Robert Breault - Tenor: Press Reviews
Review Highlights
(Chronologically listed reviews follow)
 “Tenor
Robert Breault made his EO (Edmonton Opera) debut with distinction as
the Duke of Mantua. He looks the part of a man who can seduce women
with more than just his power and wealth, and he has a lustrous voice.
I hope the company puts him at the top of the list for future ventures
calling for an excellent voice with an attractive masculine presence.”
Opera Canada (Rankin) January, 2010
Edmonton Opera, Rigoletto, Verdi.
“I’ve heard many famous tenors (and a famous baritone) as
Werther; aside from the sublime Alfredo Krauss, Breault furnished the
most complete portrayal musically and dramatically. Though no beginner,
he proved much more credible as a youthful Romantic poet than Krauss
(seen at age fifty-eight in San Francisco). Besides a ductile tenor
that allows him to negotiate a full dynamic span, from silvery head
tone to ringing forte, even within a single phrase, Breault offers
truly superb diction. He put across the not always felicitous Norman
Tucker translation (incorporating “I would fain…,” a sure sign of
trouble) with great aplomb; his chiseled phrasing was a constant
pleasure. Alert to his younger colleagues’ words and presence, Breault
brought every moment of the role to life.”
Opera News (Shengold) November, 2007
Chautauqua Opera, Werther, Massenet.
“Somewhat lost in the avalanche of praise for New York City
Opera's new Semele was the performance of tenor ROBERT BREAULT. He gave
a witty, touching account of Jupiter (with overtones of John F.
Kennedy); somehow he took STEPHEN LAWLESS's rather pointlessly busy
stage direction and gave the most committed performance on the stage.
(His lovely rendition of "Where e'er you walk" was also the vocal
highlight of the afternoon.) He has been around New York a bit: he sang
Carmen and Traviata with City Opera and also turned up in Tancredi with
Opera Orchestra of New York a few seasons ago. But this was, I believe,
the first time I had heard Breault, and I left the State Theater with
one of the great feelings you can have as an audience member — a sense
of discovery.
Opera News (Kellow) November, 2006
New York City Opera, Semele, Handel
“A stylish singer and droll actor, tenor Robert Breault
(looking more like the recent Clinton, but wearing at one point a
Bush-style flight jacket) also put over words with crystal clarity; his
incisive Loge-size tenor boasts astonishing flexibility.”
Opéra Magazine, France, (Shengold) November, 2006
New York City Opera, Semele, Handel.
“Robert Breault (Jupiter, Apollo and, by inference, Kennedy) sang with a lovely tenor.”
New York Times (Holland) September 15, 2006
New York City Opera, Semele, Handel
“Robert Breault's Jupiter was more fatherly than Kennedy-esque,
with dark-rimmed glasses and silver hair. His agile, attractive tenor
made for a captivating, ardently delivered "Where e'er you walk," in
which Breault affirmed Jupiter's status as a deity by maintaining his
benevolent loving stance, despite Futral’s shenanigans.”
Opera News (Rosenblum) November, 2006
New York City Opera, Semele, Handel.
“….in his company debut, Robert Breault as Alfredo, Mr. Breault
showed an appealing, well-managed voice without a lot of variation; as
long as you wanted something ringing and healthy, he could deliver very
well. He evoked an old-style Broadway leading man in the days before
mikes (I mean that as a compliment).”
New York Times (Midgette) September 15, 2004
New York City Opera, La Traviata, Verdi.
“Ideally, one would want the likes of Ponselle, Martinelli and
Tibbett in Stiffelio: the kind of Verdian powerhouse virtuosos now
seemingly near-extinct. But given the size of Norton Hall, Chautauqua
Opera fielded strong contenders. Local favorite Robert Breault made an
excellent impression, his mellifluous tenor boasting clarity of both
tone and diction; clearly reveling in high notes, he sang with notable
dynamic variety. It would be interesting to hear Breault essay Un Ballo
in Maschera.”
Opera News (Shengold) October, 2004
Chautauqua Opera, Stiffelio, Verdi.
“Beethoven endowed Jesus with great humanity, a role as heroic
and impassioned as Florestan, but much more varied, interesting and
extensive — actually it’s bigger. That is how the exceptional tenor in
this performance, Robert Breault, felt and sang it. Drawing on his
voice’s unusual palette of color, range of tone and clarity, Breault
launched the opening recitative, “Jehovah, du mein Vater!” with an
insistency that kept growing to the climactic final outcry, “erbarm’
dich mein!” (“Have pity on me!”). His voice surged to a roaring
fortissimo, a level he would match in the second recitative just before
the assertion “not my will but Thine be done.” Then again, just before
the concluding chorus, he cut loose, Jesus as heroic preacher
thundering, “Defeated is the power of hell.”
