Logo of Ute Gfrerer

REVIEWS

WGBH Radio Station, Dec 2017

Man of La Mancha

>
One in particular stands out. A woman playing Aldonza...her name is Ute Gfrerer. She has a staggering voice, a "stop you in your tracks" voice....roll out the carpet for her because she is a presence on stage!  Jared Bowen, WGBH

Broadway World, Dec. 7, 2017

Man of La Mancha

>
Ute Gfrerer is a revelation and a welcome new face (and voice) to Boston theater. Originally from Austria, and an international opera soloist and Kurt Weill specialist, she brings a decided "wow" factor to each of her musical numbers with her powerful voice and ability to act the song. ( Nancy Grossman )

Artsfuse, Dec 2017

Man of La Mancha

>

The Austrian-born Ute Gfrerer, a specialist in the music of Kurt Weill, is a spirited and heartbreaking Aldonza, the kitchen wench/prostitute Don Quixote insists on seeing—and treating—as the refined “lady” he dubs Dulcinea. In the beautifully sung “It’s All the Same” and “Aldonza,” Gfrerer powerfully evokes the character’s brutal life, and the pain and confusion Quixote’s delusions cause her. (http://artsfuse.org/166109/theater-review-new-reps-gritty-man-of-la-mancha/)

Kurier

The Threepenny Opera (Weill) – Salzburger Festspiele 2015

>
The actual star of the evening was Ute Gfrerer, who - in every aspect - was a captivating Polly!     Next to Max Raabe's Mackie, Ute Gfrerer's Polly was the star of the evening: The "Pirate Jenny Song" and the "Barbara Song" became highlights, in which the art of singing Weill became totally transparent: Nothing was slurred, and yet expression triumphant over virtuosity! An experience!  

Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten , Mitteldeutsche Zeitung

Marie Galante (Weill)

>
MARIE GALANTE (Kurt Weill) Dessau, The excellent Ute Gfrerer justifies with her first big appearance at the Weill Festival her status as "Artist in Residence". Mitteldeutsche Zeitung,   Ute Gfrerer is a Weill interpreter who is able to "hit" the right tone between a smooth operatic voice and the more exclamatory singing of an actress - and this combination ignites! Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten,        

Westdeutsche Allgemeine, Badische Neueste Nachrichten

The Threepenny Opera (Jenny) Weill

>
Ute Gfrerer's rendering of the Salomon-Song was perfidiously beautiful and rose to further heights with the accompaniment of the harmonium. <Badische Neueste Nachrichten>   Jenny, played by Ute Gfrerer, is an event: the singer sketches the portrait of a seen-it-all guttersnipe with cool determination. Her rendition of the Salomon song was remarkable! <Westdeutsche Allgemeine>   When Jenny alias Ute Gfrerer sang the Salomon song, she suddenly emerged from the suffocating shadow of the others, she could be heard loud and clear: Jenny, not a mere self-serving character, but a grand demi-mondaine. <Main Echo>   It was no less than Pirate-Jenny who impressed, sung by Ute Gfrerer with a brilliantly beautiful, well-trained though not too operatic voice. Her nostalgic duet with Max Raabe in the "Procurer's Ballad" extended a warm glow even to harsh life in the brothel. <Pforzheimer Zeitung>

Mitteldeutsche Zeitung: Andreas Hillger

One Touch of Venus (Weill)

>
Ute Gfrerer gives her Venus the statuesque dignity of a goddess as well as the flexible surrendering of a loving woman. The wise "Speak low" is just as well interpreted as the languishing "Foolish Heart" or the playful "That's Him". <Mitteldeutsche Zeitung: Andreas Hillger>   Ute Gfrerer ( Venus ) with godlike determination was fantastic in her acting and singing. <Volkstimme: Helmut Rohm>   Ute Gfrerer as Venus hits on the Weill sound in the musical numbers excellently (almost as if she was a 1:1 copy of Mary Martin*) <Dr. Kevin Clarke > *the original Broadway Venus  

