"When it comes to playing not-to-be-messed-with mums, Susan Bickley has few peers. Last year saw the English mezzo entrance English National Opera audiences as the grimly domineering Kabanicha in Janáček's Katya Kabanova. Then in February, it was Covent Garden that sat in awe of her formidable maternal presence, this time as the sharp-tongued mother of Anna Nicole in the premiere of Turnage's controversial opera. In between, she has brought her rich tones and crystal-clear diction to roles ranging from Waltraute in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to Mrs Grose in Britten's Turn of the Screw."
BBC Music Magazine, June 2011
Mrs Grose / Turn of the Screw / Glyndebourne Opera
Cond. Jakub Hrůša Dir. Jonathan Kent
“As Mrs Grose Susan Bickley gave a simply inspired performance, probably the best account of the role that I have ever heard. Her voice is now rich, expressive and perfectly in focus: her diction superb. She spat out her answers to the Governess's insistent questions and gradually she assumed the whole Angst of the developing situation, in true complicity with her interrogator. Bickley rode thrillingly over the orchestral tutti that tramp ever downwards as she sings her dear God, is there no end… and her assumption of the character was complete.”
Mike Reynolds, Musical Criticism.com, August 2011
“The unquenchable Susan Bickley, fresh from her much-deserved accolade at the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards, is Mrs Grose, the housekeeper, matching Persson notch for notch in character, power and diction.
Jessica Duchen, The Independent, August 2011
"Susan Bickley’s Mrs Grose is so resolutely sung that she becomes the moral compass of the drama…”
Richard Fairman, Financial Times, August 2011
“Susan Bickley is a defining Mrs Grose.”
Martin Kettle, The Guardian, August 2011
“Susan Bickley transcends her dowdy costume to lend unaccustomed power and dignity to the character of the housekeeper Mrs Grose…”
Mark Valencia, Classical Source, August 2011
“Susan Bickley’s uncomprehending but indignant Mrs Grose is another convincing figure.”
Richard Morrison, The Times, August 2011
“Mrs Grose, the housekeeper, was warmly dramatised and sung by the excellent Susan Bickley…”
Ismene Brown, The Arts Desk, August 2011
“Susan Bickley sang strongly and acted convincingly in the role of the troubled housekeeper Mrs Grose…”
William Hartsto, Express, August 2011
“Susan Bickley’s Mrs Grose is utterly real as a sensible woman increasingly out of her depth.”
George Hall, The Stage, August 2011
Anne / Nico Muhly Two Boys / ENO / Coliseum
Cond. Rumon Gamba / Dir. Bartlett Sher
“…with standout performance[s] by Susan Bickley”
Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, June 2011
“Susan Bickley gave a typically strong performance as the detective.”
Seen and Heard International, June 2011
“Susan Bickley is superb as Detective Inspector Anne Strawson and her acting totally convincing, as we, and she, recognize that the piece is more about her own self-knowledge than whodunit or the two boys.”
Paul Levy, The Wall Street Journal, July 2011
“Susan Bickley stepped up to the crucial role of Anne Strawson, her dramatic experience serving her well…”
Alexandra Coghlan, New Statesman, June 2011
“The members of the cast throw themselves into it wholeheartedly. Bickley has a great voice with an ear-grabbing spin to it.”
Warwick Thompson, Bloomberg, June 2011
“Mezzo-soprano Susan Bickley vividly portrayed Anne”
William Robin, Washington Post, June 2011
“…world-weary detective Anne Strawson, superbly portrayed by Susan Bickley
Stephen Prichard, The Guradian, July 2011
“Susan Bickley is in superb form.”
Ashutosh Khandekar, Opera Now, June 2011
"What was especially fine about the central triumvirate, however, was the acting. Susan Bickley's Detective, Anne, was like watching vintage Helen Mirren."
Igor Toronyi-Lalic, The Arts Desk, June 2011
“Craig Lucas's libretto relates the story through DI Anne Strawson (Susan Bickley)… Bickley lends [the role] dignity.”
Anna Picard, The Independent, June 2011
Mezzo Soprano in Berlioz Romeo et Juliette
BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales / cond. Thierry Fischer
“At St David’s Hall mezzo Susan Bickley was supreme, offering a performance of beauty and poise and leaving one longing for more.”
