Samantha Clarke

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Soprano
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  • Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Baroque Arias Concert

    Hamer Hall, Melbourne
    Apr 2024

    • The first of Clarke’s three appearances delivered a trio of Vivaldi arias. In a slim, dark-blue gown, subdued but for the bodice’s sweep off the shoulder, she revealed an agile, assured voice with lustrous tone. Despite being marred early on by a ringing phone, Leggi almeno, tiranna infedele (Read at least, unfaithful tyrant) from the opera Ottone in Villa was a moving display of sorrowful expression, with a searching, languid vocal line. Alma opressa da sorte (Soul oppressed by luck, from La fida ninfa) offered fiery drama including rollercoaster Baroque vocal technique. Clarke’s two brackets of Handel arias included a concert highlight, Lascia ch’io pianga (Let me cry) from Rinaldo. Her expressiveness, beautifully formed notes and virtuosic improvisation were delightful. Molto voglio (I want a lot), a much more cheery aria from Rinaldo, was notable for Clarke’s leaping top notes. For Let the bright seraphim, from Handel’s Samson, she played with joy and confidence in her bright upper register. Joined by Owen Morris’s ringing solo trumpet for a duel that showed off Baroque music at its triumphant best, Clarke surely put a smile on every face with this concert finale.

    • Vivacious from the opening notes of her first aria, Samantha Clarke took immediate ownership of the music, endowing it with a sense of fun to compliment her supremely versatile voice. She bounced her way through the difficult Act 1 aria from Dorilla as if it were a plaything. Soaring to sparkling upper register and plummeting to rich, dark chest voice, nothing seemed to beyond her virtuosic powers from the outset. The contemplative and restrained Act 2 aria from Ottone in Villa provided ample opportunity to contrast the high spirits of the opening offering. It also showed another side to the composer’s extensive repertoire. Ms Clarke held the huge audience in the palm of her hand as she negotiated the controlled and delicate vocal line of the piece. In the third and final aria of this Vivaldi set, the highly complex and demanding Act 1 aria from La fida ninfa calls for rapid‑fire coloratura and hugely extended vocal lines while juxtaposing shade and moods within the piece. Unsurprisingly, this item drew enormous audience response and Ms Clarke left the stage to rapturous applause. To conclude the performance, Ms Clarke returned for the two Handel oratorio arias. While her rendition of “With darkness deep” of Theodora skilfully plunged us to the depths of the character’s despair, the introduction of a solo trumpet to accompany “Let the bright seraphim” provided a shimmeringly brilliant finale. The flexibility of Ms Clarke’s voice is quite remarkable: as firm and full at the top as it is confident and graceful in the lower register, with a seamless transition between. This was a rousing interpretation with shades of the younger Sutherland’s bell‑like tone and controlled amplitude.

  • Theodora

    Pinchgut Opera (Sydney Opera House)
    Feb 2024 - Feb 2024

    • When the virtuous Theodora finally enters, soprano Samantha Clarke introduces rich vocal colour deepened with becoming blush, creating a sense of vivid human life in a character who is always going on about how great death is going to be. She exploited Hume’s reserved staging to assume theatrical poses expressive of a yearning for seraphic ecstasy, subtly replacing the erotic with the divine in the manner of Italian Renaissance painters. The final duet between her and Lowry was a superb moment of floating intertwining ribbons of sound, its dissonances piquantly astringent, its arabesques efflorescent.

    • Featuring in the oratorio’s key role, Clarke articulated each word with admirable clarity – a result no doubt helped by Helyard’s meticulousness – and the ‘s’s were timed to the quaver. The theme of her aria “Fond flatt’ring world, adieu!” reminds one of Bach’s earlier “Falsche welt”. Clarke’s voice conveyed precisely what the libretto evokes – a faithful spirit that is at once assured and resigned.

    • Samantha Clarke is exceptional in the title role, playing Theodora with quiet conviction. Exquisitely nuanced and beautifully controlled, she makes a seamless stylistic transition from her recent outings as a Rhinemaiden and as Violetta. Her rendition of the signature aria Angels ever bright and fair is nothing short of mesmerising.

    • Samantha Clarke, in robes of virginal white, sang with the purity demanded of her role as Theodora and mingled her lustrous treble with Lowrey’s in their pair of doomed duets. Indeed, her first words are “Fond, flattering world, adieu!”

    • Samantha Clarke took her character embodiment of Theodora to a whole other level. Her pure, effortless tone and ever so tender and sensitive performance drew so much empathy, she had the entire audience completely engrossed. Lowrey and Clarke’s death duet was profound; I’ve never seen or heard such a cohesive ensemble not just musically but also emotionally, even the final trill in parallel minor thirds was timed in perfect alignment. I really hope that was recorded, it was an honour to witness.

