MAHLER'S SECOND SYMPHONY

Vasily Petrenko / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

30/03/23

​

"You couldn't have asked for more from the singers. Jennifer Johnston was nothing less than sublime in Urlicht, bringing the audience from the melancholic depth of humanity's pain and need, in her resonant chest voice, to the radiant hope of everlasting life in her upper register."

David Karlin, Backtrack

​

CHAUSSON'S POEME DE L'AMOUR ET DE LA MER

Bertrand de Billy / London Philharmonic Orchestra

25/02/23

​

"We got mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston, who demonstrated clearly why the piece works brilliantly with a voice with a slightly lower core. Much of the vocal writing is in the part of the voice where a firm and velvety middle register is needed and Johnston's singing was textually alert and pointed, and both expansive and voluptuous. She was clearly relishing the Wagnerian influences of Chausson's writing."

Alexander Campbell, Classical Source 

​

MAHLER'S EIGHTH SYMPHONY

Vasily Petrenko / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

23/10/22

​

"Some especially lyrical vocal writing is given to the mezzo-soprano, persuasively sung by Jennifer Johnston."

Fiona Maddocks, Observer

​

"The solo singers were somewhat uneven, but outstanding contribution from mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston..."

Jessica Duchen, iNews

​

VERDI'S REQUIEM - FIRST NIGHT OF THE PROMS

Sakari Oramo / BBC Symphony Orchestra

BBC Two, BBC Radio 3

15/07/22

​

"Jennifer Johnston's polished, grave mezzo-soprano was unfailingly musical." 

Neil Fisher, Times

​

"Soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston stole the show...Jennifer Johnston's rendition of the Liber Scriptus and tender Recorder was beautifully done."

Ivan Hewett, Telegraph

​

"Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston was fearless in the 'Liber Scriptus', her voice ringing out thrillingly, ably accompanied by some sonorous brass playing. Johnston was equally effective in the Recorder, her voice blending superbly with soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha."

Keith McDonnell, MusicOMH

​

"By contrast, Jennifer Johnston showed the flexibility and intensity that Verdi expected of his mezzo-sopranos. Her duets with Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha shimmered like exquisite jewels."

Nick Kimberley, Evening Standard

​

MAHLER'S SECOND SYMPHONY

Santu-Mattias Rouvali / Philharmonia Orchestra

BBC Radio 3

08/06/22

​

"The standard of orchestral playing was mostly exemplary up until the end of the third movement, but from the moment mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston began singing 'Urlicht' with achingly beautiful tone, and scrupulous attention to the text, vocal colours, and dynamics, the entire performance shifted up a gear, and remained on an exalted level until its shattering close. Too much of a stranger in her own land - scandalously she's yet be invited to sing in either of London's opera houses - this hugely talented mezzo from Liverpool possesses a voice of rare quality - richly bronzed, and even throughout its range. Her finely poised, pitch-perfect interpretation of 'Urlicht' held the packed audience in thrall."

Keith McDonnell, MusicOMH

​

" 'Urlicht' can sometimes - possibly more often than not - leave me rather cold in many live performances. Not here. The mezzo Jennifer Johnston was spellbinding - again almost stereophonic in that way in which a halo of rich sound seemed to surround her, most of it her own magnificent voice like a crown wrapped in gold and velvet."

Marc Brindle, Opera Today

​

MAHLER'S THIRD SYMPHONY

Klaus Makela / Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra

10/05/22

​

"Jennifer Johnston, breathtaking, made Nietzsche's text sparkle with a perfectly controlled voice and a diction that would make the most finicky linguists blush."

Aurore Tillac, Forum Opera

​

"In the fourth movement, Jennifer Johnston, placed in the middle of the first violins, lives up to the preceding pages. Her dark timbre, without the show being closed, is perfect, the noble vocals, the power and the legato serve the text best. Magnificent."

ConcertoNet

​

RESPIGHI'S IL TRAMONTO

Vasily Petrenko / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

BBC Radio 3

03/12/20

​

"Jennifer Johnston shines in a Respighi rarity...she proved to be an ideal interpreter...she gave us soaring melodic lines and lyrical outpourings. Throughout, she enunciated the text clearly but never at the expense of beauty of sound. By the time we reached the closing lines, I was utterly enthralled."

Peter Connors, Bachtrack

​

MAHLER'S SECOND SYMPHONY

Jakub Hrusa / Philharmonia Orchestra

BBC Radio 3

20/02/20

​

"Usually the first extended vision of heaven we get is in the 4th movement song based on a folk poem, 'Urlicht', as good as any I've heard here - Jennifer Johnston producing the authentic frisson with her pitch-altering first entry after the pell-mell human comedy of the Scherzo, fuller voiced than usual in the upper register, the true contralto."

David Nice, The Arts Desk *****

​

"And so the true journey to hell and back began. Jennifer Johnston delivered the text mesmerically."

