©Photo: Frances Marshall

©Photo: Robbie Jack

©Photo: Patrick Redmond

©Photo: Tristram Kenton

Claudia Boyle

Soprano

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“The real discovery here is Claudia Boyle, who brings tremendous presence to the part of Mabel”
(The Guardian, May 2015)

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A former member of the Salzburger Festspiele’s prestigious Young Singers Project, Irish soprano Claudia Boyle has dramatically raised her international profile in recent seasons through highly acclaimed performances in Zürich, Rome, Dresden, London, Berlin and New York.

Key appearances have included Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) for Komische Oper Berlin, Adina (L’elisir d’amore) for both Den Norske Opera in Oliver Mears’ new production and Semperoper Dresden under Matteo Beltrami, all four heroines in Les contes d’Hoffmann for Irish National Opera, Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor) with Danish National Opera under Martin André, and both Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Gilda (Rigoletto) for Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, under James Conlon and Renato Palumbo respectively. Following her widely praised company debut with English National Opera as Mabel in Mike Leigh’s production of The Pirates of Penzances, Claudia has returned as Violetta (La traviata) in Daniel Kramer’s new production and in her role debut as Leïla (The Pearl Fishers).

Arthur Sullivan: Pirates of Penzance - Act 1 (excerpt) © English National Opera

Attracting considerable praise for her exceptional vocal versatility and dramatic strength in contemporary works, Claudia has excelled in the music of Gerald Barry, appearing as Cecily Cardew in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Rose Theater, New York with the New York Philharmonic under Ilan Volkov and at the Barbican, London with Britten Sinfonia, and as Alice in Alice’s Adventures Under Ground firstly with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and subsequently in the first-ever staging of the piece at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, both conducted by Thomas Adès. Boyle created the role of May-Shan in Christian Jost’s opera Rote Laterne under Alain Altinoglu in her house debut at Opernhaus Zürich, where she subsequently appeared as Helena in Trojahn’s Orest under Erik Nielsen. At the Edinburgh International Festival, Claudia starred in the world premiere of Donnacha Dennehy’s chamber opera The Last Hotel which was subsequently performed in New York and filmed for broadcast on Sky Arts.

A compelling concert performer, Boyle has appeared at the Salzburger Festspiele in Cherubini’s Chant sur la mort de Joseph Haydn under Riccardo Muti, with NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo in Mahler’s Symphony No.8 under Paavo Järvi, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in Carmina Burana under Ian Tracey, and in Henze’s Nachtstücke und Arien with NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover under Eivind Gullberg Jensen. She’s performed Beethoven Symphony No.9 with Orchestre National de Lyon under Alan Gilbert and with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under Paavo Järvi and joins Le Concert Olympique and Jan Caeyers in the piece this season. Claudia Boyle joined Kent Nagano and Ensemble Modern as Dede for the premiere performances of a new chamber version of Bernstein’s A Quiet Place at Konzerthaus Berlin and with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, which was subsequently recorded by Decca.

Trailer for The Last Hotel by Donnacha Dennehy & Enda Walsh © EIF

Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (excerpt) © NSO, Ireland

Verdi: Caro nome from Rigoletto © RTE NSO, Ireland

Bernstein: Glitter and be Gay from Candide © RTE NSO, Ireland

Thomas: Je suis Titania from Mignon © RTE NSO, Ireland

“Claudia Boyle throws off a stunning ‘Martern aller Arten’”

(Opera Magazine, October 2020)

“the brilliant Claudia Boyle as [Gerald Barry’s] Alice, who seemed to possess limitless stamina and took every extreme vocal demand in her stride.”

(Opera Magazine, April 2020)

“Claudia Boyle’s tireless Alice, nothing short of heroic, reaching ever higher up into a range that seems to have no limits, is right at the centre of the anarchy, barely leaving the stage for a minute.”

(New Statesman America, February 2020)

“Claudia Boyle, coping fearlessly with Barry’s outrageous demands on [her] vocal agility.”

(The Guardian, February 2020)

“Boyle’s track record in music-theatre comedy as Cecily in Earnest and Mabel in G&S’s The Pirates of Penzance at ENO is flawless.”

(The Arts Desk, February 2020)

“The Dublin-born soprano Claudia Boyle played the title role of Alice impressively, coping very well with the rather shrieky music given to her by Barry.”

(Express, February 2020)

“Claudia Boyle is visually and sonically striking.”

(Londonist, February 2020)

“Claudia Boyle negotiated the notorious perils of the title role [of La traviata] with great courage and skill, and with a stage presence that was at all times convincing”

(Opera Magazine, May 2018)

“Claudia Boyle, with her beguilingly beautiful soprano, creates a completely new interpretation of Violetta.”

