Review: Opera Neo's All-Star Vocal Marathon–A Splendid Bouquet of Aspiring Singers
SAN DIEGO STORY
“Sunday's audience was thrilled with tenor Dane Suarez's high octane Puccini performance of 'Non piangere Liù' from Turandot. With Suarez's opening phrase, the emotional quotient of the room soared, and the intensity of his grandly arched phrases and opulent sonority momentarily transformed the modest Protestant chapel into a lavish opera set adorned with chinoiserie in riotous colors."
“Tenor Dane Suarez had a late star turn with Macduff’s ‘Ah, la paterna mano,’ thanks to his bright, heavy tone full of squillo and his ability to put sobs into his voice without losing the line of the music.”
SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE
“Compared with other Italian operas of the period, ‘Macbeth’ is a welter of secondary and ancillary characters (Shakespeare will do that), and West Bay’s large cast contained no weak links. … there were winning contributions as well from tenor Dane Suarez as Macduff.”
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Macbeth
WEST BAY OPERA | FEBRUARY 2020
Photo credit: Otak Jump
“Chief among these others is the clarion tenor vocals of Dane Suarez as Macduff as he agonizes over the heartless murders of his wife and children. His breath-taking notes reach heavenward in their scale as he anguishes not being able to save them, with one sustained ‘God’ cutting through the air in such sad supplication to break our listening hearts. Much deserved was the audience’s response, one of the loudest and longest applauses and rounds of ‘Bravo’ of the evening.”
THEATRE EDDYS
“Tenor Dane Suarez as Macduff also turns in an impressive performance, both in his singing and commanding presence on the stage.”
ALMANAC
Photo credit: Bob Shomler
“Tenor Dane Suarez as Pinkerton displays heroic lyricism in all of his highlights. His duets with Butterfly ‘Viene la sera’ and ‘Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia’ … as well as his duet with the United States Consular Officer Sharpless ‘Addio fiorito asil’ … are praiseworthy. Suarez captures the smarmy, self-serving affect of Pinkerton that makes him such a despicable character, yet his owning up for his bad deeds, along with his remorse and cowardice are also well acted.”
FOR ALL EVENTS
“The American naval officer, Pinkerton, performed by Dane Suarez, is also portrayed well; his transformation from an ignorant and cocky young man only wanting to make love to Cio-cio San to a deeply troubled man who has come to terms with his own actions is incredible to watch.”
CROWN AND SHIELD
“Dane Suarez possesses a classic lyric tenor, but one vested with just a bit of an edge – not all the way to spinto, but one capable of a little force. This serves to bring out Pinkerton’s early knuckleheadedness about cultural differences, his young man’s focus on his own needs. He’s a bit of a firecracker. … This timbral match makes the wedding-night duets into soaring tonal tangos.”
OPERAVILLE
Madama Butterfly
OPERA SAN JOSÉ | APRIL 2019
Photo credit: Pat Kirk
Photo credit: Gary Payne
Eugene Onegin
OPERA NEO | AUGUST 2019
"Tenor Dane Suarez’s brash, volatile Lensky easily convinced us of his need to challenge Onegin to a duel over the latter’s innocently mischievous flirting at a party with Olga, Lensky’s intended. Suarez’s wrenching farewell aria prior to the second act duel gave us a vocal tour de force of surpassing splendor."
SAN DIEGO STORY
Review: Opera NEO’s Annual Aria Avalanche Buries Allied Gardens in Operatic Glory
SAN DIEGO STORY
“On to the powerhouse tenors—who did not disappoint! Dane Suarez, who sang the impressive title role in Opera NEO’s Idomeneo last year, gave a spine-tingling account of ‘No, Pagliaccio non son’ from Leoncavallo’s beloved Pagliacci. His magnificent, Italianate tenor continues to bloom, and his fiery verismo declamation brought roars of approval from the audience. I am eager to hear his Lensky in next month’s Eugene Onegin.”
“The role of Senta’s would-be beau, Erik, was played by tenor Dane Suarez. Mr. Suarez’s singing was another highlight of the performance, though he looked rather suave to be a provincial, hunter type. He and Senta have a stirring duet where he reveals a dream he had of Senta going away with a sea captain dressed in black, which disturbs Erik but inflames Senta’s passion, well done by both singers…”
OPERAGENE
Der fliegende Holländer
BALTIMORE CONCERT OPERA | FEBRUARY 2019
Photo credit: Britt Olsen-Ecker
“Senta is already in a relationship with a hunter named Erik (played by the powerful tenor Dane Suarez). ... His powerful emotions and voice grip the mind of all who’ve been heartbroken as the result of the loss to another suitor.”