Colin Clarke, Seen and Heard

​

"Mezzo Jennifer Johnston delivered a stunning rendition of her solo fourth movement Urlicht, with a lieder singer's fervent commitment to the text."

David Karlin, Bachtrack *****

​

FIRST NIGHT OF THE PROMS - JANACEK - GLAGOLITIC MASS
Karina Canellakis / BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Royal Albert Hall
BBC Two, BBC Four, BBC Radio 3

19/07/19

“The soloists are variously challenged in the piece...Jennifer Johnston was wonderfully expressive and trenchant.”

Robert Hugill, Opera Today

“Best of all was the singing: the soloists (Jennifer Johnston, Asmik Grigorian, Ladislav Elgr and Jan Martinik) all made distinctive contributions.”

Gavin Dixon, The Arts Desk

“Part Two was devoted to Janacek’s elemental Glagolitic Mass - one of the greatest 20th Century choral works. Soloists including tenor Ladislav Elgr and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston were crisp and clear.”

Mark Savage, BBC News

A LOVE LETTER TO LIVERPOOL  - DEBUT SOLO ALBUM

RUBICON CLASSICS

Alisdair Hogarth - piano

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir

Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Company 

​

"A fierce, big-hearted and atmospheric tribute to Johnston's home city, celebrated in rewardingly unsoupy arrangements of popular, romantic, traditional and Beatles songs - Johnston handles them all with rich colours, elegance and feeling...I have no claims on Liverpool, this disc made me wish I had."

Fiona Maddocks, Observer

​

"A seamless musical panorama, exquisitely sung throughout. A beauty."

Hugh Canning, Sunday Times

MAHLER - LIEDER EINES FAHRENDEN GESELLEN / DU YUN - WHERE WE LOST OUR SHADOWS (WORLD PREMIERE)
Conductor: Nicholas Collon  / Aurora Orchestra
Southbank Centre

20/01/19

“The Pakistani singer Ali Sethi embroidered exquisite raga material around the colours of western orchestral sounds, eventually joined to ethereal effect, by the British mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston (who also sang, terrifically, Mahler’s Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen).”

Fiona Maddocks, Observer

“It is typically eerie and disturbing fare for an ancient folk song, and its transformative journey began with a lyrical arrangement by Iain Farrington, full of blissful harp and Jennifer Johnston’s sensitive, delicate mezzo-soprano...Johnston and the orchestra then moved into a rendition of Mahler’s Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen, full of tension and grace, an interlude of surety and warmth...The main musical joys were twofold: raga singer Ali Sethi, whose beautiful vocal lines eventually interlaced with those of Johnston’s western tradition, leading us toward a deeply affecting conclusion.”

Gus Mitchell, Bachtrack

“Amid all this, Johnston movingly performed Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, forged from ‘love and sorrow and world and dream’.” Rebecca Franks, The Times

PASQUALITA - JOHN ADAMS - DOCTOR ATOMIC
Conductor: John Adams / BBC Symphony Orchestra / BBC Singers

25/04/17 - 02/07/18

“All else is compelling on every level, with superb British support from Brindley Sherratt as doubtful fellow physicist Edward Teller, and three younger generation singers, tenor Andrew Staples, baritone Marcus Farnsworth and contralto Jennifer Johnston, mesmeric in maid Pasqualita’s lullabies.”

BBC Music Magazine

“Dialogue is urgent and complex, offset by the expansive, impassioned outpourings of Kitty Oppenheimer and her Tewa Indian maid Pasqualita, sung in both instances with heartfelt grace by the soprano Julia Bullock and the mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston.”

Fiona Maddocks, Observer

“In Act Two, the human response to the impending catastrophe has a numinous twisty in the contralto range of Tewa Indian Pasqualita, a very specific role. The always impressive Jennifer Johnston had exactly the right timbre.”

David Nice, The Arts Desk

 

BEETHOVEN - NINTH SYMPHONY
Conductor: Frank Welser-Most / Cleveland Orchestra
Severance Hall, Cleveland OH

20/05/18

“Erin Wall, Jennifer Johnston, Norbert Ernst and Dashon Burton were an unusually well-matched quartet of soloists.”

Timothy Robson, Bachtrack

“The four guest vocalists, soprano Erin Wall, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston, tenor Norbert Ernst and bass-baritone Dashon Burton deployed themselves with individual and collective elan.” Zachary Lewis, Cleveland

“Jennifer Johnston brought warmth to the alto parts.”

Mark Jordan, Seen & Heard International

 

MAHLER - RÜCKERTLIEDER
Conductor: Thomas Sondergard / Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Usher Hall, Edinburgh

“Mahler’s Ruckert-Lieder brought a real discovery (for me) in the shape of mezzo Jennifer Johnston. Hers is an extraordinary voice, with a chest of arresting power that is reminiscent of a contralto. That strong centre to the voice gave her an almost declaratory air in ‘Um Mitternacht’, like an ancient prophetess, before a transcendent, triumphant ending as the singer places her trust in God.”

Simon Thompson, Seen & Heard International