Peter Collins, Wales online, April 2011
Virgie in Mark Anthony Turnage Anna Nicole
Royal Opera House / cond. Antonio Pappano / dir. Richard Jones
“In the role of the mother, mezzo Susan Bickley performed the deeply moving score with panache, such as the aria "Men, men, losers, idiots"; the story of Danny's death (...); or the bitter reprise of "You can pray, you can dream" at the end of the opera.”
Laurent Bury, Forum Opera, November 2011
“The wonderful British mezzo Susan Bickley is outstanding as Anna’s mother, providing a foul-mouthed commentary on her daughter’s behaviour.”
Opera Now, Summer 2011
“The least noxious character, Anna’s mother, evoked at least a modicum of sympathy in Susan Bickley’s bravura portrayal.”
Antony Craig,
Gramophone Magazine, May 2011
“Best of all is Susan Bickley as Anna's mother, raging with foul-mouthed moral indignation at her daughter's behaviour.”
Ashutosh Khandekar, www.rhinegold.co.uk, February 2011
“’The party always ends’, mourns Anna's mother…sung by the fabulous Susan Bickley.”
Jessica Duchen, The Independent, February 2011
Mephistopheles in Schnittke’s Faust
Barbican / cond. Vassily Sinaisky
“Bickley was superb in the mocking tango of the seventh movement (‘Es geschah’)”
John-Pierre Joyce, Music OMH, February 2011
George Benjamin Into the Little Hill
The Opera Group / cond. Franck Ollu
"...the excellent Susan Bickley."
Cesar Lopez Rosell, El Pirodico, December 2010
Richard Wagner Götterdämmerung
Hallé Orchestra / cond. Sir Mark Elder
Commercial CD recording, released on the Hallé’s own label. Best Opera Recording at the 2010 Gramophone Awards
“The outstanding reading comes from Susan Bickley as Waltraute, her narration providing the most completely moving part of the whole occasion. She colours her words beautifully... and her involvement reaches out as only a major artist can.”
Michael Tanner, Opera, November 2010
“Into the Little Hill was, once again, played in all its pungent, ironic precision by the London Sinfonietta; and Susan Bickley…made us hang on every word”
Guy Dammann, The Times, July 2010
“Bickley and Booth are the foremost interpreters of modern music in this country. They are superb.”
“It’s a tour de force, testing a singer’s full range … Susan Bickley was magnificent”
Anne Ozorio, Opera Today, July 2010
“Bickley gave a searing performance, her sense of theater as impressive as her staggering vocal performance. She stepped blithely between styles as the musical madness broke around her. John Constable was in his element as the accompanist struggling to contain flights of diva temperament, and actress Nina Kate was impressive as the insouciant dresser. Members of the London Sinfonietta played with great flair under conductor Franck Ollu.
The Benjamin is a very different work, telling its tale with quiet intensity. It makes considerable vocal and dramatic demands, and again Bickley, surely one of the country's underrated singers, was immensely impressive”
Keith Clarke, Musical America, June 2010
Kabanicha in Janácek’s Katya Kabanova
English National Opera / cond. Mark Wigglesworth
“Susan Bickley as a chilling dominatrix of a Kabanicha…is quite exceptionally good”
Daily Telegraph, March 2010
“Susan Bickley’s brittle Kabanicha is a finely-drawn portrait of malicious hypocrisy,”
Opera Britania, March 2010
“Everything about this performance is first rate (including) Susan Bickley’s Kabanicha”
The Guardian, March 2010
“The stillness of Susan Bickley's very imperial Kabanicha, her awful authority emphasised by gleaming tone rather than the usual paintstripping old-baggery,”
The Arts Desk, March 2010
“Kabanicha, deliciously played by Susan Bickley.”
Wall Street Journal, March 2010
Babulenka in Prokofiev The Gambler
Royal Opera House / cond. Antonio Pappano / dir. Richard Jones
“Among the principal characters, only the rich Babulenka, who gambles away her fortune to the despair of her impecunious nephew, the General, has real depth, as she sings nostalgically of her Russian properties after her losses. Susan Bickley — who sings virtually anything well — makes the most of her lyrical opportunity”
Hugh Canning, Sunday Times, February 2010
“…sharp cameos from Susan Bickley’s Babulenka”
Andrew Clark, The Financial Times, February 2010
“…the Babulenka of Susan Bickley, whose surprise arrival through the revolving doors was deliciously done. Her comic timing is superb and she relished her role in disrupting the General’s plans for his inheritance. Yet it was tinged with sadness too, Babulenka’s financial losses keenly felt and her yearning to return to Russia had a sincerity which made you empathise with her character’s situation more than those of the rest of the cast.”
