Press Acclaim for Bruce Sledge

As Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore
with the Lyric Opera of San Antonio

“Bruce Sledge, a bel canto tenor with a silky, almost sensual voice, won over his audience at Friday night's San Antonio Opera with his rendition, his voice cresting effortlessly, his mannerisms clean and stripped of artifice.”

Jennifer Roolf Laster, San Antonio Express-News, January 26, 2008
 

As Tonio in La Fille du Régiment
with the Teatro Municipal, Santiago de Chile

“Bruce Sledge is an exceptional tenor. While it night have been more interesting to hear him in Rossini, it was a pleasure to have an Italianate Tonio with secure technique and high notes. We hope to soon hear him again, since the Teatro Municipal has been mounting Rossini operas at an excellent level; perhaps it is now time to take a chance with the Swan of Pesaro’s works from his Neapolitan period.”

Cristóbal Astorga Sepúlveda, Tiempo de Musica, June 2007
 

“Tenor Bruce Sledge mastered the technical difficulties of the work. The nine high Cs of ‘Ah mes amis’ were sung in an outstanding way and the rest of the aria was delivered with the necessary taste. His second solo ‘Pour me rapprocher de Marie’ was also pleasing, thanks especially to its ending with a beautiful pianissimo. His performance was greatly rewarded by the audience.”

Francisco Marin, Opera Click, June 19, 2007
 

As Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni
with New York City Opera

“Bruce Sledge offered a vocally polished Don Ottavio that showed good breath control in the aria 'Il Mio Tesoro.'”

George Loomis, New York Sun, September 10, 2007
 

As Tonio in La Fille du Régiment
with Teatro dell’Opera, Rome

“Bruce Sledge showed once more that he is not just a promising artist but one of the rare tenors ‘di agilità’ for this repertoire. The challenge was obviously ‘Ah, mes amis’: he displayed all the necessary vocal agility, without trying to show off, in going up to as much as coming off the terrifying high Cs. The duet ‘Depuis l’instant où dans mes bras’ was sung with real brio: Sledge’s cantabile singing was particularly soft, whereas the second half was brilliant in the moments where the tenor and the soprano first alternate, then sing together.”

Giuseppe Pennisi, Operaclick, May 18, 2007
 

“Tonio, is Bruce Sledge, a young American tenor of enormous promise. He has a golden, agile voice, and throws off the fearsome nine ‘do di petto’ in the cabaletta Pour mon âme with considerable nonchalance.”

John Fort, Wanted in Rome, May 17, 2007
 

As Alfredo in La Traviata
with New York City Opera

“Best of all was the tenor Bruce Sledge, whose bright, fresh voice complemented a finely shaded portrayal of Alfredo’s transition from love-struck youth to repentant hothead.”

Steve Smith, The New York Times, April 13, 2007
 

As Elvino in La Sonnambula
with Florida Grand Opera

“As Elvino, Bruce Sledge displayed a plangent lyric tenor, assured stage presence and great facility in Bellini's long lines.  His refined vocalism handled the considerable demands faultlessly, throwing off top C's and D's with ease and blending fluently with Partridge in their duets.”

Lawrence A. Johnson, The Miami Herald, February 14, 2007
 

“Lyric tenor Bruce Sledge has exactly the voice needed for Elvino; he was very precise in his long lines and high notes.  One of his best interpretations was the jealousy duet where he proved his stage presence.  He kept the same color and timbre in the high notes of the aria Pasci il guardo and his cabaletta Ah per che no posso odiarti”

Ariel Remos, Diario Las Americas, February 12, 2007

As the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier
with the Lyric Opera of Chicago

“Bruce Sledge (Italian Singer) and Christian van Horn (Police Commissioner) were particularly notable, dramatically and vocally.”

Sarah Bryan-Miller, Musical America, February 10, 2006

As the Shepherd in Oedipus Rex
with the San Francisco Symphony

“Bruce Sledge sang movingly as the Shepherd, and his more lyrical tone contrasted beautifully with Skelton’s Heldentenor.”

Lisa Hirsch, San Francisco Classical Voice, December 9, 2005

As Léopold in La Juive
with La Fenice

“Tenor Bruce Sledge, on the other hand, made relatively light work of the extremely difficult role of Léopold.”

Stephen Hastings, Opera News, February 2006

“Bruce Sledge creates a Léopold of great lyrical strength. The voice is beautiful, high notes soar securely – and there are many of them – and his French diction is near-perfect.”

Alessandro Cammarano, Operaclick, November 18, 2005

“Bruce Sledge moved with ease in the high notes.”

Maria Girardi, Il Giornale della Musica, November 16, 2005

As Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia
with the Santa Fe Opera

" Bruce Sledge's Almaviva was more than the usual lovestruck dweeb of operatic fable. He did look something like a Jane Austen hero - a sprucer Mr. Darcy, perhaps - but sang like a man with hot blood in his veins. His fleet, attractive tenor seemed at home in Almaviva's coloratura, and he was funny as all get out in his various disguises - especially as the adenoidal Don Alonso, a spurious music master."

