Last updated: 20 May 2012

Reviews

Opera Magazine April 2012

Bampton Classical Opera Company, Wigmore Hall, London

"Martene Grimson combined lightness and flexibility with a radiant full tone…"

Lottie Greenhow, Music OMH

Mozarts Mass in C minor,Goldsmiths Choral Union, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

"Grimson is an attractive and confident performer with a voice rather on the dark and rich side for a Mozartian soprano, and she displayed immaculate coloratura and some surprising power on the low notes."

Michael Church, The Independent

Il re pastore, Classical Opera Company, Kings Place, London

"“...what Martene Grimson did with the part of Aminta – despite being a last-minute stand-in – blew me away. The lustrous beauty of her sound was only part of it: she has a lightness and flexibility of manner which allows her to move from comedy to tragedy and back, in a quintessentially Mozartian manner. Covent Garden should sign her to sing the Countess in Figaro at the earliest opportunity.”"

Mark Valencia, The Classical Source

Il re pastore, Classical Opera Company, Kings Place, London

“[Martene Grimson’s] experience, confidence and interpretational subtlety helped this delightful score to take flight. Grimson gave a supreme account of ‘Aer tranquillo’...while in the celebrated ‘L’amerò, sarò cosante’...she made light of the music’s challenges.”

Nahoko Gotoh, Bachtrack

Il re pastore, Classical Opera Company, Kings Place, London

“...it was hard to imagine a better-sung Aminta... Martene Grimson’s voice had a sheen and she was able to express the inner emotions eloquently, especially in the moving aria ‘L’amero, saro costante’...”

Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

The Infernal Comedy, US and South America tour with John Malkovitch and MusikKonzept

“...sopranos Louise Frido and Martene Grimson sang music by Vivaldi, Mozart, Haydn and others superbly”

Michael Church, The Independent

Così fan tutte, Longborough Festival

"...the women are outstanding: the rebelliousness and mischief of Martene Grimson’s Despina is deliciously infectious"

Michael Church, The Independent

Così fan tutte, Longborough Festival

"...the women are outstanding: the rebelliousness and mischief of Martene Grimson’s Despina is deliciously infectious"

Stephen Walsh, The Arts Desk

Così fan tutte, Longborough Festival

"Martene Grimson supplies a very watchable and well-sung Despina"

Giles Woodforde, The Oxford Times

Così fan tutte, Longborough Festival

"Martene Grimson is a sassy, bare-midriffed Despina"

Roger Jones, Seen and Heard International

Così fan tutte, Longborough Festival

"The laughs are provided by Martene Grimson as the maid Despina. Martene not only looks the part...her sense of timing has the audience in stitches."

Peter McCallum, Sydney Morning Herald

Giacomo variations – Musik Konzept

"Grimson has attractive transparent clarity, pure and beautifully coloured and her versatility was most admirable."

Helen Barry, Australian Stage

Giacomo variations – Musik Konzept

"the opera part … is delivered with great gusto by singers Andrei Bondarenko and Martene Grimson."

Hereford Times

Falstaff, Mid-Wales Opera

"Martene Grimson as her daughter Nanetta captivates her suitor Fenton and audience alike"

Rupert Christianson, The Daily Telegraph

Falstaff, Mid-Wales Opera

"With a cast working as a focused team, the delivery of the text is crystal-clear and the ensembles crackle... On a purely vocal level, I must single out Martene Grimson’s exquisitely pure singing of Nannetta’s music."

Christopher Morley, The Birmingham Post

Falstaff, Mid-Wales Opera

"as her daughter Nannetta Martene Grimson commands the high registers enchantingly"

Rian Evans, Opera magazine

Don Giovanni, Longborough Festival Opera

"Martene Grimson’s Zerlina marked her as a potentially exciting prospect with a lovely bloom to the voice and a nicely understated theatricality."

Neil Fisher, The Times

Don Giovanni, Longborough Festival Opera

"Martene Grimson is a juicy Zerlina,(...)"

Geoff Brown, The Times

Marriage of Figaro, Longborough Festival Opera

"... she can still curl us round her little finger, especially with her sensuous phrasing in her aria Deh vieni non tardar"

Christopher Morley, Opera magazine

Marriage of Figaro, Longborough Festival Opera

"... But the bridal couple deserve special praise…Martene Grimson utterly captivating as Susanna, both visually and in the pert sweetness of her vocal delivery."

Michael Tanner, The Spectator

Bampton Gluck Double Bill , Wigmore Hall

"The singers were mainly excellent, with the commanding Martene Grimson making a strong impression ..."

Claire Seymour, Opera Today

Bampton Gluck Double Bill , Wigmore Hall

"Grimson confidently tackled a virtuosic part; at the top of her range her voice has an impressive accuracy, clarity and attack, which she employed to convey the nymph’s insistent assertions of her honesty and dependability, and she nimbly despatched the rapid passage work."

Prima la Musica

Idomeneo, Pinchgut Opera

"Martene Grimson's Ilia, on the other hand, is forceful and regal enough for the both of them. …(Martene) sings with beauty of line and thrilling commitment. In her hands, Ilia is no mere sweet and pretty princess but a fiery and determined leader, the only person on stage who's truly in control. Her "Se il padre perdei" is a revelation — no longer an expression of hard to believe forgiveness and generosity, but rather a command: you've robbed me of home and family — that makes me your responsibility, so do your duty."