Mark Pullinger, Opera Britannia, February 2010
“The scene in which the hitherto indomitable figure of fun Babulenka - the rich aunt on whose inheritance everyone is greedily depending – laments her losses, seems to find Prokofiev, too, in mourning for something irretrievable. Russia, perhaps? It’s a beautiful scene and Susan Bickley took it splendidly.”
Edward Seckerson, The Independent, February 2010
“The high star rating below reflects the superb quality of the performance. Richard Jones’s production, stylishly designed by Antony McDonald, wittily creates an ambience of Weimar Republic decadence; a superb ensemble of singing actors led by Roberto Saccà, John Tomlinson, Angela Denoke, Kurt Streit and Susan Bickley play out the black farce with total commitment.”
Rupert Christensen, The Telegraph, February 2010
“John Tomlinson and Susan Bickley are deeply affecting as the General and Babulenka”
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, February 2010
“A pair of British stars, John Tomlinson and Susan Bickley, excelled as the seedy General and his disobliging old aunt, Babulenka, who wears purple and crazily gambles away her (potentially his) fortune.”
Fiona Maddock, The Observer, February 2010
“Babulenka (Susan Bickley) is the only candid voice, a dotty grandmother with a retinue of expressionless serfs.”
Anna Picard, The Independent, February 2010
Elgar The Kingdom
Hallè Orchestra / cond. Mark Elder / Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
“The baritone Iain Paterson, as St Peter, was exemplary in feeling and diction, and Susan Bickley’s bright mezzo lit up Mary Magdalene.”
Geoff Brown, The Times, October 2009
Celebrating English Song / Tardebigge Parish Church
Iain Burnside, piano
“Mezzo soprano Susan Bickley and pianist lain Burnside provided a master class in subtlety and variety in a programme of favourites next to items well off the beaten track…Bickley was superb in these songs more usually sung by a male singer; bluff and hearty in I Will Go With My FatherA-ploughing and infinitely touching in his best known song, Sleep.
For the encore we had a second chance to hear Gurney’s By a Bier-Side and so yet again our hearts were wrung in this accomplished and moving programme.”
John Gough, Birmingham Post, August 2009
Madre in Nono Al gran sole carico d’amore
Salzburg Festival / cond. Ingo Metzmacher
“Bickley’s luscious mezzo… Among the huge cast, she triumphs as both actor and singer…”
Hugh Canning, The Times, August 2009
“…the acapella solo at the beginning of the second act was magnificently sung with perfect intonation by Susan Bickley”
Renaud Machart, Le Monde, August 2009
“Among the huge cast Bickley scored a personal triumph as both actor and singer: in the first part she movingly incarnated harmless-looking middle aged activist, Louise Mitchell, as she contemplates mounting the barricades, and her consoling melismata at the start of Part 2 were among the most beautiful sounds to be heard in this uneven but fascinating score.”
Hugh Canning, Opera Magazine, October 2009
Ivor Gurney Songs / Naxos 8.572151
Iain Burnside, piano
“Susan Bickley and Iain Burnside have put together a well-balanced recital of the inward-looking, the tender and the effervescent. They are as adept at building to the climax of By a bierside as they are at catching the tranquility of ‘Sleep’, the fourth of the Five Elizabethan Songs, a cycle of refreshingly contrasting settings. Bickley can spin out the line of the slow songs, such as All night under the moon, a hauntingly lovely setting of Wilfrid Wilson Gibson’s poem, and also trip livelily to The Fiddler of Dooney, one of three fine compositions to the verses of Yeats.”
John T. Hughes, International Record Review, September 2009
“But as Susan Bickley's beautifully understated performances with pianist Iain Burnside show, Gurney was not only an important figure in early 20th-century English song, but also a distinctive one detached from its folksy mainstream…this is a well-conceived and important disc for all English music enthusiasts.”