    • Australian soprano Samantha Clarke had already proved her dramatic and vocal brilliance in the same hall only weeks ago in a completely different repertoire, as Violetta in Verdi’s Traviata (Bachtrack). Here, as the eponymous protagonist, she brought out a whole new set of artistic eloquence, demonstrating that in our times, an able musician can and should develop expertise in several historical areas. In their two duets, particularly in the exquisite “To thee, thou glorious son of worth”, Didymus and Theodora confirmed their faith in their God and each other in gloriously formed, often whisper-soft, dolorous phrases.

  • La traviata (Violetta)

    Opera Australia (Sydney Opera House)
    Jan 2024 - Feb 2024

    • British/Australian soprano Samantha Clarke’s determinedly robust portrayal of Violetta in the earlier parts of the opera, gave us someone stronger than the doomed victim framed harshly by mid-19th century mores, abounding at the time of the work’s 1853 creation.

    • Standing out from the excellent cast, Samantha Clarke, as Violetta, sang with perfect command of pitch, dynamics and vocal expression in her astonishingly mature and impressive OA debut. She remained “always free” (“sempre libera”, says the libretto), as her Act 1 aria demonstrated with heartfelt emotion. As an added bonus, both she and Alfredo, Kang Wang, possess credible acting skills and looked their part as young, passionate lovers.

    • You are going to hear a lot about Samantha Clarke in the years ahead and not just because she is an outstandingly gifted soprano. As she ably demonstrated on the opening night of Verdi’s La Traviata, her whole body inhabits the role, her physical persona matching the artistry of her voice. She dominated the stage from the start in this fresh working of Verdi’s classic opera with a distinctive clarity of tone and warmth as the doomed heroine, Violetta. She is no stranger to the role elsewhere but it was a stunning debut for Opera Australia. We’ve had impressive sopranos before performing as Violetta but I doubt I’ve seen anyone carry this off with the same aplomb as Samantha did here. The British-born singer, now based in Perth, looked stunning and sounded bang on target. Obviously, she’s well on her way to being a star.

    • Samantha Clarke, Violetta, was excellent. Reaching the most challenging notes with apparent ease. This is a role where, from memory over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to hear sopranos of absolute top quality. June Bronhill, Marilyn Richardson, Yvonne Kenny, Cheryl Barker, Emma Matthews and most recently Nicole Car. The more than enthusiastic applause at the conclusion was evidence of Ms Clarke’s mastery of the role.

    • As Violetta, soprano Samantha Clarke sang with fluid grace, creating golden liquid sounds in quiet passages and thrilling force at climactic moments. Her stage persona moved magisterially between regal outer presence and inner self-doubt, creating the transformations the character has to undergo in each act in a way that was persuasive and engaging, and fully deserving of the standing ovation she received at the end

    • In her OA debut, Samantha Clarke is a revelation as Violetta. The voice is glorious and powerful, colourful and controlled. She is also a convincing actor and her passage from louche goddess to dying waif is heartbreaking.

    • Australian soprano, Samantha Clarke, makes a particularly impressive Opera Australia debut as Violetta. Her luscious soprano voice, considerable acting skills, elegant demeanour and ability to display her glamorous gowns with the flair of a catwalk model, combine to make her portrayal of the glamorous courtesan transfixing.

  • Das Rheingold

    Sydney
    Nov 2023

    • Samantha Clarke, Catherine Carby and Margaret Plummer created a delightfully light, glistening sound as the Rhinemaidens, ineffectually guarding the gold.

    • The Rheinmaidens get things underway, with Clarke as Woglinde setting the benchmark for the vocal fireworks to come.

    • As frolicking luxury-cast Rhinemaidens opening the epic and lamenting their loss at part one’s conclusion with their harmonised song wafting through the hall’s side doors with harpist Louise Johnson’s notes, Samantha Clarke (Woglinde), Catherine Carby (Wellgunde) and Margaret Plummer (Flosshilde) created an evocative trio.

    • As the Rhinemaidens, Australian/British soprano Samantha Clarke as Woglinde, Australian mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby as Wellgunde and Australian mezzo-soprano Margaret Plummer as Flosshilde, added just enough gestural detail to complement the vocal differentiation of their trio. On the other hand, the delightful blend of their combined voices symbolized their essential camaraderie when, for example, the gold they are meant to be guarding is threatened by the loathsome Alberich. There was even something thrilling about their extolling of the “Rhine Gold.”

  • Monteverdi Choir US Tour - L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato

    USA
    Oct 2023

    • There, and throughout Thursday’s performance, the soprano Samantha Clarke was a font of grace, luxuriating in the music’s beauty with restful patience.

