Reviews
Oracle at Delphi / Listenings and Silences / Sappho Songs
“Margaret is an outstanding [mezzo-]soprano. Her tone is beautiful and her technique truly excellent. She has an understanding of styles and her performance is very attractive and intelligent. Her velvety tone is very suitable to romantic and classic works and her accurate rhythm and intonation bring out the best of any contemporary works. In short, she is a true artist.”
Dinos Constantinides, Composer & Boyd Professor of Music, Louisiana State University
Multiple roles at Empire Opera, New York City
“…her talent is unsurpassed in my opinion. Her voice is truly agile with great color and control taking on dramatic roles as well as the lighter coloratura. The rich warmth of her tones speaks of true mezzo singing. And her interpretations are perfectly executed demonstrating her knowledge of the works she performs and the time she spends preparing.
Waundell Saavedra, President & Artistic Director, Empire Opera, Inc.
Speed Dating Tonight! and Falling Angel
“I have always found Maggie to be very well prepared and a wonderfully pleasant colleague. She has an impressive voice and fetching stage presence.”
Michael Ching, Composer & Musical Director, Nickel City Opera
Traveling West by Randall Snyder
(Commercially released premiere recording)
“Margaret O’Connellis the superb mezzo who handles [the complex atonal cycle] with seeming ease.”
Fanfare Magazine
Albert Herring
“Margaret O’Connell as Florence Pike…soared into the upper ranges and carried the comic element well.”
Princeton Town Topics
Older Alyce, Glory Denied
“Margaret O’Connell, fiercely committed as the Older Alyce…”
ZEALnyc
Les Contes d’Hoffmann
“Her equisite singing of ‘La verité, dit on’ in the prologue was inspiring. O’Connell has a rich and mellow mezzo voice and fine acting skills. Her moving recitation in the epilogue ‘Moi, la fidèle amie’ touched the heart.”
Nino Pantano, Brooklyn Daily Eagle
“[In the] double role of the Muse / Nicklausse, Margaret O’Connell was exceptional, handling the gender-bending of the part convincingly and engaging in a lush, sensual ‘Barcarolle.'”
Paul Pelkonen, Superconductor
Mirabai Songs
“Because of her exceptionally high level of musical skills, I immediately suspected that Margaret O’Connell had a background as an instrumentalist…She sang the first of my ‘Mirabai Songs’ with a confident presence that made her performance memorable. Anyone seeking a real musician-singer, that rare bird, will be well advised to offer her opportunities.”
John Harbison, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Composer