St. Matthew Passion with Seraphic Fire
“Among a constellation of Seraphic Fire’s best singers in the solo recitatives and arias, a new member stood out. Nola Richardson’spure, vibratoless soprano brought dramatic expressivity to “Blute nur, du liebes Herz” (Bleed on, dear heart) as well as fire in her description of the horrors of Golgotha.” -Lawrence Budmen, South Florida Classical Review, February 17, 2018
Magnificat with American Classical Orchestra
“C.P.E.’s “Magnificat” is something else, a masterpiece in its own right, which looks as resolutely to the future as his father’s does at times to the past. Mr. Crawford and his forces gave it a good outing, with an especially fine turn by Nola Richardson, a soprano.” – James R. Oestreich, The New York Times, December 8, 2017
Dixit Dominus with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society
”Soprano soloists Nola Richardson and Julie Bosworth offered bright, well-focused tone and supple phrasing in the Handel work.” – Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun, November 1, 2017
Die Zauberflöte with the Clarion Music Society
“In a supporting cast with no weak links, the vocal standouts were the three “firsts”: Nola Richardson (First Lady), Ty Green (First Boy) and James Kennerley (First Armed Man).” – David Shengold, Opera News, June 2017
“A Weekend in Paris” with the American Bach Soloists
“That Marais chaconne, along with some lusciously polished singing by soprano Nola Richardson, suave solo work by flutist and piccolo player Janet See and violin leader Elizabeth Blumenstock, and the incisive contributions of the American Bach Choir, among other things, were the musical equivalents of full-color photographs to revisit and cherish later.” “Richardson upped the ante with her precisely drawn but liquid coloratura conversations with the woodwinds” “The Vivaldi quotations remained perhaps inevitably odd to listeners who know the music only too well. But when Richardsonreturned for another articulate and supple exchange, this time with violinist Blumenstock, the old felt remade in a new image” “The Mondonville “Grand Motet” came alive with musical scene painting, from an early march to the first grave and noble chorus to the swaying and natural figuration of Richardson’s exemplary, impassioned singing.” -Steven Winn, San Francisco Classical Voice, February 14. 2017
“Elegantly sung in Latin here by soprano Nola Richardson, these coloratura passages were impressive, to say the least. Though I’ve heard Nola Richardson before, especially with ABS, with whom she was a charming Galatea in 2015 in Handel’s Acis and Galatea, this time around Nola Richardson was absolutely astounding. Her voice is angelic in tone, yet full of emotional intensity. Richardson’s technical handling of the coloratura passages in this work by Corrette was impeccable. The result was stunningly beautiful.”
“Once again, however, the show was stolen by soprano Nola Richardson, who took the musical momentum created by her colleagues and redoubled it in dramatic fashion. How I would love to hear Nola Richardson in a leading role in an opera by either Jean-Baptiste Lully or Jean-Philippe Rameau! It’s regrettable that she is not in the cast for the forthcoming Philharmonia Baroque performance in April of Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire.” -James Roy MacBean, The Berkeley Daily Planet, February 17, 2017
B Minor Mass with Master Chorale of South Florida
“The soloists, most of them familiar to local audiences from appearances with Seraphic Fire, provided the most satisfying musical moments of the afternoon. Greenleaf
and Richardson offered a beautiful “Christe eleison,” with their voices blending ideally. Greenleaf’s high notes have an unusual purity, and Richardson has a lovely instrument and a fine command of Baroque ornament.” -Greg Stepanich, Palm Beach Arts Paper, November 29, 2016
