Daily
Camera, The (Boulder, CO)
April 15, 2005
'EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN` PREVIEW CU Students Stage Rorem Song Cycle
Author: Wes Blomster Camera Classical Music Critic
Mason has been dreaming of performing "Evidence
of Things Not Seen" locally since he and colleague Julie Simson
heard the cycle at Utah`s Moab Music Festival several summers ago.
"We were devastated by it," he says, "and I’ve
been waiting for the right combination of very intelligent and very
good singers and pianists to do it here."
Mason now has that combination in soprano Gina Heintzleman, mezzo Rena
Pyland, tenor Brigham Timpson and baritone Samuel Mungo, who—along
with pianists Michael Tilley and Jennifer Bratz—are involved in
this Herculean endeavor.
Daily Camera, The (Boulder, CO)
March 17, 2006
'Figaro` Musicians Sparkle
Author: Kelly Dean Hansen For the Camera
Mezzo-soprano Rena Pyland manages to capture
a definite air of masculinity in the "trouser" role of the
page Cherubino—a masculinity that even shines through the scenes
where Cherubino is dressed as a girl. Her Act I aria has just the right
level of barely restrained excitement, and her humorous interactions
with the other characters are among the highlights.
Daily Camera, The (Boulder, CO)
October 22, 2004
Humor, Pathos in CU Opera
Mozart work exhibits powerful performances
Author: Kelly Dean Hansen For the Camera
The other female romantic lead, the more
flighty Dorabella, is sung by Rena Pyland. Her challenges are no less
real, including a tricky light, quick aria in the first act, which Pyland
negotiates admirably.
Daily Camera, The (Boulder, CO)
October 16, 2005
CU Opera Goes Bilingual
Fairy-tale opera to be presented in English and German
Author: Kelly Dean Hansen For the Camera
The casts for both productions include singers
familiar to CU Opera audiences. In the German production, Sara Gartland
and Rena Pyland will play Gretel and Hansel. Gartland has had major,
well-reviewed roles in almost every recent CU production, and Pyland
impressed as Dorabella in last year`s "Cosi fan tutte."
Daily Camera, The (Boulder, CO)
October 21, 2005
‘Hansel and Gretel’ Worthwhile
Author: Kelly Dean Hansen For the Camera
In Wenesday’s rehearsal for the German
performance, Sara Gartland and Rena Pyland created a more mature but
no less convincing Hansel and Gretel. Pyland’s performance as
Hansel creates an entirely different conception from Lippard’s
more “masculine” version, somewhat more passive and fearful,
with wonderful facial expressions. There is equal validity to both approaches.
The German cast certainly proves the CU singers
can handle this notoriously difficult language. Their diction, especially
that of Pyland and Holznagel, is nothing short of superb. Another selling
point for the German version is that the original fairy tale is of German
origin, creating an air of authenticity, but the English production
has enough felicities to recommend it as well.
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