Mitteldeutsche Zeitung

One Life to Live (Semi Staged Recital with Weill’s Broadway Compositions)

>
    Ute Gfrerer is really a phenomenal professional reciter and singer. In her flight of songs she used every aspect of her unusually beautiful and multifaceted voice, and showed a wide ranging spectrum of sound and expression. Gfrerer can play a passionate diva and a desperate young woman with the same authority. She can be cheeky and vulnerable, presents large muscial phrases and dramatic context. She shows zest on stage and can sing in a commanding piano voice the intensity of which is experienced by the audience with fascination. The "Barbara Song" from the Three Penny Opera gave a glimpse at the abilities of Ute Gfrerer as a character actress.  

Mitteldeutsche Zeitung

DIVAS – LIFE IN THE LIMELIGHT

>
LIFE IN THE LIMELIGHT - an evening about the lives of Edith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich , Judy Garland und Lotte Lenya; The singer Ute Gfrerer got into the "roles" of these four women, but she didn't just copy or imitate them: there were songs sung by great artists of their time - presented in a very special way by another great artist of our time! During her interpretations of the songs Ute Gfrerer was able to show her fascinating and incredibly versatile voice. The audience followed her singing almost breathlessly and was getting goosebumps. ...Ute Gfrerer used all the facets of her voice, which can sound smoky and shady, bell like , longingly soft and agitated and edgy. She sang herself into the heart of the Kurt Weill Festival!    

Arts Fuse Boston, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung

Paths of Life

>
    PATHS OF LIFE - Goethe Institue Boston With rigor and determination she has discovered some profoundly beautiful songs, and her command of her material, as well as her respect and love for it made for an unforgettable evening. But what made these Glanzberg songs so powerful was Ute’s singing, the way her voice and her demeanor endowed each phrase with a depth difficult to describe but remarkable to watch and hear. Her diligence in finding the evening’s songs and then performing them so well is an achievement that deserves to be heard by larger gatherings than the almost 200 who attended her concert at Goethe Institute. Her name should be spread far and wide to anyone — Jewish or not — who is interested in the music of that period, for this is first-rate work that should be heard for generations to come. <The Arts Fuse, Boston Online Magazine, Roberta Silman>   KURT WEILL FEST, DESSAU They were cheerful, witty, and sharp as a tack, - these people who had to escape. Ute Gfrerer talks and sings with a passion that is aware of these destinies, without falling into hackneyed pitifulness. She gives each piece its dignity! Seldom before could we experience an artist so at ease and free at the Kurt Weill Festival.

Naumburger Tageblatt, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, March 2012

The Seven Deadly Sins (Weill) – Kurt Weill Fest Dessau

>
  ...and again above all, it was Ute Gfrerer, the Artist in Residence, who earned a thunderous applause for her intelligent interpretation of the unequal sisters Anna I and Anna II. <Naumburger Tageblatt, März 2012>   Ute Gfrerer had to play both roles as a struggle between emotion and reason, which she mastered with metallic harshness and biting irony on the one hand, and with such softness, that it would bring tears to your eyes on the other hand. Maybe the Kurt Weill Festival should consider to conserve this wonderful performance in all our minds and refrain from doing another one in the next few years! <Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, März 2012>    

Inga Helene Juul/ Harstad Tidende

The Seven Deadly Sins (Weill) – Harstad Festival, Norwegen

>
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS, Festival Nord Norge, Harstadt, Norway With a charisma as strong as the beautiful voice, Ute interpreted Anna's sinful journey in an excellent way. Standing ovations demand for an encore. Ute Gfrerer performed two with the pianist Sergei Osadchuk, and the last «Youkali», was also the most beautiful this night. <By Inga Helene Juul/ Harstad Tidende>   Ute Gfrerer interpreted Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht ” The Seven Deadly Sins” in a phenomenal way, and the encore was - if possible - even better. <Bjørn H. Larssen>   Ute Gfrerer interpreted Weill's music and Brecht's lyrics to perfection. She sang both personalities (of Anna) in a way that absorbs us strongly. She supported the lyrics with significant facial expressions and small gestures. <Marianne Lystrup>    

