture of Worra's face framed in the cell of her carriage seat, but be assured she was working hard all night. She met all demands."
From Advocate Weekly Online - Classical Beat - Stephen Dankner
August 10, 2006
"...Boule de Suif, sung superbly by Caroline Worra."
From Gay City News, Vol.5, No. 32 - David Shengold
August 10-16, 2006
"The splendid figure of Caroline Worra was augmented by padding for "Boule de Suif," and her thousand-watt smile and compelling personality made her erotic pull credible. Vocally she was excellent, cleanly articulating the wide-ranging part; Worra's rising career should go truly international any day now."
From Syracuse.com - The Post Standard - Joan E. Vadeboncoeur
August 16, 2006
"Hartke's music is potent when it comes to Boule, and Caroline Worra does it full justice."
From Felsenmusick - Daniel Felsenfeld
February 12, 2006
"I absolutely must rave about a recital I happened to catch at Weill Recital Hall the other snowy night, joint effort between soprano Worra and Tenor MacPherson, joined by pianist Janice Wenger and pianist/composer Edwin Penhorwood. Both singers are consummate artists, excellent actor/singers with an eye to music's future. The fare was lovely, from arias by Tobias Picker and Mark Adamo to art songs by Benjamin Britten, Richard Rodney Bennett and (surprisingly, fascinatingly so) by Charles Griffes, one of those too overlooked composers. Both performers are not only very attractive, but are gifted with those fortunate faces that read as beautiful from the back row--and they both know how to work this to their advantage. Worra's soprano manages to be both broad and pointed, never shrill, always careful, and perfectly expressive...and both are able to sing in their native tongue, also too rare. (And I must say, from a composer's perspective, it is refreshing to hear an entire evening in English.) An especial highlight for me was Caroline's gently insane reading of Penhorwood's intentionally demented setting of e.e. cummings' "who knows if the moon is a balloon," a realistic and yet amusing mad scene. This was followed by a lush, fearlessly tonal setting of "A Lute Will Lie"...and a cheekily rollicking rendition of Dickinson's "Wild Nights!"...Her wistful portrayal of Carlisle Floyd's "Ain't it a pretty night" from Susannah reminded all present that someone ought to cast her in this part and quick--she was born for it!"
From OperaOnline.us - Paul Joseph Walkowski
November 19, 2005
"Caroline Worra, sang the role of the bawdy, saucy, sexy Musetta...Ms. Worra's "Quando m'en vo" was saucy, flirtatious, fun and sung with just the right mixture of sass and feigned coyness to make it a truly standout performance, deserving the wild applause it received."
From The Greenwich Times - Jerome R. Sehulster
November 24, 2005
"Worra was a perfect fit for a glamorous and brassy Musetta. She strutted around her elderly sugar daddy, making a scene in the cafe, but she also conveyed a depth of tender feelings for Marcello and, in the final act, for a dying Mimi."
From Martern Faller Aparten - bella figlia dell'amor
November, 2005
"Caroline Worra, as Jenny. She frankly stole the show. Her voice is round, brilliant and lovely all the way from bottom to (considerably high) top, and she can do ANYTHING with it. The cherry on top: she is electric onstage, and a gorgeous blond, too."
From Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly - David Salvage
October, 2005
"Among the cast, the standout is Caroline Worra, who sings the role of Jenny - a pivotal member of the troupe of actors. Her vocal power and vivid presence rescue the second act just in time...as soon as Jenny re-enters, the pace picks right back up again, and the opera burns steadily to its close."
From A.J. Goldmann's BLOG
October 27, 2005
"New York City Opera has struck operatic gold with a new production of The Mines of Sulphur by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett....While all the singers of this All-American cast sounded great, the women stood out more than the men....Caroline Worra, made a feisty and distressed Jenny. With a voice that was at the same time big and intimate, she reached her high notes with precision and clarity."
From The New York Times - Allan Kozinn
October 24, 2005
"The cast is remarkable...both she [Jessie Raven] and Caroline Worra, as Jenny, provide the productions high-wire vocal fireworks as well as its sharpest emotional edges."
From The New York City Newsday - Russell Platt
October 27, 2005
"...the soprano Caroline Worra, in the coloratura role of Jenny, offered singing of power, grace, and dramatic understanding."
From Opera News (August 2005, vol 70, no. 2) - David Shengold
May 14, 2005
"...handsome Caroline Worra (Anna) acted enough for three, with sobs and even words ("Grido...'Aiuta!'")...Worra sang all of her music wonderfully, with clean attack and informed stylistic mastery: clearly this is a serious artist destined for international stages."
From The Stamford Advocate - Jerome R. Sehulster
May 22, 2005
"Caroline Worra's Donna Anna was in constant pain. She commanded the stage dramatically and vocally...praise for the attractive brightness to her voice..."
From Alex Ross - Music Critic of The New Yorker
February 23, 2005
"Caroline Worra might be a new soprano powerhouse."