“Thomas’s voice as the Dutchman was undoubtedly impassioned, as was LoBianco’s lustrous and dramatic exhibition of Senta. Hopkins’s deep baritone bursts of excitement at the prospect of acquiring riches as Daland was quite the delight. However, I was genuinely moved by Suarez’s portrayal of Erik, whose retelling of a premonition in a dream where Senta and the Dutchman disappear together at sea is deeply sobering. His aches and wails clench the walls of the heart and tear it to shreds. Bravo!"
MD THEATRE GUIDE
Review: Opera NEO’s Sumptuous Buffet of Arias and Ensembles
SAN DIEGO STORY
“I was ready to call 911 when tenor Dane Suarez as Don José reacted with equal zeal to Doche’s impassioned, seductive ‘Seguidilla’ from the same act of Carmen. Suarez topped off this fiery Carmen fix with a heart-rending account of ‘La fleur que tu m’avais jetée,’ the aria in which Don José confesses his desperate love for the fickle Carmen. Suarez also lavished his ample tenor on Lensky’s confessional aria ‘Kuda, kuda’ from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, readily engaging that trademark Russian pathos and existential remorse.”
“Soprano Anna-Lisa Hackett joined Suarez in that all too sweet finale of the first act of Puccini’s La bohème, ‘Che gelida manina’ and ‘O soave fanciulla.’ Her striking yet effortless soprano matched Suarez’s vocal power magnificently, and it was easy to imagine these two accomplished young singers tearing into these roles in a major opera house.”
“Suarez’s Mario Lanza tribute performance of ‘Be My Love’ easily stole the show."
La traviata
OPERA SAN JOSÉ | APRIL 2018
“Dane Suarez is perhaps the most effortlessly boyish Alfredo I have yet seen, and he communicates his helpless romantic (and sexual) infatuation with Violetta with honesty and abandon. His fresh faced, puppy dog approach made him stand out from the other jaded men in Violetta’s circle, and made us understand why Violetta might be attracted to his impetuous sincerity and handsome naiveté.
Mr. Suarez has an appealing, substantial tenor, which he deployed with considerable nuance. Although he sang sturdily throughout the evening, he found his most solid vocal footing in the sardonic phrases and recriminating outbursts in Act III, where he poured out highly charged high notes that were riveting in their intensity. When Dane affected the boyish sweetness earlier on, the gears were sometimes on display as he worked (albeit successfully) to reign in his sizable tone, and to color it youthfully. ... Still, his total emotional investment in pursuing and later, comforting Violetta proved heart rending.”
OPERA TODAY
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La bohème
PACIFIC OPERA PROJECT | DECEMBER 2018
Photos credit: Martha Benedict
“What really makes this playful fable come together is the duo’s singing. Suarez has a big, heroic voice with an appealing, suitably romantic tone. ... When the two lovers engage in a duet at the end of Act I, they harmonize idyllically as they walk slowly into the crowd, ... it’s a transfixing moment of sublime beauty.”
LA WEEKLY
“Suarez possesses a rich, warm tenor voice with ample texture and projection in the most dramatic instances...”
LIVING OUT LOUD - LA
“Pacific Opera Project always has strong singers and this time it outdid itself. Tenor Dane Suarez was a Rodolfo with a bit of heft to his voice that gave him attractive overtones.”
OPERAWIRE
Photo by Martha Benedict
La bohème
OPERA IN THE HEIGHTS | NOVEMBER 2016
“But best of all, we get an evocative, vim-filled cast who would be welcomed on any world stage. They bring this sympathetic potpourri of dreamers, schemers, flirts, and woe-be-gone jealous lovers to amazing life. They really do seem to be these characters, not over-stuffed divas and divos who have left their youth many operas ago.
[I]t’s no surprise that horny young writer Rodolfo, tenor Dane Suarez, would instantly fall for this comely waif who crafts flowers out of paper. Can you smell the patchouli? Suarez has boyish charm for days, a lively mop top, and a golden throat that can toss off his character’s ardent phrases with poet’s ease.”
HOUSTON PRESS
Photo credit: Deji Osinulu
Tosca
LOFTOPERA | MARCH 2016
Photo credit Emon Hassan
The New York Times
“Tenor Dane Suarez as Cavaradossi displayed a handsome, full voice. His is a warm and robust tenore spinto. Suarez’s Recondita armonia in Act I was beautiful, soaring, and moving. He brought down the house (and moved me to tears) with E lucevan le stelle in Act III, rendering the magic of the pure earth-shaking lyricism of a man deeply in love about to die.”
ALLEGRI CON FUOCO