Press Reviews
For Dame Carruthers, The Yeomen of the Guard at Opera Holland Park 2024
With her rich mezzo-soprano, Amy J Payne is a suitably haughty Dame Carruthers….Payne’s interpretation, however, is perfectly pitched.
There are particularly memorable performances from Amy J Payne as a formidable Dame Carruthers…
Exhilarating: Amy J Payne and Darren Jeffrey both impress.
The cast is all in fine form, with sterling work from…Amy J Payne as Dame Carruthers
Darren Jeffrey’s Sergeant Meryll is well-matched with Amy J Payne’s Dame Carruthers, and their duet, Rapture, Rapture, is a comic highlight.
The four-part madrigal “Strange Adventure” (Natasha Agarwal as Kate, Amy J Payne as Dame Carruthers, William Morgan as Fairfax and Darren Jeffrey as Sergeant Meryll) was a musical showstopper with every note and harmony deliciously accurate.
For Arnalta, The Coronation of Poppea for English Touring Opera 2023
There are some fine moments where the agile continuo group are allowed to carry the score, notably in the gorgeous lullaby to Poppea that Amy J Payne as Arnalta sings winningly…
…but the most impressive performances come from Amy J Payne’s Arnalta…
…there are strong performances….particularly Amy Payne, crystal-clear both in diction and scheming intent
Actually the dramatic star is Amy J Payne as the nurse Arnalta, showing just how to bring character and depth to singing without moving a muscle, as with her beguiling lullaby as Poppea sleeps.
Mezzo Amy J Payne offers a star comic turn…
…one of several artists who from their first notes made the listener sit bolt upright [was] the mezzo-soprano Amy J Payne, known to many as one of the best comprimarios on the circuit, here given a role commensurate with her talents as Arnalta