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Wednesday, April 26, 2006; Page C02, The Washington Post

The most operatic Requiem in the repertoire is, not exactly surprisingly, Verdi's. The New Dominion Chorale, with a 50-piece orchestra and an unusually well-matched quartet of soloists, presented this Requiem in all its splendor and excess on Sunday at Schlesinger Concert Hall of Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria.

First performed in 1874, three years after "Aida," Verdi's Requiem sometimes borrows: Its "Tuba Mirum" trumpet fanfares are almost direct quotations from Berlioz's "Grande Messe des Morts." It sometimes pays homage to the past: "Sanctus" and "Libera Me" contain academically correct fugues, their themes inversions of each other. And it is sometimes pure Verdi: The dynamic range is huge, and the recurring "Dies Irae," with pounding bass drum, is hyper-dramatic.

Thomas Beveridge conducted the work with both grandeur and attention to detail. The New Dominion Chorale, well over 200 strong, sang not only with power but with delicacy and grace.

The vibrant-voiced soloists, individually and together, were excellent. Carmella Jones's rich mezzo-soprano was especially affecting at the start of the "Lacrymosa." Tenor Benjamin Warschawski was particularly heartfelt in the "Ingemisco." Baritone John Cheek delivered "Mors Stupebit" with intensity. Best of all was soprano Sharon Christman, her lovely voice penetrating the massed forces, providing ethereal beauty in the "Offertorio" and emotional intensity in "Libera Me."

Verdi, an agnostic, structured his Requiem for maximum musical impact and flow, thus creating (for example) a "Sanctus" so lighthearted as to be almost flippant. This Requiem may not be liturgically exact, but under Beveridge's direction, it was undeniably cathartic.

-- Mark J. Estren

The Review

The Washington Post

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( November 3, 2005, performance with New Dominion Chorale) -

"Sharon Christman's soprano paired sonority with carrying power...Christman had a resilient clarity."

- Cecelia Porter

The Washington Post

Sharon Christman (whose Queen of the Night I liked at the Met a few years ago) sang elegantly indeed, mouth forming every vowel just so, the mistress of a fioritura the others did not attempt. (Poliuto, Donizetti, Opera Cammerata of Washington)

Sharon Christman was a debut Queen of the Night...she sang the coloratura with great precision. (Die Zauberflote, Mozart, Metropolitan Opera )

Soprano Sharon Christman was spellbinding in "Al Dolce Guidami," from Donizetti’s "Anna Bolena." (Memorial Recital, John Lehmeyer)

...and the wonderful soprano Sharon Christman gave a spellbinding performance. Clearly, this is an artist who is in her prime. She possesses a powerful voice, one that is capable of blowing out the back rows of a concert hall. And her superb technique allowed her to sing notes over a wide span without a noticeable shifting of gears between registers. Christman was also a convincing interpreter. She created a powerful sense of foreboding in Corigliano’s dark setting of "Blowin’ in the Wind,"... And her rendition of "Mr. Tambourine Man" was positively exuberant. (National Musical Arts premiere)

Sharon Christman’s coloratura had an easy agility. (Grand Mass, Mozart, Washington Chorus, Kennedy Center Concert Hall with Alexandria Symphony)

Sharon Christman made Donizetti’s challenging music sound easy and natural, and she brought out the considerable drama in this tale of tragic errors, deceptions, traumatic surprises and relentless, murderous brutality. She was in turn pitifully vulnerable terrified, angry and intent on vengeance, warm and forgiving and then finally driven mad by the pressure of events. (Anna Bolena, Donizetti, The Summer Opera)

Soprano Sharon Christman’s voice, impressive throughout its range, was spectacularly light and agile in its upper register, and even without scenery or costumes her vocal nuances, phrasing and gestures made for an intensely dramatic experience. (Lucrezia Borgia, Donizetti, Opera Camerata of Washington)

Breathtaking performances were given by soprano Sharon Christman in "Ah fors’ e lui" from La Traviata......

Sharon Christman used her fresh, light tone and agility in the upper register to reveal Lucrezia’s many moods. In the prologue’s "Com’e bello" and in Lucrezia’s final aria, "Era desso mio figlio," she proved musically and technically capable of meeting Donizetti’s demands. (Lucrezia Borgia, Donizetti, Opera Camerata of Washington)

For this performance, "Poliuto" might have been renamed after the protagonist’s wife, "Paolina." ....Sharon Christman dominated the performance in the role of Paolina...The role has a strong emotional impact, and she projected every nuance effectively. Her voice was the most impressive on the stage - powerful, agile, smooth and creamy in tone right up to the top notes, well-controlled at all times and deeply expressive.