From The New York Times - Anne Midgette
February 12, 2005
"Caroline Worra also had a star turn in the title role, showing a free voice with a touch of metal that helped to carry it to ringing volume, particularly on her top notes. (In her first aria, Mr. Alden had her put her hand to her head and wince every time she let loose a particularly big one.) Another showstopper was an aria she sang entirely quietly, with her head leaning against the empty bed where Teseo had slept."
February 18, 2005
"A seldom performed opera from Handel's prime becomes sung drama at the Gotham Chamber Opera, thanks to Christopher Alden, but the lasting impression is of talented young singers flinging themselves headlong into their music...Caroline Worra, as Arianna (Ariadne) gets to use her free slightly metallic voice in a diva turn."
February 11, 2005
"The cast includes some notable young singers. Caroline Worra and Hanan Alattar among them."
From Classics Today.com - Robert Levine
February 17, 2005
"Caroline Worra's Arianna was a mass of anxious tics. Clearly a princess in a pink evening gown, she dispatched her rapid-fire music with glorious ease, ringing, secure high notes and great expressivity throughout the entire, wide range of the role. One wished Handel had given Arianna another aria or two."
From The New Yorker
February 14, 2005
"Neal Goren conducts an early-music band and a cast that includes such City Opera stalwarts as Caroline Worra and Kevin Burdette."
From The Financial Times - Martin Bernheimer
February 16, 2005
"...the cast performs as if lives are at stake. Caroline Worra manages to be both radiant and silly in the agonies and ecstasies of Arianna."
From New York City Newsday - Russell Platt
February 15, 2005
"Caroline Worra, the Ariadne, not only has a big-boned old fashioned beauty but a coloratura soprano of force and style."
From The New York Observer - Charles Michener
February 28, 2005
"Caroline Worra, a magnetic Ariadne in the Gotham Chamber Opera Production of Handel's Arianna in Creta."
From Opera News Online - Marion Lignana Rosenberg
February 15, 2005
"A wasted bottle-blonde a la Monroe, Caroline Worra's Arianna first knitted in a manic stupor, then wrestled with gigantic needlesnwhen torn between "love" and "disdain." The needles suggested the horns of her half brother, the Minotaur; the web that she wrought presaged the thread with which Teseo would defeat the labyrinth; her mind and her handiwork unraveled together. It was all too clever by half, but Worra plumbed the depths of Arianna's despair, singing and acting with an arresting emotional rawness."
From Gazettes.com - (Long Beach, CA) - Jim Ruggirello
November 2-8, 2006
"Caroline Worra's Semele was gorgeous, vocally and visually."
From The LA Times - Mark Swed
June 6, 2005
"Semele is one of Handel's most demanding roles; in the last act she has a string of arias that are both a vocal and emotional roller coaster. Caroline Worra...came to life dramatically, and everything flowed."
From The Orange County Register - Timothy Mangan
June 6, 2005
"Semele...gives new meaning to the art of Baroque ornamentation...Caroline Worra was Semele in a slip. A radiant shivering soprano with agility to burn."
__________2004 Reviews__________
OF MICE AND MEN
From The Kansas City Star
November 8, 2004
"Dazzling Caroline Worra as Curly's Wife threatened to steal every scene she was in. ...Worra's voice was splendid and true."
From Time Out New York Magazine
February 10-16, 2005
"Goren and Alden have assembled a compelling young cast: Caroline Worra, a knockout in The Mines of Sulphur at Glimmerglass Opera last summer, plays the titular princess...[in Handel's Arianna in Creta]"
From The Wall Street Journal
August 11, 2004
"...the company [Glimmerglass Opera] unearthed a forgotten gem: The Mines of Sulphur (1965), a taught theatrical drama by Richard Rodney Bennett...the impressive cast powerfully defined their characters...the dying ingenue of the troupe [was] sung with explosive ferocity by soprano Caroline Worra."
From The New York Times
August 4, 2004
"The Mines of Sulphur, which sets grimness to luscious 12-tone music...The cast...seemed utterly in command of this difficult score...The bright-voiced coloratura Caroline Worra as the haunted actress [was] impressive."
From Opera Japonica - Maria Nockin's Letter's from America
July, 2004
"Caroline Worra sang with a silken sound and gave a touching performance as Jenny who portrays the young wife in the all too real play."
From www.OPERA-L.org - Stephen G. Landesman
July 29, 2004
"As Jenny, the acting troupe's frail ingenue, Caroline Worra sang a lovely account of the high-lying ballad ("The wind doth blow tonight my love") she teaches to Rosalind. Worra's complete vocal and physical involvement in the final frightening revelation was shattering."
From Opera News
November, 2004
"Of the theatrical intruders, Caroline Worra spun a spooky aura around the stricken Jenny, carrier of the plague."
