REVIEWS
Lisa-La sonnambula
November 21, 1963: The Day Before
Lightfoot-Cold Sassy Tree
Caramoor International Music Festival
"Megan Weston was a delightful surprise, making the scorned innkeeper Lisa a touching, tenderly comic figure, and displaying a gorgeous, light lyric soprano."
- Opera Magazine
"(Sumi Jo) was joined by a strong cast. Megan Weston was persuasive as the innkeeper, Lisa."
- The New York Times
"…but Megan Weston displayed remarkable virtuosity and charm as Lisa, the blighted seconda-donna."
- Financial Times
"Megan Weston used her clear, flexible soprano well as “mean girl” Lisa, earning an affectionate round of applause when her evil plot against Amina backfired."
- Opera News
"Megan Weston sang Lisa’s music with verve, an almost too-shiny tone and just the right petulance."
- Classics Today
"Soprano Megan Weston, who as Lisa is also in love with Elvino, evidenced a voice with dramatic power and suppleness."
- The News-Times, Danbury
Lightfoot-Cold Sassy Tree
November 21, 1963: The Day Before
Lightfoot-Cold Sassy Tree
San Diego Opera
"The whole production benefited from strong depth of casting, with excellent work coming from soprano Megan Weston (as Lightfoot, Will's honey)."
- Opera News
"The heart of the story is this May-December marriage, but it's really a memory play, lit in a golden glow - a nostalgic coming-of-age tale narrated by an adorably convincing John McVeigh as Will Tweedy, who gets his first kiss from the magnificent Megan Weston as the underprivileged mill-girl Lightfoot McClendon."
- KPBS-FM
"And Megan Weston, whose high and pretty voice befits her role as Will's girlfriend, Lightfoot McClendon, beautifully sings an especially lovely aria about, of all things, her longing for education."
- Back Stage West
"Megan Weston was sweetly engaging as Tweedy's girlfriend."
- San Diego Union-Tribune
"Garnett Bruce inherited Bruce Beresford's detailed stage direction which made every member of the large, superb San Diego cast an individual."
- Los Angeles Times
"...including the standout work of Megan Weston as Will's young love, Lightfoot McClendon..."
- North County Times
"while his love interest, Lightfoot McClendon, was portrayed in fine style by a silvery voiced former member of the San Diego young artist program, Megan Weston."
- Opera Japonica
"Favorite new young singer!!! Has anyone else heard Megan Weston? She was fabulous as Lightfoot McClendon in COLD SASSY TREE."
- Opera L
November 21, 1963: The Day Before
November 21, 1963: The Day Before
November 21, 1963: The Day Before
Symphony Space
"Much of the evening's activity was entrusted to a fine core ensemble: the actors Eisa Davis, Olympia Dukakis, and B D Wong; the singers Megan Weston and Robert Osborne; and the pianist Margaret Kampmeier. Mostly fascinating, "November 21" evoked in 36 brief segments the world on the day before it was forever changed."
- The New York Times
"Singing nearly a dozen works over the course of the evening, soprano Megan Weston and bass-baritone Robert Osborne showed themselves to be adept at juggling a range of musical and acting styles. Weston (who looked like she had stepped onto the set of Mad Men with her blonde bob and ruby-red lipstick) was involved in two of the first half's most interesting works—Muhly's Impaired Vision and Vuichard's Ammunition.
Both composers had the honor of setting texts assembled by playwright Craig Lucas (the librettist for Muhly's Two Boys), who compiled a set of advertising copy and news headlines taken from the November 21 edition of the New York Times. Taking on the headlines of the day, Muhly used repetitive, recitative-like strains of melody and a sparse, Copland-esque piano setting to showcase the seemingly dramatic headlines that would pale in comparison to those of the next day. However, interwoven with breezy banners were moments of chilling connection with today's events, showing that the country hasn't really come far in terms of gun violence or personal safety.
Proving an interesting contrast, Vuichard's setting of ad copy was fully orchestrated in the piano (kudos to pianist Margaret Kampmeier) and required virtuosic delivery from Weston—taking her up and down a two-octave-plus range as a woman realizing the advent of her own neuroses when compared with the perfect female figures used in the marketing ploys of the day. The comic moments won in the end here, and Weston relished every opportunity to evoke a laugh from the audience."
- Feast of Music
Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Blonde-Die Entführung aus dem Serail
November 21, 1963: The Day Before
Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra
"Knoxville, which involved soprano Megan Weston, is based on James Agee's 1935 prose poem, which eventually became the prologue to his novel, A Death in the Family. It is evocative and nostalgic about a simpler time as seen by the eyes of a child. The music, which descriptively followed much of the text, ranged from sweetly lyrical, even pastoral to darker-hued and brilliantly edged colors. Weston sang the words with excellent diction in a voice that used a wide range of lovely colors. Her voice had a smile in it for the happier moments and was sometimes so sweet it could have melted the lyrics. But she could soar, too, and nailed the high notes with ease."