Andrew Clements, The Guardian, August 2009
Waltraute in Wagner Götterdämmerung/ Hallé Orchestra / cond. Sir Mark Elder
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
“But I must mention the outstanding vocal performance: on the first evening Susan Bickley, the extraordinarily versatile — and strangely underemployed in the big houses — mezzo, delivered the most moving and eloquent account of Waltraute’s narration that I have ever witnessed in a concert hall or theatre. This was truly great singing, with a use of the words which no one else emulated, and a dramatic intelligence which meant that, as Wagner intended, the distinction between narration and presentation vanished, and we witnessed what Waltraute was telling us about. One rarely, now, comes across such a performance, which takes its place in the grand tradition of artists who have made this scene the most deeply affecting of the whole work.”
Michael Tanner, Spectator, May 2009
“Susan Bickley was a heartfelt Waltraute.”
Lynne Walker, The Independent, 5 stars, May 2009
“Susan Bickley was an outstanding, top-notch Waltraute: her encounter with Brünnhilde was the high point of the Saturday night.”
Dominic McHugh, MusicalCriticism.com, May 2009
“Another British singer, the mezzo Susan Bickley, was the most moving Waltraute I have heard in many years.”
Michael Kennedy, Telegraph, May 2009
“Susan Bickley’s outstanding Waltraute.”
Hilary Finch, The Times, 5 stars, May 2009
“Susan Bickley was an outstanding Waltraute - sorrowing, tragic, and, like so much of this extraordinary experience, unforgettable.”
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, May 2009
Dido in Purcell After Dido (Dido and Aeneas)
English National Opera / Young Vic
cond. Christian Curnyn / dir. Katie Mitchell
“Susan Bickley sings both Dido and the Sorceress with impeccable poise and clarity”
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph, April 2009
“Purcell’s operatic account of Dido’s monumental suffering, sung exquisitely…by Susan Bickley as Dido.”
Sam Marlowe, The Times, April 2009
“Susan Bickley plays both Dido and the Sorceress, delivering Dido's arias with dignified intensity and inflecting the Sorceress's music with wonderfully understated malice.”
Michael Billington & Tim Ashley, Guardian, April 2009
“It was beautifully and poignantly sung by Susan Bickley (as Dido and the Sorceress)."
Peter Reed, Opera, May 2009
Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky
Hallé Orchestra / cond. Alexander Lazarev
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
“Exceptional singing, from the combined forces of the Hallé Choir and the Brighton Festival Chorus, had much to do with its impact. So did Susan Bickley, quietly harrowing in her intonation of the great lament. It got under everyone's skin and there was near hysteria when it was over: for anyone who heard it, Alexander Nevsky will never be quite the same again."
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, November 2008
Recital at Oxford Lieder Festival
Julius Drake, piano
“Bickley is one of the leading specialists in new music: she and Drake together were excellent.”
on Michael Berkley's Speaking Silence
“The musical highlights of the evening, were Ravel’s joyous and witty Chansons Populaires and Britten’s equally tongue-in-cheek Cabaret Songs. Showcasing Bickley’s gift for characterisation and communication… Bickley’s range — both vocal and dramatic — was amply demonstrated in the energy and apparent effortlessness with which she romped from the soulful meanderings of the Chanson Hebraique to the sinuous slitherings and dusky-eyed dramatics of the Chanson Espagnole.”
Alexandra Coghlan, The Oxford Times, October 2008
Michael Berkley 60th Birthday Celebration Concert at Wigmore Hall
Julius Drake, piano
“In between came Berkeley's 1986 song cycle, Speaking Silence, beautifully performed by Susan Bickley and Julius Drake, with its Brittenesque bright and florid piano writing illuminating often all but unaccompanied settings of poets including Rossetti and Yeats.”
Hilary Finch, The Times, October 2008
Kostelnicka in Janácek's Jenufa
Welsh National Opera / cond. Sian Edwards / dir. Katie Mitchell
“But Susan Bickley’s tremendous Kostelniuka was the evening’s stand-out; a mixture of unshakeable dignity and troubled humanity that made it hard to understand why this role was ever seen as unsympathetic. Bickley’s voice blazed thrillingly in her prayers for a better life and trembled with emotion in her final confession of guilt.”
Richard Bratby, Birmingham Post, November 2008
"Yet the most magnetic characterization was undoubtedly that of Susan Bickley. While her naturally authoritative bearing conveyed the Kostelnicka's status within her community, she also managed to suggest early on the bitterness and proud self regard that offer a clue to the motivation for murdering her step daughter's illegitimate baby. Bickley produced subtleties of tone that reflected all the complexity of the Kostelnicka's feelings and the torment engulfing her, reaching the very heart of Janacek's psychological drama."