From The Daily Gazette, Schenectady NY
July 26, 2004
"Worra has a low key role during most of the opera, but it's up to her to crank it up to a riveting conclusion and she managed that perfectly on opening night."
From The Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester NY
August 1, 2004
"...this attractive cast could easily make it in Hollywood. The women were consistently the most impressive singers...Caroline Worra (Jenny) suggested all of her character's vulnerability (and horror) with a sound that was positively luminous."
From The Record, Troy NY
August 12, 2004
"There isn't a weak link in the cast, either in the singing or acting department. The two leading ladies, Rosalind and Jenny, as the music calls for, have similar voices - soaring, lyric sopranos with a dramatic edge. Each, of course, has her own distinction...Caroline Worra gives Jenny a gossamer eerieness that turns into a volcanic outpouring by evening's end."
ORESTEIA
OFF-OFF BROADWAY PRODUCTION
From Theater Mania.com
January 28, 2004
"Caroline Worra displays an impressive operatic voice when she sings an aria from Richard Strauss' Elektra in a bathtub."
From nytheatre.com
January16, 2004
"The extra Electras oocassionally add something to the mix - as when the one in the bathtub sings the aforementioned aria (beautifully; kudos to Caroline Worra)..."
From NYTimes.com
January 22, 2004
"...the most memorable sound is another Electra lounging in a bathtub singing, beautifully, a bloodily enticing aria to Orestes from Richard Strauss' opera Elektra."
__________2003 Reviews__________
THE GOOD SOLDIER SCHWEIK
From Classics Today.com
August 12, 2003
Caroine Worra excelled in clarity and dead-on pitch in soprano flights.
From The Ithaca Journal
July 30, 2003
Worra Shines
As Mrs. Mueller, Schweiks Prague Landlady (and later as Lt. Lukashs two mistresses), soprano Caroline Worra was excellent.
From Opera News
March 2003
Caroline Worras vibrant rendition of the letter contributed considerably.
From The New York Observer
August 2002
Caroline Worras petulant Amy was deliciously feminine.
__________2002 Reviews__________
HANSEL AND GRETEL
From The New York Times
October 2002
Caroline Worra sings the Dew Fairys song with radiant beauty.
From The New York Times - Anne Midgette
September 2002
the statuesque Kate Pinkerton sang this tiny role with an easy voice that made one want to hear more of it.
__________2000 Reviews__________
MEROLA GRAND FINALE
From the San Francisco Classical Voice
August 20, 2000
Caroline Worra, another first-class performer, sang a thoroughly believable Nedda (I Pagliacci) in a beautifully developed, luscious voice that delighted the heart and ravished the ears. In the finale, Ah! A tal colpo inaspettato, from Rossinis Il Viaggio a Reims, she proved herself adept at comedy as well.
From the San Francisco Chronicle
August 14, 2000
Soprano Caroline Worra sang alluringly as his wife Rosalindaas well as bringing a welcome measure of hauteur to the role.
From San Francisco Classical Voice
August 11, 2000
It required no imaginative leap on my part for Caroline Worra to seem a beautiful romantic lead. her performance throughout was as ingratiating musically as it was visually. The evenings singing was consistently lovely.
From the Pittsburgh Tribune
March 2, 2000
Soprano Caroline Worra was a brilliant Anne Trulove as outstanding as she was in Verdi's "Il Corsaro" in December. If Verdi demanded bel-canto brilliance, Stravinsky challenges with irregular intervals. Worra triumphed over both. She has quite a career ahead of her.
From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
February 28, 2000
Outstanding in the role of the ignored lover, Anne Trulove, Caroline Worra proved that good acting and good singing in opera are not mutually exclusive. With a minimum of motion, she appeared comfortable on the stage while never forgetting the importance of being understood vocally. Worra captivated the audience with her rich voice and she executed Stravinsky's interval leaps and sudden dynamic shifts brilliantly."
IL CORSARO
From the Pittsburgh Tribune
Dec 11, 1999
Soprano sails high C's in delightful staging of Verdi's Il Corsaro
Soprano Caroline Worra stole the show as Gulnara, villain Pasha Seid's favorite slave girl in his harem. She handled the coloratura challenges with panache, inflecting ornate parts expressively, tossing off a fabulous fast trill, and projecting thrilling high notes above high C. She is as impressive singing softly as powerfully, and was sensitive in ensemble work. Worra is a singer to watch.
LA TRAVIATA
THE MEROLA OPERA PROGRAM
WESTERN OPERA THEATRE TOUR
From the San Francisco Chronicle
August 11, 1998
With her pearly tone and elegant technique, soprano Caroline Worra was a cool self-possessed Violetta, letting the character's uncertainties and misgivings register gradually over the course of the performance. Her singing was clear and often unruffled, growing deeper and more thoughtful in "Dite alla giovine,"when she finally decides to renounce Alfredo's love; she reeled off the glittering coloratura in Act 1's "Sempre libera" splendidly.