- The Daily Gazette
"Soprano Megan Weston was radiant in giving voice to Agee's description of an Idyllic summer night seen through the eyes of a poetic young boy who, seemingly, has just come to the realization that all the things and people he loves must pass. The gently rolling rhythms and lush orchestral sounds of the opening were the perfect setting for her well focused and expressive soprano voice."
- Glens Falls Chronicle
"Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24, is a lush setting of a nostalgic James Agee poem about “nothing at all in particular,” to quote the text. Soprano Megan Weston did a fine job managing the broad tessitura yet keeping the inflections simple and almost childlike. There were hints here and there of a very adult vibrato but clarity and restraint were the rule."
- Albany Times Union
Olympia-Les contes d’Hoffmann
Blonde-Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Blonde-Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Tulsa Opera
"Megan Weston as Olympia handled the coloratura fireworks of ‘Les oiseaux dans la charmille’ with thrilling ease, giving a performance that was the perfect mix of vocal control, physicality and humor. It came close to stopping the show Saturday evening."
- Tulsa World
"Looking through the tickets brought back some spectacular memories. There was Tulsa Opera's production of Tales of Hoffman, which was so good on opening night we had to come back a week later, and again for closing night."
- Tulsa World
Blonde-Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Blonde-Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Blonde-Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Lyric Opera San Diego
"The lady’s maid, also a captive, is the enchanting young soprano Megan Weston, so excellent in the company’s Candide of a couple seasons back. Miss Weston is nothing less than everything a Mozart soubrette should be: gorgeous, funny, graceful, vivacious and voiced securely between the angelic and the devilish. Weston’s scenes with Gustavo Halley are comic opera at its very best."
- SanDiego.com
"On the plus side, Megan Weston was simply charming and natural as Blonde. Her soprano voice was lilting and beautiful."
- San Diego Jewish Times
"As Blonde, the English maid held captive in the seraglio, Megan Weston proved herself a delightful singing actress…(her voice) was bright and beguiling, even in intricate phrases."
- San Diego Union-Tribune
"However, as Blonde, soprano Megan Weston was consistently pretty sounding since she possesses a coloratura voice just the right size and color for the part. She was also perky."
- San Diego Magazine
"On the other hand, Megan Weston presents an adorable, musically excellent Blonda…"
- SD Downtown News
Viennese Soiree
Holiday Pops Spectacular (3 seasons)
Holiday Pops Spectacular (3 seasons)
New Haven Symphony Orchestra
"Soprano Megan Weston, who appears frequently with American opera companies in lyric roles, alternated with the straight orchestra selections, offering effervescent renditions of operetta arias by Strauss and his chief Viennese successor, Franz Lehar (1870-1948).
Weston helped leaven the program by focusing on personality and theatrical context rather than straight concert-style vocalism. 'Mein Herr Marquis' from Strauss’s classic Die Fledermaus (1874) is sung by Adele, a housemaid dressed as a noblewoman at a costume ball, where her boss attempts to probe her disguise. It was performed here with defiant panache, and the soprano actually seemed to be addressing her would-be accuser rather than an adoring audience.
In 'Vilia', a slower melody from Lehar’s The Merry Widow (1905), Weston had more opportunity to shape phrases and spin out her well-focused high notes, thanks to the orchestra’s restraint. Her final number was a flamboyant rendition of the popular Strauss waltz, Wiener Blut.
- New Haven Register
Holiday Pops Spectacular (3 seasons)
Holiday Pops Spectacular (3 seasons)
Holiday Pops Spectacular (3 seasons)
Cape Symphony Orchestra
"Weston, an artist possessing a commanding range with a light incandescent top and a powerfully dark and expressive mid to lower range which she used to stunning effect in 'S'vi-von'."
- Cape Cod Times
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"But the jewel in the crown was guest soprano Megan Weston, whose vivid presence and radiant, seemingly effortlessly produced coloratura voice lent wings to the artfully designed and skillfully executed production.
Lighting up the program at various junctures, Weston sang such diverse numbers as the dazzlingly florid 'Rejoice' from Handel's Messiah, 'I'll Be Home for Christmas', 'Toyland' (from Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland), and 'O Holy Night' — all with the appropriate touches of virtuosity or heartfelt sentiment. Glamorously gowned in bright red satin, the attractive young soprano was as charming to behold as to listen to and is my choice for the best ever Christmas pops soloist."
- Cape Cod Times
"An added bonus: the rich voice of soprano Megan Weston... There was delight when Megan Weston performed “Olympia's Aria” (“Doll's Song”) by Offenbach as a “real” wind-up doll. Weston's solos for “Spiel' ich die Unschuld vom Lande” from “Die Fledermaus” and Donizetti's “O luce di quest' animal” aria demonstrated the striking range, clarity and expressiveness of her singing."
- Cape Cod Times