“Jennifer Johnston sounded splendidly Erda-like, harps a further Ring-echo.”

“Jennifer Johnston’s O Mensch was similarly spacious, though in an altogether more expansive character. Her richly warm sound, imploring mankind to take heed of her (admittedly cryptic) words, was matched by seamlessly blended horns and gloriously soft violin playing…This was a performance worth every day of the five-year wait.”

“The lone human voice is that of Jennifer Johnston, still not sufficiently hailed in her own country but clearly in demand throughout the USA and Europe. She never forces the meaning, placing the sound first before warming to life, with an especially gorgeous part to play”

“With all the lightness of touch that has gone before, the entrance of Jennifer Johnston’s burnished mezzo in the fourth movement adds a due touch of necessary gravity and baleful luminosity. Her impeccable diction and heartfelt, honest singing stays true to Vänskä’s tempi, sounding for all the world as if suspended in the halo of nature’s hallowed halls”

“Jennifer Johnston found rich layers of colouring for her Maria Aegyptiaca.”

“Both he and Johnston bring voices of complex colours and ample size to proceedings, flooding the theatre with tone and riding easily over Bartók’s outsize orchestral accompaniment”

“That Johnston was able to sing Judith with such conviction and energy with so little notice is a testament to her artistry. A range of emotions – fear, naivety, force and passion – were all thrillingly evoked, a sense of narrative constantly present in the voice, which thrilled at the top…Quite a way to make a house debut!”

“Mezzo soprano Jennifer Johnston sounded equally comforting and richly filled the room in ​‘O Mensch, Gib Acht’.”

“Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston also delighted the audience with her confident yet refined performance, her interventions bringing legendary sophistication to this difficult opus.”

“The vengeful Juno, Jove’s wife, a role superbly inhabited by Jennifer Johnston…And, displaying impeccable timing, Johnston’s Juno relishes her revenge.”

“The drama centres, though, on Semele and her vengeful antagonist, Juno…Jennifer Johnston brings all the requisite authority and technical skill to leave her regal stamp on Jove’s power-dressing consort.”

“Jennifer Johnston makes a scarily imperious Juno.”

“Juno (Jennifer Johnston, dressed like a peacock, with Flash Gordon headwear) gurgles with pantomime malice as she plots their downfall with her sidekick Iris…The singing hits the spot throughout — from the moments when Johnston reveals her full vocal majesty to the grumpy, half-mumbled aria of the sleep-god Somnus.”

“Mezzo Jennifer Johnston… was on commanding form”

“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”

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

“Soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston stole the show…Jennifer Johnston’s rendition of the Liber Scriptus and tender Recordare was beautifully done.”

“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.”

“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… 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.”

“Jennifer Johnston, breath taking, made Nietzsche’s text sparkle with a perfectly controlled voice and a diction that would make the most finicky linguists blush.”

“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.”