THE SOUND OF MUSIC
“Lesley Garrett is superb as The Mother Abbess. As well as being a great actor, her singing is sublime - rarely has a first act ended so spectacularly at the St James Theatre as it does with Garrett's Climb Ev'ry Mountain”
“When Garrett sang the stirring 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain', and reprised it for the final scene...she moved the mesmerised audience to goosebumps, cheers and a few tears. An absolutely stellar performance.”
“Reprising her role of the Mother Abbess, Lesley Garrett brings her powerful yet beautiful and precise voice to wow Auckland audiences. Her 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain' is truly epic and a real highlight of the show.”
CALL ME GEORGE
“There were two exhilarating production numbers for Lesley Garrett...Huge fun: Garrett was, is and always will be a star”
LA VOIX HUMAINE
“Lesley Garrett is back - and on fine diva form. She could teach ENO a thing or two....”
“Garrett gives a sublime performance - her acting skills, sharpened on the West End stage, to the fore.”
“Lesley Garrett's performance is good enough to silence any naysayers - time spent treading the boards in West End musicals has sharpened her acting skills and clarified her diction. She is wholly credible; trembling nervously at the start, chain-smoking and passing the receiver shakily from hand to hand.”
“She is a very expressive performer and makes the anguish of being dumped over the course of a 40-minute phone conversation painfully clear.”
A NORTH COUNTRY LASS
“A great song will last forever. Lesley Garrett's latest album is crammed with some of the greatest songs of all times, songs which have entertained us for centuries.”
“Garrett lets her hair down in On IIkley Moor Baht'at, with a little help from the Black Dyke Mills Band”
80th Anniversary Gala for the Ipswich Regent
“'Lesley led us through the evening, setting the scene for each of her solos, bringing the audience into the story she was to portray. Lesley has such a natural way of communicating the meaning of songs, the audience felt connected to all her performances....(she) has a superb voice and from the opening of Zadok The Priest we knew we were about to experience a very special performance....She is truly Britain's most loved soprano, and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra the Ipswich Regent could not have had a more accomplished concert to celebrate their 80th anniversary'.”
“...she delivers You'll Never Walk Alone with rapt tenderness”
“We're left with a reprise of the didactic but maddeningly infectious song that has been all too briefly delivered by the great Garrett as the local wise woman: 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. And, yes, I felt like joining in”
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
“Lesley Garrett also endows the Mother Abbess with a genuine humanity and even manages to deliver Climb Every Mountain as a song of aspiration rather than asecular hymn.”
“Add Lesley Garrett as a Mother Superior with a voice so ample and rich that it shrinks thre Palladium to the size of the Black Hole of Calcutta, and she, Fisher and Hanson, could be in their jobs for years.”
“Lesley Garrett sings up a holy storm as the perceptive and kindly Mother Abbess.”
“Lesley Garrett is phenomenal, with her gates-of-heaven-battering voice as the Mother Abbess, and she signals with warm wit this head nun's understanding of Maria.”
“That operatic atomic kitten Lesley Garrett has long since made the great cross-over into showbusiness.”
“Lesley Garrett is the Geri Halliwell of opera.”
“Versatility could be Lesley Garrett's middle name...with her no-nonsense approach and winning personality she has acheived a broad appeal...she has a superb voice that soars up and in around these songs, giving them an added beauty.”
“She's a down-to-earth Northerner...she's incredibly funny and emotional, with a glorious voice.”
“...but her exuberance, merry green-brown eyes and ready giggle make her fairly irresistible company, shining proof that you don't have to be grand, difficult, pompous, unbalanced or rude to be a star.”
“Lesley Garrett is a singing whirlwind. She sweeps fans in her wake and gives them the exciting ride they want.”
“...So there we have Lesley Garrett Mark Two: not so much a new begining, more a step up to a different level, which has come about through her gracious acceptance of the passage of time, a subtle change of voice, and finding a musical soul mate. Age and maturity brings the confidence to pick and choose. She's no 'new kid on the block', but given the choice between the house that Lesley has built over 20-odd years and the jittery pre-fabs around at the moment, which would you rather have?”
“Garrett is of course, a natural communicator and just about the best ambassador for opera.”
