“At her side is Jennifer Rowley, in her first encounter with the Lady, one of the most enigmatic and complex figures in Verdi’s literature. The soprano’s firmness and assured delivery allow her to easily overcome all the challenges of the writing, displaying the perfect balance between the different registers, from the rounded and well-rounded mids to the luminous and easily projected highs. The elegance of her figure, combined with the measured composure of her phrasing, allows the character’s femininity to shine through, capturing her subtle anxieties. This performance reaches its pinnacle in the “sleepwalking scene,” which she approaches with hallucinatory dismay.”
Opera Libera
“Soprano Jennifer Rowley, whom we had already appreciated as Minnie at the Teatro Regio in Turin, delivers a remarkable performance as Lady Macbeth, thanks to a bright and penetrating timbre, a solid and sharp upper register, and a first-rate vocal technique, which comes directly from her teacher, the great and unforgettable Martina Arroyo. From the opening scene and cavatina “vieni! t’affretta,” Rowley stands out with her accent and phrasing, portraying a woman both power-hungry and demonic. The soprano’s ability to master the enormous technical difficulties of the allegro maestoso “or tutti sorgete” deserves full praise, with the ease and bel canto precision with which she masters the formidable sixteenth-note quatrains and the numerous high Bs. The aria “la luce langue” was also very good…Rowley must be given credit for not artificially inflating and darkening the low sounds. Even the most awaited sleepwalking scene, sung with dark, hallucinatory phrasing and concluding with a confident and perfectly tuned high D flat, does not disappoint expectations.”
Opera Diary
“In terms of both vocal technique and interpretation, Jennifer Rowley’s Lady Macbeth emerges with striking force, serving as the true focal point of the evening. The American soprano approaches the role with full awareness of its anomalous nature within the Verdian canon—a part that eschews “canonical” vocal beauty in favor of dramatic incisiveness, tonal control, and precision of accent. Her voice—naturally luminous and well-projected—never loses its substance, even in the most extreme passages of the tessitura, remaining steadfast alike in declamatory outbursts and in moments of heightened lyricism.
Her phrasing is one of the strengths of her interpretation: sculpted, intelligent, and always serving the meaning of the text. In the sleepwalking scene, Rowley eschews any virtuosic self-indulgence, working instead on a progressive rarefaction of sound, on well-supported *mezza voce*, and on a vocal line that remains consistently under control—thereby delivering an internalized Lady Macbeth, corroded by obsession rather than merely hysterical. This stage presence, combined with such conscious vocal command, renders the character complete, complex, and memorable.”
Art In Movimento
“Jennifer Rowley portrays a Lady Macbeth who is very feminine and almost sensual, far removed from the “virago” and demonic interpretation favored by some traditions. She is often seductive and demonstrates mastery of the role’s challenging tessitura…”
Connessi all’Opera
“Indeed, her voice is splendid.”
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