Rian Evans, Opera Magazine, November 2008
“But it is Susan Bickley's searing performance as the stepmother who murders Jenufa's illegitimate newborn that will remain etched in the memory. Bickley finds tone-colours and vocal inflections that make Kostelnicka's dilemma and her crime absolutely credible, yet it is the portrayal of her guilt and the subsequent disintegration of her mind that is most remarkable.”
Rian Evans, The Guardian, October 2008
Leocadia Begbick in Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Royal Scottish National Orchestra / cond. HK Gruber
“Some were excellent...Susan Bickley brought her resonant, imperious mezzo to Leocadia Begbick, the ferocious madame who establishes the city.”
Erica Jeal, The Guardian, August 2008
“Susan Bickley ... excelled in a strong cast”
Richard Morrisson, The Times, August 2008
Baba the Turk in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress Garsington Opera / cond. Martin Andre / dir. Olivia Fuchs
"Susan Bickley’s flamboyant Baba the Turk... with menacing allure”
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times , July 2008
“Outstanding among the soloists was ...Susan Bickley as an unusually sympathetic Baba the Turk."
Rupert Christiansen, Daily Telegraph , June 2008
"...Bickley add(s) both experience and a touch of real class."
Andrew Clements, The Guardian , June 2008
"Susan Bickley's plate-smashing Baba the Turk - as magnificently upholstered in voice as in bosom - is the other dominant presence. Her surreal entrance through the flowerbeds, accompanied by dozens of prancing, bowler-hatted acolytes, has a touch of Pythonesque genius."
Richard Morisson, The Times , June 2008
Judith Weir recital, LSO St Lukes (with Iain Burnside)
"Susan Bickley's sensitivity and vocal allure confirming her among the finest mezzos of her generation…"
Richard Whitehouse, www.classicalsource.com , January 2008
Handel's Esther
London Handel Orchestra & Choir / cond. Laurence Cummings
"Bickley's singing of her three big solos has a serenity and clarity of utterance - eloquent of diction - which sets Handelian standards."
Hugh Canning, International Record Review , January 2008
"The performance, live from Handel's church, St George's Hanover Square, in 2002, is exceptional, with outstanding solo work from Susan Bickley (a raptly lyrical Mordecai)…"
Hugh Canning, Sunday Times , January 2008
Baba the Turk and Mother Goose in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress
CBSO / cond. Jac van Steen
"Susan Bickley was excellent as Mother Goose and the bearded Baba."
Paul Driver, Sunday Times , December 2007
Mistress Quickly in Verdi's Falstaff
Opera North / cond. Richard Farnes
"Susan Bickley makes a wonderfully obsequious Quickly."
Alfred Hickling, The Guardian, October 2007
Sara in Donizetti Roberto Devereux
Buxton Festival / cond. Andrew Greenwod / dir. Stephen Medcalf
"Buxton allowed itself luxury casting in Susan Bickley. ... Bickley not only irradiates her role with pathos and subdued passion; she performs regally. ...one of the best sung shows in the Festival's history."
Lynne Waker, The Independent , July 2007
Dido in Purcell Dido and Aeneas
Opera North / cond. Nicholas Kok / dir. Aletta Collins
"Faultless singing from Susan Bickley"
Anna Picard, The Independent on Sunday, May 2007
"Susan Bickley's stately and beautifully sung Dido… Dido's Lament, with which Bickley crowns a regal performance, itself was worth the price of admission."
Anthony Holden, The Observer , May 2007
"Susan Bickley gives a lovely performance as Dido, notable for some sensitive soft singing and unfailing musicality of phrasing. Her account of the Lament was all the more affecting for being so pure and restrained in style."
Rupert Christiansen, The Daily Telegraph , May 2007
"Susan Bickley gives a lovely performance as Dido, notable for some sensitive soft singing and unfailing musicality of phrasing. Her account of the Lament was all the more affecting for being so pure and restrained in style."
Rupert Christiansen, The Daily Telegraph , May 2007
"Susan Bickley's Dido combines maturity, dignity, voluptuousness and vulnerability - a class act."
Andrew Clark, Financial Times , May 2007
"In the main role, Susan Bickley brings enough variety of tone and sheer humanity to Dido to make her emotional plight the opera's central experience, charting a sure and certain course from fear of involvement, through anger at her betrayal, and on to the self-mourning of her great final lament."