Sharon Christman dominated the cantats’s third section, singing with rich tone, precise intonation and deep feeling.

Sharon Christman... is totally convincing throughout; she is the young Frenchwoman, destined willy-nilly for a nunnery, who chooses instead to follow her heart’ direction. She is also a soprano with an upper register of uncommon precision, power and agility. Not one of her notes is false...

Soprano Sharon Christman’s voice, impressive throughout its range, was spectacularly light and agile in its upper register, and even without scenery or costumes her vocal nuancees, phrasing and gestures made for an intensely dramatic experience.

Sharon Christman managed Fiordiligi’s wide intervals, the sudden leaps into the top range, with aplomb. At the same time, she was a deft comedian, able to amuse and convince. Her two florid arias were sung within the context of the play, showpieces to be sure, but were fundamentally dramatic scenes.

Christman takes with grace and confidence the wide leaps and rapid divisions in the first act aria. She also finds the tender pathos and deep emotional color in fiordiligi’s second solo.

Christman is... so spectacular. She is one of the best Queens of the Night in the business today. The audience probably never heard the arias sung better.

For sheer sensationalism...there is Sharon Christman, who executes the vocal pyrotechnics of the Queen of the Night with admirable ease and accuracy, to bring down the house following each appearance.

Mikael Melbye as Papageno is particularly brilliant, but he could not overshadow the dazzling Queen of the Night, Sharon Christman.

In Sharon Christman’s Lady Harriet... she is secure on the coloratura tightrope...

Sharon Christman...produces beautiful legato lines and fine coloratura. She is a saucy Martha, both amusing and touching. Her rendition of "The Last Rose of Summer" is sumptuous and delivered without affectation.

The Queen of the Night, surely one of the most unnerving and ungrateful roles in opera was delivered with panache and steely accuracy by Sharon Christman, whose voice had a welcome heft in this role that is not often encountered.

And Sharon Christman is singing Gilda. She is one of the finest sopranos I’ve seen among the up-and-coming talents, and let me tell you, I’ve performed with a lot of young singers."

- Pablo Elvira, Metropolitan Opera baritone, Interview and Photo, Oper in Amerika 1989, Imre Fabian

Christman... was more than equal to the dazzling coloratura of "Caro nome and the stratospheric range of "Bella figlia dell’ amore," and in the duets, she was absolutely sensational.

... Sharon Christman’s dazzlingly accurate Queen of the Night...was quite special

... Taking Mozart’s pyrotechnics at relatively slow speeds gave them true musical vehemence and not just vocal glitter. (Miss Christman’s) was a strong performance.

Sharon Christman, the Countess proved a polished stylist with a gleaming voice in its full range... she was a deft comic player going through the opera-long unmaskings with expansive good humor.

Sharon Christman as Pisana contributed a bright soprano sound to the ensemble numbers.

Include Sharon Christman among the best. She accurately accomplishes the killer hi-jinks of the Queen of the Night’s coloratura and she is musical and a believably good actress.

Sharon Christman negotiated the fiendish coloratura writing of the Queen of the Night with eminent success and her stage presence was properly ferocious.

Suffice it to say that Christman did not disappoint in virtuosic display, sharpness of attack, or rapturous musical line.

Sharon Christman has a positively huge, beautifully mannered soprano voice which could hold its own against any orchestra. One can anticipate a great career ahead of her.

Orfeo, a cantata for soprano by Pergolesi was most creditably sung by Sharon Christman, whose warm, bright, agile voice and spirited singing contributed to the music’s effectiveness.

Sharon Christman, embodying an unforgettable "Queen of the Night" because of the precious color of her voice, her ideal intonation and her high memorable coloratura, was theatrically convincing.

Christman, in her two all-too-short arias, showed impressive command of a dizzying range. "O zittre nicht" was dramatic, but her "Der Holle rache," with its barely controlled hysteria giving way to dazzling runs up to high F's, was astonishing. The soprano returnedfor a surprise encore of the bravura "Martern aller Arten" from another Mozart opera, "The Abduction from the Seraglio.

You can't easily forget Thomas Beveridge's "Yizkor Requiem", performed by the New Dominion Chorale under the composer's direction... Sharon Christman's soprano paired sonority with carrying power...Christman has a resilient clarity...

Verdi's Requiem Brought Vividly to Life