Craig Smith, The New Mexican, July 4, 2005

“Bruce Sledge was an amusing Almaviva, an endearing lover with incredible bravura technique.”

Maria Nockin, Opera Japonica, September 1, 2005

As Leicester in Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra
with the Teatro Comunale di Bologna

“Bruce Sledge, who recently sang Lindoro in Montpellier, is a dramatically credible Leicester and his vocal performance is a delight; never does one feel the slightest effort and, on top of blazing high notes and solid middle and low registers, he offers the cleanest coloratura.”

Maurice Salles, Forum Opéra, May 23, 2005

“Bruce Sledge was an excellent Leicester; he offered honeyed diction and phrasing in a role that is larger and more “cantabile” than that of his rival Norfolk, while displaying amazing agility.”

Luana d’Aguì, OperaClick, May 13, 2005

As Lindoro in L’Italiana in Algeri
with the Montpellier Opera

“Opposite this true buffo bass was Bruce Sledge’s “contraltino” with his penetrating accents, who offered moments of pure, poetic elegy.”

Jean-Christophe Carré, L’Hérault du Jour, April 8, 2005

As Elvino in La Sonnambula
with the Marseille Opera

“But it is especially with the men that one needs to find exceptional talent in order to be well matched to the diva. Bruce Sledge as Elvino came through with flying colors: his is a powerful tenor that is capable of nuances.”

Michel Egea, La Provence, 6 November 2004

“The other revelations - how does Renée Auphan manage to discover every month such beautiful new voices? - are without a doubt Bruce Sledge (Elvino) and Tigran Martirossian (Rodolfo). For the former, mix the voices of Gedda and Vanzo: a terrific natural voice and in turns seductive, generous, electrifying, fresh, free and winning Bel Canto colors.”

Christian Colombeau, Forum Opera, November 12, 2004

As Lindoro in L’Italiana in Algeri
with the Paris National Opera

“Bruce Sledge, making his Paris Opera debut as Lindoro, was the revelation of the evening: beautiful timbre, beautiful projection.”

Jean Charles Hoffelé, Concertclassic.com, September 11, 2004

As Leicester in Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra
with the Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro

“Californian tenor Bruce Sledge was a paragon of diction, and his warm voice and easy vocalism were much appreciated in the role of Leicester.”

Stephen Hastings, Opera News, November 2004

“The up-and-coming Bruce Sledge with his brilliant tenor voice as Leicester took vocal honors."

Marianne Zelger-Vogt, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, August 17, 2004

“The rivalry between Leicester and Norfolk was relived in the most positive way by Bruce Sledge and Antonino Siragusa.”

Gian Paolo Minardi, La Gazzetta di Parma, August 9, 2004

As Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia
with the Tulsa Opera

“As Count Almaviva, Bruce Sledge demonstrated a wonderfully supple and powerful tenor voice – power and resonance presented without obvious strain – in his two declarations of love to Rosina, “Ecco ridente in cielo,” and “Se il mio nome.” He also took a great deal of delight in portraying the Count’s alteregos – the drunken soldier at the end of Act One, and the pious prattling music teacher Don Alfonso, who put on a wild performance at the keyboard during the music lesson segment.”

James Watts, Tulsa World, March 1, 2004

As Ernesto in Don Pasquale
with the New York City Opera

“Tenor Bruce Sledge offered wonderfully idiomatic singing, with a lovingly lyrical “Com’è gentil”.

William Madison, Opera News, February 2004

As Tonio in La Fille du Régiment
with Opera Ontario

“A young, strapping American tenor, Bruce Sledge, sang the role of Tonio. It is easy to see why his star is on the ascent. Sledge fired off his salvo of nine high Cs at the end of ‘Ah mes amis, quel jour de fête’ like no one's business. Clear, effortless and perfectly on pitch. Spontaneous applause burst throughout the hall, while the delighted regiment hammered the stage with their muskets. ‘Pour me rapprocher de Marie’ showed the tender side of his character and was everything it should have been: poignant, expressive, and beautiful.”

Leonard Turnevicius, The Hamilton Spectator, March 31, 2003

As Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia
with New York City Opera

“The slapstick humor of the first scene had a wonderful musical counterweight in Bruce Sledge as Count Almaviva. This tenor is hot. The basic sound was first rate: solid, round and warm, healthy, and often gorgeous.”

Anne Midgette, The New York Times, October 30, 2002

As Ernesto in Don Pasquale
with Los Angeles Opera

“Tenor Bruce Sledge replaced an ailing Greg Fedderly as Ernesto during three performances. Though relatively unknown, Sledge is the genuine article, a lyric tenor blessed with musicianship, confidence and a beautiful voice. A finalist in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia 2000 World Opera Contest, Sledge is now in his second year with LAO’s Resident Artist program. [Ruth Ann] Swenson’s joy in singing with him was evident during the ravishing Act III duet, ‘Tornami a dir che m’ami.’ Earlier, this marvelous young singer provided two of the bright evening’s brightest highlights: Ernesto’s aria, ‘Cecherò lontana terra,’ and his Act III serenade ‘Com’è gentil.’”

David Gregson, Opera News, August, 2001