Mescalina in LE GRAND MACABRE

London Symphony Orchestra & Berlin Philharmonic

“There are splendid performances from Peter Hoare as drunken Piet the Pot…and Heidi Melton as voracious Mescalina – all living for the day.”
-Claire Colvin, Daily Express

“No one, however, could have doubted the strength of the cast. From the ‘double acts’ of Peter Hoare’s Piet and Pavlo Hunka’s Nekrotzar, to Heidi Melton’s Mescalina and Frode Olsen’s Astradamors, there was not a single weak link in the line-up.”
-Sam Smith, musicOMH

"Astradamors and Mescalina are found in Frode Olsen and Heidi Melton – two perfect opposites, both physically and vocally. She, with a hot and sensual voice, embodies the nymphomaniac..."
-Yannick Boussaert, Forum Opéra

“The cast was uniformly excellent — lab-uniformed in the case of Heidi Melton’s Mescalina and Frode Olsen’s Astradamors, conducting an S&M marital relationship at their laptops.”
-Paul Driver, The Times

"From start to finish, all are memorable, starting with the Mescalina of Heidi Melton, a Wagnerian very comfortable in her tessitura and playing her ample shapes and exaggerated neckline to work her character, while Frode Olsen responds with power and passion."
-Vincent Guillemin, Altamusica

"The LSO assembled an impressive cast here for these performances at the Barbican, with Heidi Melton deserving mention for the particularly difficult Mescalina."
-Keris Nine, Opera Journal

"As Mescalina, the whip-wielding wife, Wagnerian soprano Heidi Melton proved luxury casting." 
-Richard Fairman, Financial Times

"The LSO is astoundingly good. So, too, are most of the solo performances – from Pavlo Hunka’s lugubrious Nekrotzar to Frode Olsen and Heidi Melton as Astradamors and Mescalina, the couple whose relationship is conducted entirely in S&M terms…"
-Andrew Clements, The Guardian

"Heidi Melton made a memorable and deliciously wanton Mescalina."
-Alexandra Coghlan, The Independent

"I was also very much taken with the depth of tone and sheer sassiness of character to Heidi Melton’s Mescalina.+
-Mark Berry, Seen and Heard International

"Astradamors is completely overshadowed by his nymphomaniac wife Mescalina, in a scorching performance from Heidi Melton."
-Peter Reed, Classical Source