p r e ss
helen-jane howells soprano
Under Milk Wood – Taliesin Arts
Centre, Swansea
Joseph Phibbs – The Canticle of the
Rose – CD review
… the cast was uniformly excellent. HelenJane Howells’s Gossamer Beynon was
well-observed and elegantly sung.
Soprano Helen-Jane Howells is
expressive in an English watercolour sort
of way.
Opera Mag, June 2014
Telegraph, 27 July 2013
Howells delivering tinkling coloratura
with a tea-set for percussion.
Soprano Helen-Jane Howells, an
intrepid young singer, sings with sweetness
and steel in The Canticle of the Rose,
taking the ascents above the staff in stride
and trusting her technique to enable her to
successfully negotiate the labyrinthine
twists of Mr. Phibbs’s formidable musical
architecture. The purity of Ms. Howells’s
tone introduces a suggestion of playful
innocence into the dark world of Sitwell’s
texts, and the array of emotions that she
delivers reveals the subtleties of Mr.
Phibbs’s music.
**** The Times, 8 April 2014
The Fairy Queen – Bury Court Opera
The Science Teacher, Helen-Jane
Howells, delivered several mesmerising
numbers (‘Ye gentle spirits…’) in this
stellar score.
Seen and Heard International, 22
February 2014
Helen-Jane Howells [yeilded] half a
dozen exquisite arias, all on target, as the
Science Teacher.
Roderic Dunnett, 22 February 2014
Voix Des Arts, 11 June 2013
Dido and Aeneas – Bath Music
Festival
Helen-Jane Howells abandoned her tea
dress and was fearless, even as
temperatures and rain fell, singing with
purity and honesty and no sign of
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shivering. Her "Remember me" in the
famous Lament was heart-rending.
Here all was simple and clear,
unpretentious and quite simply beautiful.
The Observer, 2 June 2013
Translated from Fædrelandsvenne, 30
March 2012
Music Theatre Wales – Ping
actor Nia Roberts separated by a gauze
from her alter ego, the soprano HelenJane Howells. They share Beckett’s text
like the shifting light of an unstable psyche:
both give superb performances,
complemented by an electronic score and a
stuttering monochrome video projection
Handel Messiah - Bath Abbey
Soprano Helen-Jane Howells has a
supple coloratura sound, gracefully
phrased, a big voice when she really opens
up.
The Bath Chronicle, 5 December 2011
The Times, 28 March 2013
Helen-Jane Howells in clear, pure voice
St Matthew Passion – Vocal Futures
Wales Art Review, 27 March 2013
And the aria soloists – Helen-Jane
Howells, Robin Blaze, Catherine Hopper,
Andrew Tortise and Stephan Loges - are
riveting.
The Fairy Queen – Gabrieli Consort
The Times, 30 November 2011
Fine support came from soprano HelenJane Howells (a very perky Spring in the
masque of the seasons),
**** The Times, 14 June 2012
Bach St John Passion – Kristiansand
Symphony Orchestra
Both the soprano [Helen-Jane Howells]
and alto soloists…were also chosen for a
sound far removed from… the bulging
voices of old fashioned oratorio singers.
Mozart C Minor Mass - Coventry
Cathedral
The Kyrie knocked the socks off all who
listened, in no small part to the wonderful
entry of soprano Helen-Jane Howells –
a ringing note cutting above all the
orchestras fuss and choir’s pathos –
another goose-pimple moment
Bachtrack.com, 12 November 2011
Presteigne Festival - recital
[Huw Watkins’] 'Five Larkin Songs'
delivered with piercing insight by soprano
Helen-Jane Howells, the composer at
the piano. Howells moved easily from the
Purcellian coloratura which opens Britten’s
'On this Island' to the cabaret wit which
concludes it. … We also heard the premiere
of Julian Philips’ busy, testing and
organically unified 'Love Songs of Amy
Lowell', and Sonnet III 'Alla Luna' by the
eminent
Lithuanian
composer
Zita
Bruzaite, clearly and simply structured,
Howells’ radiant soprano joined by deft
oboist Helen Barker.
Birmingham Post, 1 September 2011
Creation – Brighton Orpheus Choir
Helen-Jane Howells soprano soared
mightily into the apse of All Saints like the
nightingale in the score
The Argus, 04 April 2011
Bach St. Matthew Passion - Royal
Festival Hall
Howells's 'Blute Nur', an unwinding coil
of temperate loveliness".
The Arts Desk, 10 April 2011
Messiah – Gabrieli Consort
Helen J. Howells achieved a state of
introspection and meditation as well.
Howells was magnificent in ‘Rejoice
greatly, oh daughter of Zion’ which she
brought forth with the grace and sensuality
required, her performance of ‘I know that
my redeemer liveth’ was truly moving.
Translated from Heraldo de Aragón, 26
December 2010