Standard, Neue Vorarlberger TZ und österr. Musikzeitung

Don Giovanni (Mozart)

>
Ute Gfrerer as Donna Elvira offers a first-rate vocal performance without a trace of blurring her coloratura, not only essentially tuneful and dramatically built-up but also well-measured for both eye and ear. <Der Standard>   In this constellation Donna Elvira stands out. Ute Gfrerer with her stage presence and sparkling voice plays the part of a woman who tries to free herself from the coils of love. <Neue Vorarlberger TZ>   The impressive Ute Gfrerer is an Elvira in whom even at the height of anger, love still swings. <Österreichische Musikzeitung, Februar 2001>

Niederösterreichische Nachrichten

The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)

>
Ute Gfrerer should be called Susanna. It's unthinkable that Figaro would not to fall in love with her. She joins dominance to devotion credibly. Whether she "turns a jealous scene into a natural picture" in the 4th Act, or is the only one who takes part in every opera ensemble, she is a "young able person, spirited and fun, but not of the almost cheeky gaiety of our deteriorated soubrettes" (Beaumarchais) <Der Neue Merker>   Ute Gfrerer right out in front as a coquette, shrewd and vocally brilliant Susanna. <Niederösterreichische Nachrichten>    

Salzburger Nachrichten, Kronen Zeitung

Cosi fan tutte (Mozart)

>
Saucy every single moment, Ute Gfrerer makes an independent Despina void of soubrette. <Salzburger Nachrichten>   Ute Gfrerer is not only vocally very sexy as Despina. <Kronenzeitung>

der Opernfreund

Die lustige Witwe (Lehar) – Oper Zürich

>
Ute Gfrerer (Valencienne) and Piotr Beczala (Camille) are a dream couple. Artists, who really can sing Lehar well and manage to act enchantingly. It sizzles with erotic, which so often is either forgotten or killed by too much directness. <der Opernfreund>

Neue Kärntner Tageszeitung

La Belle Helene (Offenbach)

>
This role suits Ute Gfrerer down to the ground. It could have been tailor-made for her; she easily fills Offenbach's intended centre of this piece in voice, acting and stage presence yet manages to present the shallow parts without any awkwardness. <Kärntner Kirchen Zeitung 29.10 2000>   Ute Gfrerer was theatrically and vocally convincing in this role from the first minute to the last. <Klagenfurter Stadtzeitung>   Ute Gfrerer is visually and dramatically the ideal cast for a title-role with ambitions for "Woman 2000". <Neue Kärntner Tageszeitung>      

Schwäbische Zeitung, Neue Vorarlberger Zeitung

My Fair Lady

>
  Ute Gfrerer as Eliza is a rare piece of luck [...] The singer with a multi-faceted, shining soprano [...] is very credible both as the beautiful cockney guttersnipe with a shrill voice, and as the grande dame full of natural charm and dignity. <Schwäbische Zeitung>   Ute Gfrerer, the acclaimed opera and operetta singer, is pure vocal luxury in her portrayal of a spirited and emotional Eliza. <Neue Vorarlberger Tageszeitung>  

Neue Zürcher Zeitung

The Bat – Die Fledermaus (J. Strauss) Operahouse Zurich

>
Ute Gfrerer evokes the typical Viennese soubrette tone through the mask of the up-to-date, jazzed-up Adele and is exemplary in her presentation of what Harnoncourt would call the "subtle nuances between speaking and singing". <Neue Zürcher Zeitung >   Both eye- and ear-catching, Ute Gfrerer stands out as Adele. Admirably supple and light, yet with a strong voice. <Züricher Oberländer>   Ute Gfrerer made the most of the opportunity to be Adele and advanced to the position of unofficial leading lady. <Tages Anzeiger>   Ute Gfrerer proved herself to be a well-disposed and coloratura-confident Adele. <Basler Zeitung>