George Hall, The Guardian , May 2007
"The star is Susan Bickley's Dido…She shapes and directs her full-beam mezzo to a tremendous, gut-wrenching climax. Hearing Bickley sing "death is now a welcome guest" is almost worth the price of a ticket."
Neil Fisher, The Times, May 2007
"The mezzo- soprano Susan Bickley makes a magnificent Queen Dido."
The Stage, May 2007
"But the opera was - it had to be - Susan Bickley's triumph, as Dido. What a great interpretation this was, with multiple levels of expression and superb vocal quality."
Manchester Evening News , June 2007
Brangäne in Wagner Tristan and Isolde
Welsh National Opera / cond. Mark Wigglesworth / dir. Yannis Kokkos
"Susan Bickley's eloquent Brangäne"
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph , October 2006
"From the outset the singing of Susan Bickley was enthralling, with Bickley's sculpting of the lyrical lines as intelligent as they were beautiful."
Rian Evans, The Guardian, October 2006
"The supporting cast is exemplary: Susan Bickley is an ardent Brangäne."
Neil Fisher, The Times , October 2006
Storgé in Handel Jephtha
Welsh National Opera / cond. Donald Nally / dir. Katie Mitchell
"Susan Bickley returned to give a compelling performance in the role of Storge."
Rian Evans, Opera , May 2006
Ludmila in Smetana The Bartered Bride
Royal Opera House / cond. Sir Charles Mackerras / dir. Francesca Zambello
“Ludmila is vividly cast, and sung with beautifully observed detail by Susan Bickley.”
Hilary Finch, The Times, January 2006
Sidonie von Grasenabb in Barry The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
English National Opera / cond. André de Ridder / dir. Richard Jones
“As Petra’s friend Sidonie, Bickley delivers a perfectly judged performance.”
Anna Picard, The Independent , September 2005
“Susan Bickley is strong as Petra’s friend, Sidonie.”
John Allison, The Sunday Telegraph , September 2005
Recital in the ‘Finzi Friends’ series in Ludlow
“Mezzo Susan Bickley entered right beneath the skin of Philips' vocal lines and the mixed loneliness, rapture and celebration of these universal texts, just as, with Burnside in keen-eared attendance, she brought life to Adrian Jack's 'Chinese Bossanova' and prised delights next day from two Scots poems, Soutar's The Plum Tree (set by Ronald Stevenson) and Hugh MacDiarmid's Milk-Wort and Bog-Cotton (set by Francis George Scott). And in Holst's Vac (hymn to the Vedic Juno or Queen of All), her declamation brought to mind Janet Baker: a Maria Stuarda or (conversely) a Gloriana in the making.”
Roderic Dunnett, Music and Vision , July 2005
Dejanira in Handel Hercules
The Sixteen / cond. Harry Christophers
“The tragedy is not so much Hercules’ as his wife Deianeira’s: from her first teeterings between foreboding and optimism, Bickley showed us a woman as mentally racked as Medea: her final, guiltridden outburst was scorching. Terrific power, matched by terrific pathos.”
Roderic Dunnett, The Independent , June 2005
Storgé in Handel Jephtha
English National Opera / cond. Nicholas Kramer / dir. Katie Mitchell
“His anxious wife Storgé is Susan Bickley, rich and moving beyond stylishness.”
David Murray, The Financial Times , May 2005
“Susan Bickley, whose mother’s rage is largely conveyed in silence, breaks your heart.”
Edward Seckerson, The Independent , May 2005
“Susan Bickley is also back as Jephtha’ wife; she was terrific in the histrionics of her nightmare scene, and her aria “In gentle murmurs will I mourn” to her preoccupied husband subtly evoked the poignancy of marital habit and regret.”
Peter Reed, The Sunday Telegraph , May 2005
Jezibaba in Dvorak Rusalka
Opera North
“Susan Bickley wickedly relishes her potions as Jezibaba.”
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times , October 2003
Berlioz Romeo and Juliet
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
“Mezzo Soprano Susan Bickley, tenor Jean-Paul Fouchecourt and baritone Alastair Miles gave excellent performances.”
James Allen, Daily Telegraph , September 2003
“The soloists, happily, were splendid: Susan Bickley was heartfelt in her opening strophes.”
Conrad Wilson, The Herald, September 2003
“Mezzo soprano Susan Bickley and baritone Alastair Miles gave hugely impressive performances.”
