The finest musical moment is when Korliss Uecker as Stella languidly vocalizes a lush, bluesy, captivating Melody.
Korliss Uecker as Stella has voiced the narcotic tranquility that evoked Elia Kazan
Korliss Uecker as the maid Susanna has a fluid soprano, something like water falling.
The rough-and-tumble Susanna of Korliss Uecker was sung personably as she portrayed a young woman of great self-assurance and earthiness.
Korliss Uecker’s Susanna was saucy and wise, and her singing was several cuts above even some famous recordings.
Another culprit in the scheme is Despina, who was portrayed by the magnificent Metropolitan Opera artist Korliss Uecker.
Uecker definitely was the standout. Her bright voice and fetching personality brought this role center stage.
Uecker’s Norina was an absolute gem, a quicksilver soprano, bright, stone, and fluid, and an appealing comic actress with a mobile, expressive face. She was especially good in her first act cavatina. Quel guardo, il cavaliere.’ And in the later duet ‘Pronta io son.” Both showed Uecker’s impish sense of humor and liquid, agile voice.
The trio of nymphs [including Korliss Uecker] were perfection.
Korliss Uecker made a charmingly energetic, scheming Carolina.
Korliss Uecker sang sweetly and amusingly as Papagena.
Displaying a wonderful stage presence, Uecker charmed the audience with her comical facial expressions and energetic movements.”
Korliss Uecker, a charming Adriana, made much of a pretty Scotch air based on J.C. Bach’s arrangement of The Yellow-Hair’d Laddie.
As Adriana, American soprano Korliss Uecker made the most of her opportunities, especially the lovely ‘Scotch Air” in Act II.
Korliss Uecker is outstanding as Adriana.
American soprano Korliss Uecker sang with charm and skill, particularly in her delightful ‘Scotch air.’
Soprano Korliss Uecker … coming through with a forceful performance.
Korliss Uecker brought sweetness and charm to the thankless role of Marzelline…
Marzelline (played with charming befuddlement by silver-toned soprano Korliss Uecker)…
Marzelline, sung by Korliss Uecker, sings the first big aria with appealing freshness. The exquisite quartet that follows is one of the high points of operatic beauty.
Korliss Uecker nearly steals the show with her creamy soprano and artful characterization.
In the pants roll of Oscar, Korliss Uecker provided some glittering coloratura.
Also debuting with the Pittsburgh Opera in this performance was soprano Korliss Uecker, playing the king’s page, Oscar. Uecker’s performance was animated and very physical as she pranced, danced and flitted all over the stage. Despite the demands placed on her breathing by the physical activity of her role, she managed to control her breath and voice very well and deliver a pleasingly lifting performance.
As Figaro’s equally crafty intended, Susanna, Korliss Uecker proved disarming. She shaped ‘Deh vieni non tardar’ in a particularly gleaming and elegant nuance and put a bright spin on her comic scenes. One test for any Susanna comes in the middle of Act III, after all the confusion over Figaro’s parentage, when, in two could-only-be-Mozart phrases of gentle recitative, she reveals the depth of her contentment. Uecker passed that test beautifully.
The physical contrast between the two leads is striking. Uecker is a small woman and Julian is built like a pro linebacker. Bt if the power of Uecker’s voice was equal to her height, she’d tower over Julian. That power is married to control and acting chops that make for a heartbreaking performance. Her second-act aria, “The Trees on the Mountains are Cold and Bare,’ nearly stopped the show. The song itself is a marriage of lovely melody and beautiful libretto and Uecker sings all its varied shadings. But much of her acting came from her face. Uecker has a lovely smile; early on, when her character is a happy, carefree, innocent girl, it lights up the stage. But in the second act, when Susannah has come to tragedy, her expression is clouded. And in the end, when Susannah is half-mad with grief, that smile is chilling.
Korliss Uecker brought a sweet tone and sharp focus to Susanna, and like Mr. Furlanetto, she overdid the role’s comic touches so rarely that when an opportunity presented itself – her manic attempt to get the Countess’s attention in the second act, for example – it wasn’t lost in a sea of cuteness. She also contributed a beautifully flowing account of ‘Deh vieni, non tardar’ in the last act.
[Korliss] Uecker was amazing. She commanded every one of those horribly demanding rage arias, with their jagged melodic leaps, extreme dynamics, and technical fireworks. Her voice, like her face, was sweeter than the part, a part that in the wrong throat can become shrewish. With Uecker, Donna Elvira was a sympathetic character: it was precisely Uecker’s sweetness that condemned Don Giovanni when he refused the redemption she offered.
The great and also radiant soprano Korliss Uecker portrayed a crystalline Mabel … she delivered all the coloratura required by Sullivan’s score with grace and charm. Her comedic act[ing] and her theatrical presence were flawless.
Korliss Uecker sang Marzelline, replacing … on short notice, apparently. Her wonderful lyric soprano voice was a model of vocal purity and richness, and she filled the hall with sound with apparent ease. The warmth of her singing was remarkable in every respect, making one wish she’d tackled the title role.
Korliss Uecker, new to the role of Susanna this season, sang with grace and bloom and made all the right witty and charming moves.
Shining in the first-class cast … [was] Korliss Uecker as Donna Elvira….. Uecker beautifully performed the aria ‘Mi tradi quell’alma ingrate,’ expressing rage but also compassion for Don Giovanni. By contrasting ternary and rondo forms, Mozart reinforces Donna Elvira’s return to the same position of love and dependency, a predicament reinforced in Uecker’s interpretation.
Also noteworthy was the bright, supple soprano of Korliss Uecker. In the ‘Laughing Song’ from Strauss’ ‘Die Fledermaus,’ Uecker doled out masterly comic acting skills. She never overplayed any of the comedy here, instead letting her voice take every lead. In the bewitching ‘Song to the Moon,’ from Dvorak’s ‘Rusalka,’ Uecker proved her range with heartfelt and dramatic singing.