  • Cosi fan tutte (Fiordiligi)

    Opera Queensland
    Aug 2023

    • The singing was superb from all of the cast members throughout, although Samantha Clarke wound up with the best of all in Come scoglio, which was both technically flawless and sublimely shaped.

    • Anna Dowsley as Dorabella, and especially Samantha Clarke as Fiordiligi, sang their arias with vocal colours that perfectly matched their characters, where the vibrato that many young singers have nowadays developed sounded to advantage[...]Her aria here drew the loudest applause of the evening from the audience, deservedly, for she delivered this virtuosic exploration of all her vocal registers with a passion worthy of great tragic performers.

  • Cosi fan tutte (Fiordiligi)

    Grange Festival
    Jun 2023

    • Among the four young lovers, Samantha Clarke was an impressively steadfast Fiordiligi, and while her smiles often suggested a roving eye, her “Come scoglio” really sounded as if “this lady's not for turning”. She confidently dispatched the aria’s leaps and later rose admirably to the challenge of “Per pietà”, its anguish creating the evening’s emotional high water mark.

    • Clarke is a lyric soprano who counts Adina (Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, we caught her last year at West Green, see my review) and Violetta (La traviata) in her repertoire, but she was fully equal to the rigours of Fiordiligi's arias and what was admirable was the way that though 'Come scoglio' was sung entirely seriously and with great style, it was clear that by writing this type of aria and this point in the opera Mozart was also making a comic point. In Act Two, Clarke made Fiordiligi's capitulation rather moving and also troubling, it was clear that the act disturb the young woman and things would never be the same.

    • Samantha Clarke’s Fiordiligi is outstanding, with richness, clarion brightness and a ringing top: her Come scoglio is thrilling, her Per pietà moving and wonderfully expressive (and what a frisson, in this house, from the obbligato horns!).

    • Samantha Clarke has everything required for a memorable Fiordiligi; she surmounts the challenges of ‘Per pieta’ with ease, convincing by her soft phrases as much as the grand outbursts and presents her conflicts with dignity.

  • War Requiem

    Hammer Hall, Melbourne
    Jun 2023

    • Soprano Samantha Clarke’s vocal and emotional power commanded attention, whether in the dramatic Liber scriptus or in the sad, drooping phrases of the Lacrimosa.

  • Fidelio (Marzelline)

    Sydney Symphony Orchestra/Simone Young
    Nov 2022

    • [...]the ensemble of the night was the “Mir ist so wunderbar” quartet in Act 1, where Samantha Clarke’s Marzelline delighted beside her father (Jonathan Lemalu), her would-be lover (Nicholas Jones) and Pierard’s Fidelio.

    • Lightness and verve were provided by Samantha Clarke as Marzelline and Nicholas Jones as Jaquino. Both have attractive voices and personalities ideally suited to their contribution to Beethoven’s multi-faceted score.

  • La traviata (Violetta)

    West Australian Opera
    Oct 2022

    • A star is born in Parisian salon...West Australian Opera’s production of La Traviata is faultless, with an outstanding local cast led by a mega-star in the making...Samantha Clarke is a star. And it’s not just me saying it. Word on the street since rehearsals began for one of Verdi’s most loved operas, La Traviata, is that the young woman making her role debut is remarkable...Clarke, from her opening lines, is the one who takes my breath away. Her creamy, clear powerful voice just gets better and better with every scene. Her first duet with Alfredo, “Un di Felice, eterea”, sung through a wall as they fall in love, shows her remarkable control, intonation, and expressiveness. Her pianissimo echo phrases are so perfect she draws a gasp from a lady in my row. I’m sure the entire theatre has goosebumps. The optional high E-flat in “Sempre Libera” at the end of the first scene was extraordinary (often sopranos don’t attempt it). Clarke, who studied at WAAPA and then in the UK before returning to Perth during Covid, is a relative newcomer to the world’s operatic stages. Yet her voice and stage presence are akin to a seasoned global diva. I could not take my eyes (or ears) off her.

    • Singing the role of Violetta was Perth’s very own Samantha Clarke. In an interview with Ellie Caruso, Clarke mentions “I feel it speaks to lots of people and the forbidden relationship speaks to so many various facets of life; tradition that may forbid a relationship, or class.” So often opera stars have a brilliant instrument but lack the acting chops to match. Not only was Clarke’s singing superb, but her acting was sublime; her depth of understanding of this fully realised character was so apparent. I felt privileged to witness Clarke’s debut in the role, and I kept thinking throughout the performance ‘if this is her first Violetta, I can't imagine what her Violetta will be like in ten years’ time!’. Despite the mountainous role she played, Clarke made it look easy, maintaining her well controlled, rich yet light, luscious tone throughout the entirety of her performance.