(Der Standard, September 2017)

“Helena was Claudia Boyle, impressively precise and clear in her upper register”

(Opera Magazine, July 2017)

“And Claudia Boyle’s Helena is captivating in the truest sense of the word, with her metallic, shining, controlled soprano, which she never pushes beyond being lyrical.”

(Opernwelt, April 2017)

“the beautiful Helena, deliciously sung by Claudia Boyle.”

(Neue Zürcher Zeitung, February 2017)

“Claudia Boyle lends her stupendous coloratura sophistication and radiance to Helena.”

(Neue Musikzeitung)

“with the skilfully hysterical soprano of Claudia as Helena.”

(Oper Aktuell February 2017)

“The figure of the beautiful Helena, sister to the murdered queen, was convincingly portrayed by the Irish soprano Claudia Boyle…[a] superb singer.”

(Bachtrack, February 2017)

“she rose movingly to her big aria in Act 2 and acted with great conviction throughout.”

(Opera magazine, December 2016)

“This time, ENO has found singers who can negotiate these challenges more naturally. Claudia Boyle sang prettily as Leïla, with lithe coloratura and bell-like tone.”

(Bachtrack, October 2016)

“Claudia Boyle brings a gripping sense of drama and a thrilling soprano radiance to the role of Leïla, the reluctant priestess.”

(What’s On Stage, October 2016)

“She is a great actress and has a sensuous vocal quality that really draws you into Leïla’s plight”

(Classical Source, October 2016)

“Soprano Claudia Boyle makes a radiant priestess, dispatching Leïla’s extended solo episodes with bright tone and easy range.”

(Broadway World, October 2016)

“Claudia Boyle (Cecily) sings in the stratosphere with ease.”

(Huffington Post, June 2016)

“New to the cast, Claudia Boyle used her high, bright soprano to surreal effect as Cecily”

(Opera Magazine, June 2016)

“Claudia Boyle a pert, hip-wagging Cecily with perfect control in this high-flying role.”

(Guardian, April 2016)

“Claudia Boyle’s stratospheric Cecily – an auspicious company debut.”

(The Times, April 2016)

“Claudia Boyle dazzles in the stratospheric part of Cecily”

(Evening Standard, April 2016)

“Claudia Boyle was a likeable, sympathetic figure as the Woman and sang with a lovely lyrical soprano.”

(Opera Magazine, March 2016)

“The evening’s most commendable element is Boyle’s performance…she is a stageworthy performer, through her physical comportment vividly conveying the Woman’s forced geniality, as well as her vulnerability and sadness.”

(Musical America, January 2016)

“the excellent, despairing Claudia Boyle [as the Woman]”

(New York Times, January 2016)

“The singing is done, sensationally well, by Claudia Boyle as the other woman”

(What’s On Stage, August 2015)

“Claudia Boyle as the mistress [sings] thrillingly well above [the score], in great curlicues of vocal anguish…slinky, mysterious, voluptuous.”

(Independent, August 2015)

“There is a real sense of purpose and precision to Claudia Boyle, as the Woman…Boyle [gives a] wonderfully expressive performance: her voice clear and refreshing as it rises in glorious moments of calm lament; her physical portrayal of confidence and regret; and her look of haunted fear”

(The Stage, August 2015)

“Claudia Boyle’s Woman sings a mesmerising deathbed elegy”

(The Guardian, August 2015)

“her poised and glittery soprano made light of the role’s demands, and she has a vivacious presence.”

(Opera Magazine, July 2015)

“Claudia Boyle’s Mabel turns Poor Wandering One into an eruption of smouldering desire”

(The Times, May 2015)

“The real discovery here is Claudia Boyle, who brings tremendous presence to the part of Mabel, and dispatches the dizzy bel canto parodies in her arias with impressive assurance.”

(The Guardian, May 2015)

“Claudia Boyle’s forthright Mabel delivers the coloratura of ‘Poor Wandering One’ with insouciant ease”

(The Telegraph, May 2015)

“attractive coloratura singing from Claudia Boyle as Mabel.”

(New York Times, May 2015)

“Claudia Boyle portrays her doll-like alter ego with great skill and sings with an agile coloratura soprano”

(Südkurier, March 2015)

“Claudia Boyle sings with brilliant coloratura as the capricious third mistress May-Shan”

(Badische Zeitung, March 2015)

“Claudia makes quite an excellent third wife, May-Shan”

(Deutschland Radio, March 2015)

Claudia Boyle

Shirley Thomson

Zoe Band

Gallery

Claudia Boyle sings Adina to Jack Swanson’s Nemorino

Claudia Boyle sings Carmina Burana

Claudia Boyle and Božidar Smiljanić in ENO’s new La traviata

Claudia Boyle sings Violetta in Klagenfurt and London

Claudia Boyle joins Nagano in Montreal for Bernstein

Claudia Boyle returns to Zurich in Trojahn’s Orest

Shirley Thomson

Zoe Band