Kenneth Walton, The Scotsman , September 2003
Andromache in Tippett King Priam
BBC National Orchestra of Wales ( BBC Proms)
“Susan Bickley was particularly fine as Andromache.”
Bayan Northcott, The Independent , July 2003
“Susan Bickley was a dignified and passionate Andromache.”
Ivan Hewitt, Daily Telegraph, July 2003
Storgé in Handel Jephtha
Welsh National Opera / cond. Paul McCreesh / dir. Katie Mitchell
“The aria where Jephtha's wife Storge sings of her desperate forebodings was a vivid example of the interpretative insight brought to the da capo arias: in its first appearance, Susan Bickley's eloquent evoking of the horror was carefully understated - a bad dream articulated in order to break its spell - but with the repeat came a hallucinatory quality.”
Rian Evans, Opera , July 2003
“The roster of principals is all trumps too – the mezzo Susan Bickley quite heart-seizing as Iphis’ mother.”
David Murray, Financial Times , May 2003
“What makes it work, besides emotional truth, are performances of scarifying immediacy. Susan Bickley, as Jephtha’s wife, is a magnificent picture of outraged motherhood, full of flayed horror as
she tells Jephtha “First perish thou! And perish all the world!”
Robert Thicknesse, The Times , May 2003
“Padmore, Bickley, Taylor and Tynan are heartbreaking.”
Anna Picard, The Independent , May 2003
“Susan Bickley as the distraught mother with terrifying dreams moves superbly and pierces the soul; fresh from her ENO Cassandra, her Storgé is up to the gills in tragic desolation. When she hurtles up Mortimer’s amazing cantilever staircase, Bickley encapsulates this whole sorry Old Testament mess.”
Roderic Dunnett, The Independent , May 2003
“Its success is thanks primarily to the most delectable Handel singing from the principles…Mark Padmore brings both compassion and dramatic force to the title role, with Susan Bickley’s Storgé and Christopher Purves’s Zebul equally expressive. Not a single da capo aria repeat grates.”
Rian Evans, The Guardian , May 2003
Cassandra in Berlioz The Trojans
English National Opera
“Bickley’s Cassandra is vocally superb, rich and powerful enough to put the men around her in the shade.”
Anthony Holden, The Observer , February 2003
“A brave, glorious performance by Susan Bickley, who shapes Berlioz’s arching vocal lines with astonishing beauty and power.”
Tim Ashley, The Guardian , January 2003
“This is her show – she holds the stage for the whole of Act I, a hugely committed portrayal of desperation, singing her heart out, clawing vainly at Priam’s shoulder, and getting a knockout jab from besuited FBI goons for her unpatriotic outbursts.”
Robert Thicknesse, The Times , January 2003
“She gives this great role everything she has got and presents a sterling and thoughtfully sung performance.”
Rupert Christiansen, Daily Telegraph , January 2003
Romeo in Bellini I Capuletti e I Montecchi
Grange Park Opera
“At The Grange the sun shone, and Susan Bickley’s Romeo matched its radiance with a display of superb bel canto singing that few would have expected of this outstanding baroque and contemporary music ‘specialist’. Her close-to-immaculate Bellini demonstrated that she is the most versatile British mezzo before the public today.” Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, June 2001
Irene in Handel Theodora
Scottish Chamber Orchestra / cond. Nicholas Kraemer
“The molten mezzo of Susan Bickley was not simply inspirational, but exquisite.”
Kenneth Walton, Scotsman, February 2001
Irene in Handel Theodora (DG Archiv recording)
Gabrieli Consort and Players / cond. Paul McCreesh
“Susan Bickley proves herself one of the finest mezzo-sopranos of her generation.”
Andrew Clements, The Guardian , November 2000
“The star of the set is undoubtedly the mezzo-soprano Susan Bickley as Irene. Her performance – heartstoppingly direct, seamlessly expressive, and perfectly even in tone – is a marvel in every respect.”
Andrew Clements, The Guardian , October 2000
“This beautiful new version of Theodora easily displaces all previous recordings…the best singing of all comes from Susan Bickley’s wondrously limpid Irene, who almost steals the show with her ravishing singing of “As With Rosy Steps the Morn”, “Defend Her, Heav’n”, and “New Scenes of Joy”. This is Handel singing in the Janet Baker class. Glorious.”
