ariadne greif

P R E S S K I T

"... [Atthis] became a vehicle for Ms. Greif’s raw, no-holds-barred performance…”

“…a beautiful and physically fearless young singer ..."

“…Fragile but focused, with searing top notes and dusky depths…”

"ultimately, this was a solo high-wire act for Ms. Greif…”

“…one of the most searingly painful and revealing operatic performances in recent times.”

--Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times (in two articles). Atthis with Opera Cabal.

"...Two very talented American-born singers took the bull by the horns - soprano Ariadne Greif and baritone Matthew [Morris]. They excelled (and looked very comfortable) in their respective roles.

Greif radiated a rich and warm soprano voice, strong and accurate, while her stage presence was mesmerising to say the least. She put in a thoroughly commanding and effortless performance that thrilled a packed house while [Morris] equally matched her vocal skills and stage prowess in every conceivable way. They made a good double act..."

"The scene in which Thérèse takes on the masculine role of Tirésias was marvellously entertaining and highlighted Greif as a born actress too."

--Tony Cooper, East Anglian Daily Times. Les Mamelles de Tirésias with Aldeburgh Music.

click HERE to download program bios of various lengths...

"Ariadne Greif made a splendidly projected and vocally imposing Therese."

--Peter Dickinson, Musical Opinion. Les Mamelles de Tirésias with Aldeburgh Music.

"Greif has a voice of crystalline clarity and incision and a sparkling stage personality."

--Gareth Jones, Coastal Scene. Les Mamelles de Tirésias with Aldeburgh Music.

"In equal measures intelligent, playful, ambitious and moving, the [festival] program, performed by three gifted sopranos, illuminated the shape-shifting power of the human voice.

The most dramatic and seductive demonstration of this was the performance by Ariadne Greif, who possesses a luminous, expressive voice and an uncanny ability to imitate bird song. In George Crumb’s deeply affecting “Apparition,” bird calls and other wordless vocalizations link a song cycle on the subject of living and dying. With Jason Wirth spinning a gossamer web of unusual sounds on the piano, Ms. Greif was able to sing with a quiet intensity that approached prayerful ecstasy.

Before performing her own “Three Beloved, Old Songs, in a New Way” for soprano, toys and electronics, Ms. Greif enlisted the audience in a re-enactment of selected instructions from Yoko Ono’s “Grapefruit” (1964), including a reminder to breathe, instructions for folding a paper crane and a game of passing a whispered message from ear to ear. While listeners turned sheets of paper into odd approximations of winged creatures, she created hauntingly beautiful pieces with the help of a loop pedal, layering sighs, tongue clicks and whistled bird calls underneath melodies by Machaut, Monteverdi and Jean Baptiste de Bousset.

Her set ended with the charming “Two Selections From ‘Calligrammes,’ ” chansonlike settings of Apollinaire texts by Albert Behar, who accompanied Ms. Greif on accordion."

--Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, New York Times. Recital at Resonant Bodies Festival.

"Ariadne Greif began her set with the darkly dazzling Apparition: Eight Elegiac Songs and Vocalises by George Crumb. Perfectly at home in its brooding world, Greif was riveting. Each line seemed to come from the bottom of her; she seemed to taste the ash of each bitter word. She felt its silences too, never letting a lull sap the crackling tension of her presence, while Jason Wirth teased a black aura from the amplified piano. She followed Crumb with a trio of “Beloved, Old Songs,” by Machaut, Monteverdi, and Bousset. These were presented in highly personal loop-pedal reinventions, in which wails become ground basses, gasps become grooves, and wineglasses and birds serenade the serenader. It’s a new direction for her that I hope she continues to explore."

--Elliott Cole, Sequenza 21/. Recital at Resonant Bodies Festival.

"Enfin, Ariadne Greif, qui faisait son début à Carnegie Hall en mai, finissait d'ajouter une touche fantastique à un tableau déjà plus que convaincant. Spectre noir aux yeux relevés de fuchsia, elle flottait sur scène, tantôt sœur, séductrice ou goule alors que ses aigus élastiques et ronds remplissaient le Florence Gould Hall."

"Last, Ariadne Greif, who made her debut at Carnegie Hall in May, added a fantastical touch to an already more than convincing tableau. Black specter with eyes outlined in fuchsia, she floated on stage, now sister, now seductress, now ghoul, while her elastic and round high notes filled Florence Gould Hall."

--Thomas Deneuville, Classique Info. La chute de la Maison Usher with the Opéra Français de New York.

"...young and attractive..."

--Anthony Tommasini, New York Times. La chute de la Maison Usher with the Opéra Français de New York.

"Soprano Ariadne Greif, who served as the voice of Saint Catherine, displayed an impressive level of engagement, moving effectively between sung and spoken portions of the text while remaining firmly engaged in the drama itself."

--Joel Schwindt, The Boston Musical Intelligencer. Matti Kovler's mini-mono-opera La Testa di Santa Caterina in Jordan Hall.

"Greif, who sang an avant-garde piece by Georges Aperghis winningly, looks to be a boon for new music."

--Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times. Aperghis Récitations pour voix seule at the 2011 Ojai Music Festival.

"The chorus/Jesus made its grand entrance with a startling call to John, who just as powerfully responded through soprano Ariadne Greif…Ariadne Greif, who first of all needs to be commended for bravely stepping in with a just a few days' notice, did not let anything like a very brief preparation time stop her from giving a fiercely committed performance, her supple and assertive voice ferociously rising above the chorus or harmoniously blending in. I thought she particularly distinguished herself in the mesmerizing aria "I Didn't Suffer", which had the immediately infectious power of a brilliant pop song while still projecting the haunting nature of unexplained divinity. "

--Classical Music Rocks. A Gnostic Passion by Brad and Doug Balliett with Cantori New York.

"...voraciously versatile and monstrously talented..."

"Ryan, as is evident in the vocal writing in this most recent of their collaborations, has become familiar with the elasticity and ample technical capabilities of Ariadne’s voice. He captures the bizarre nature of the text of the Jabberwocky with deft precision, sharp wit, and staggering intricacy largely through the breadth of unusual vocal effects for which he calls throughout the score. These effects include stuttering consonants, long slides, rapid-fire glottal stops, speaking, gurgling, lip and tongue trills, and even a choking sound. Needless to say, these are far beyond typical vocal techniques that are required in standard repertoire, but Ariadne has risen to the challenge that the composer laid out specifically for her. She navigates this complex score not only with ease, but also an unbridled enthusiasm and a taste for the dramatic."

--David Bloom, Contemporaneous Blog. Ryan Chase's Jabberwocky.

"The program also included a Monteverdi setting of Psalm 150, which Ariadne Greif sang energetically if perhaps with slightly more power than the circumstances (a small ensemble and a small hall) required."

--Allan Kozinn, New York Times. Monteverdi's Psalm 150 sung at age 16. Bwahahaha!