MADAME MAO

"Opera's 'Nixon in China' a work writ large"

BY DOMINIC P. PAPATOLA

Pioneer Press, May 16, 2005

"But the energy in the Ordway spikes when Helen Todd takes the stage as Mao's wife, Chiang Ch'ing. There are no bad voices in the company, but when Todd's crystalline soprano rips into a politically charged aria, it's like she's grabbing each individual in the audience by the shoulders and giving them a good shake."

"Now More Than Ever"
By Christy Desmith, May 18, 2005

City Pages, Minneapolis, MN
 

"The production's high point is Act Two, Scene Two: Madame Mao brings the Nixons to the Peking Opera. There, they see a ballet opera called The Red Detachment of Women, which Adams based on a real show produced by Madame Mao during the Cultural Revolution. Although Madame's opera spoon-fed nationalism, it was hugely popular in its day thanks to its catchy music and Technicolor spectacle. In this production, too, the choreography at the Peking Opera is expressive and fun; the music picks up a beat. (Here's a clever aside: Pat Nixon notices that the show's bad guy bears an uncanny resemblance to Kissinger. Humph!) Some folks might think it's a bummer that Nixon's energy spikes at a reference to communist propaganda, but this scene, truly, forgives the production all other moments of tedium--it's that good.

And it gets even better. Helen Todd, playing the Uzi-wielding Madame Mao, interrupts for an operatic ode to the communist social order; it's called "Whip her to death." Todd nails her aria! She unpacks high notes we thought this production didn't have! The rest of the cast isn't singing with such gusto, in part relative to Adams's sparse and sleepy arrangements, but Todd's voice--finally--has the chops to cut past the orchestra."
 

LUCIA
 

"Tragic opera Brightened by Spectacular Singing"
Opera Illinois, Lucia di Lammermoor

"In the title role of Lucia, the heroine who is driven to violent insanity by tragic circumstances, soprano Helen Todd sang the 'Mad Scene' with thrilling dynamic range, ravishing ornamentation, perfect intonation, even in chromatic scales, and terrifying emotional intensity."
Peoria Times-Observer, Sept. 2003
 

Dazzling Voices Drive 'Lucia'"

"Soprano Helen Todd, who plays Lucia, breathes life and spirit into this scene. When the famous flute solo sounds from the orchestra, Todd's Lucia suddenly turns in recognition, almost as if she could see the music dancing before her. What she thinks she sees - in her madness - is Edgardo coming to her, calling. "I hear his sweet voice," she says in Italian and smiles as she makes her way toward him - staggering a little as she walks; Lucia's mind is unhinged, unfettered. So is Todd's voice: Again and again, the flute sings and she answers, tracing wild vocal arabesques, descending and ascending, circling and darting, stretching upward and brushing the stratosphere."

Peoria Journal Star, Sept. 2003

AUNT LYDIA

The Handmaid's Tale at Canadian Opera Company, October 2004

"Ruders has placed Aunt Lydia... in a long line of hysterical, sexually repressed operatic women who sing in the glass-shattering range of the Queen of the Night.  Helen Todd did a superb job, her eyes gleaming with a fanaticism that was truly scary."

National Post, September 27, 2004

The Handmaid's Tale at Canadian Opera Company, October 2004

"Helen Todd as Aunt Lydia also nailed her role, video clips of her indoctrinated pleading  were convincing enough to convert anyone.  Although the opera venue does not usually allow for scrutiny of close-up facial expressions, Todd's features oozed with conviction."

The Varsity, Toronto, Ontario, October 2004

The Handmaid's Tale at Minnesota Opera, May 2003

"Elizabeth Bishop's warm, heartfelt colorings of Offred's sometimes jagged, sometimes lyrical internal monologues were offset by the riveting, high-lying vocal frenzies of Helen Todd as Aunt Lydia, the chief indoctrinator of the young Handmaids.  Todd, a sweet-faced soprano, is physically unimposing, but she made it clear through her focused intensity that you wouldn't want to mess with her."

Opera News August 2003

Eerie Echo of Present in Futurist Fantasy, Minnesota Opera, May 2003
"The striking exception is the role of the maniacal Aunt Lydia (the soprano Helen Todd), whose jagged coloratura flights make her seem a sci-fi cousin of Mozart's avenging Queen of the Night."

New York Times, May 2003

CURLEY'S WIFE

"As opera, 'Of Mice and Men' is as powerful as the novel"
"...Soprano Helen Todd sang the pivotal role of Curley's Wife, the woman who inadvertently brings Lennie and his dreams tumbling down. Todd, who previously had sung Queen of the Night and Fiordiligi for Arizona Opera, had the strength and resilience to weather Floyd's difficult part and convey her character's shallowness without losing her humanity...."
The Arizona Republic, February 2000
 

VIOLETTA
 

"La Traviata"
"...No "Traviata can succeed without a leading lady of superior talent. Helen Todd was much more than that. A young artist who has the potential to become a superstar, she was so dramatically effective that this turned into a performance of powerful impact, while its musical values were at a very high level. ....She had a richness of tone and ability to sing with eloquence..."

"Opera NJ brings 'La Traviata to War Memorial'

"...Soprano Helen Todd was a truly beautiful courtesan, a welcome relief from the overaged and overstuffed singers who frequently find their way into this role. One could understand Alfredo's infatuation with this Violetta. She captured all of the pathos of the part, and her final act death scene was heartbreaking. She sang her big arias -"Ah, fors e lui"/"Sempre libera," and "Addio del passato"- with emotion-filled tone."

Trenton Times, May 2001

QUEEN OF THE NIGHT
 

"Helen Todd's Queen of the Night is appropriately fierce as the evil mom, and her two big arias were stunningly sung in a voice that on opening night was crystalline in timbre and remarkably controlled."   

Opera News