In Breault’s rendition, the aria, “Meine Seele is erschüttert” (“My
soul is deeply shaken”) was stirring, the music and his feeling for it
getting ever closer to Florestan’s “Gott, wie dunkel hier!”.”
San Francisco Classical Voice (Commanday) April 8, 2003
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Christ on the Mount of Olives, Beethoven.
“I don’t remember ever hearing a finer tenor soloist in Eugene
(Oregon) than Robert Breault. He has a rich, full voice that is so well
focused he can bring it down almost to a whisper and still be heard.
Every word and meaning of the text he sings come to life with utmost
conviction. The wedding of text and music is his performance has to be
heard to be believed.”
The Register-Guard, Eugene (Bergquist), December 10, 2002
Eugene Concert Choir, Messiah, Handel.
“It was clear from the opening recitative, Robert Breault’s
‘Comfort ye, my people’, that whatever happened in this oratorio would
be conveyed to the audience with unusual immediacy. Breault’s
forthright account had the precision and depth of fine singing,
together with the ringing stature of great oratory.” “Of the vocal
soloists, Breault—an alumnus of the San Francisco Opera Center who was
making his first appearance with the Philharmonia—turned in the
strongest showing. His sound was bright and firm, his diction eloquent
and his presence arresting; his explosive account of ‘Thou shalt break
them’ was merely the most memorable of many fine moments.”
San Francisco Chronicle (Kosman), December 9, 1996
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Messiah, Handel.
“As for tenor Robert Breault’s portrayal of Alfredo, his voice
is strong, wonderfully lyrical with a fine ability to sustain long
lines, and in addition, his words were projected with a superbly clean
diction.”
Buffalo News (Trotter), July 8, 2001
Chautauqua Opera, La Traviata, Verdi.
“Breault’s
voice has a powerful character with a sturdy range, but the most
striking aspect of his singing was the emotional weight he brought to
bear on the texts at hand.”
Washington Post (May), Breault’s Labor of Love, March 26, 1998
Recital at the Phillips Gallery, Washington DC.
“Tenor Robert Breault was astonishing, his voice is flexible,
and he fearlessly aimed for all the highest notes…He tossed off an
incredible amount of musical ornamentation.”
Associated Press (Campbell), November 1997.
Opera Orchestra of New York, Tancredi, Rossini.
“The cast’s standout was tenor Robert Breault as Hyllus, who
depicted the character’s lovesick and virile strains in sumptuous
musical terms; his wooing of Iole in ‘From celestial seats descending’
was easily the evening’s high point.”
The San Francisco Chronicle (Kosman), September 16, 1997
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Hercules, Handel.
“As Ismaele and Fenena, tenor Robert Breault and mezzo Marianne
Cornetti sang so ravishingly that one wished these characters had more
to do.”
Opera News (Crook), August 1997
Atlanta Opera, Nabucco, Verdi.
"Robert Breault (Macduff) stole the show, proving to be an outstandingly clear and resonant singer."
Opera Canada (Cochran), Fall 1999.
Atlanta Opera, Macbeth, Verdi.
“With his clear unforced tones, the tenor soloist in the
“Sanctus,” Robert Breault certainly didn’t ignore the introspection and
serenity.”
Toronto Star (Littler), November 5, 1998.
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Requiem, Berlioz.
“The soloists make a high-quality team. [Simon Estes, Robert
Breault, Linda Childs, and Audrey Luna]…The star is tenor Robert
Breault: lyrical, but with some guts to his sound.”
American Record Guide (Greenfield),
“DeMars: American Requiem,” September/October 1996.
“The Opera was sung in English, but only Robert Breault as Don
Ottavio had good enough diction to make it all worthwhile. His was an
excellent account, vocally and dramatically, of a somewhat thankless
role.”
The Ottawa Citizen (Todd), June 27, 1997
Opera Atelier at the National Arts Center, Ottawa, Don Giovanni, Mozart
“His tenor is large without being overwhelming, the tone
quality rich and full of character, and his performance evinced a
technical mastery that was thoroughly impressive. Best of all, he
charted the cycle’s dramatic course with unerring specificity.” “…there
was more music within that short span of time than in most recitals
twice as long. It is rare for a singer to choose so challenging and
unfamiliar a vehicle for a debut—and just as rare for such a work to
find as committed and skillful a champion as this one had in Breault.”
The San Francisco Chronicle (Kosman), “Janácek ‘Diary’ in Remarkable Recital,” May 11, 1993
Schwabacher Debut Recital, San Francisco Opera Center.
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