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times , October 2000
Ghost in Birtwistle The Last Supper
Glyndebourne Touring Opera
“Susan Bickley sang with incisive fire-power.”
Malcolm Hayes, The Sunday Telegraph , October 2000
“The part of Ghost (radiantly sung by Susan Bickley) is the kind of tour-de-force role that mezzos will fight over.”
Anna Picard, The Independent on Sunday , October 2000
“Susan Bickley took the part brilliantly.”
Paul Driver, The Sunday Times , October 2000
“A superlative cast. Susan Bickley is twice as intense as she was in Berlin, grasping the audience’s attention from her very first note and keeping it even when standing silently to one side.”
Rodney Milnes, The Guardian , October 2000
“Susan Bickley is outstanding as Ghost.”
Tim Ashley, The Guardian , October 2000
“Ghost, the only female voice (the formidable mezzo-soprano Susan Bickley), offered a radiant contrast.”
Fiona Maddocks, The Observer , October 2000
Kostelnica in Jan ácek Jen ufa
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
“Stepping into the role for the last three performances of the run, Susan Bickley made the part emphatically her own. From her first entry, Bickley cast a chill with her beady presence yet made it plain that there were many layers to this character: this was a woman whose own tragic history made the prospect of further disgrace unbearable, and her sometimes gentle facial expression made it impossible not to feel sympathy for her. She showed that there is absolutely no reason for a Kostelnica not to sing beautifully and with depth of feeling.”
John Allison, Opera , October 2000
Ghost in Birtwistle The Last Supper
Staatsoper Berlin
“It’s impossible to fault the musical performance. Susan Bickley (in the single female role of the Ghost, who represents us, the audience) sang Birtwistle’s recitative-arioso quite beautifully.”
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times , April 2000
“Susan Bickley as Ghost and Thomas Randle as Judas are outstanding. She is the pivot around which the whole work revolves, its conscience and its emotional heart.”
Andrew Clements, The Guardian , April 2000
Andromache in Tippett King Priam
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
“Susan Bickley was a passionate Andromache.”
Michael Kennedy, The Sunday Times , May 1999
Inanna/Mirror/Computer in Birtwistle Love Cries
BBC Symphony Orchestra
“Susan Bickley was splendid in the roles that tie everything together, Ianna, the Mirror and Computer, switching her mezzo from lyrical to clarion modes and into a disembodied voice for the sci-fi computer music.”
John Allison, The Times , May 1999
“Susan Bickley handled the patchwork of Inanna/Mirror/Computer with great poise and beautiful characterisation.”
Andrew Clements, The Guardian , May 1999
Juno in Handel Semele
English National Opera
“Susan Bickley’s Juno was another sterling performance.” Michael Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph , April 1999
“Susan Bickley has a whale of a time impersonating the Queen and revelling in her vampish disguise as Semele’s sister as she plots her love rival’s downfall. Her singing is stylish and pointed, no more so than in her gleeful revenge aria, “Above Measure is the Pleasure”.
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times , April 1999
“Susan Bickley’s excellent Juno has a wicked touch of the Queen Mum.”
David Murray, Financial Times , April 1999
Protagonist in Turnage Twice Through the Heart
English National Opera
“The female Protagonist, a woman imprisoned for killing her violently abusive husband, is sung by Susan Bickley with such directness and command of Turnage’s achingly expressive melodies that the work takes on an extra dimension. It is a troubling and thought-provoking evening.”
Andrew Clements, The Guardian , October 1997
Title role in Handel Serse
Gabrieli Consort
“Susan Bickley in the title role had one wondering why we hear so little of her outside of the British Isles, and her voice projected evenly over a two-octave range in one of Handel’s more wide-ranging castrato roles.”
Joel Kasow, Opera , June 1997
Carolina in Henze Elegy for Young Lovers
London Sinfonietta
“The marvellous Susan Bickley, one of the most complete and rounded artists currently before the British concert- and opera-going public, conjured up in voice, stance, and facial expression alike a startlingly fully-fleshed portrait of the ill-treated Carolina.”
Max Loppert, Opera , June 1997
“Susan Bickley’s Carolina – Mittenhofer’s aristocratic patron and unpaid secretary – sang gloriously.”
Hugh Canning, March 1997
“The writing for Carolina, the poet’s long-suffering patron, is suffused with a Straussian warmth beautifully caught by Susan Bickley.”
Andrew Clements, The Guardian , March 1997
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