puccini TOSCA / canadian opera company

"In the lead role, Sinéad Campbell-Wallace enthralls with her vinous voice. [...] Her Tosca is wry and charming in the opening act, catching the eye of painter Cavaradossi (Stefano La Colla).

But when she’s caught in a love triangle with the malevolent police chief Scarpia (Roland Wood), who also yearns for Tosca and wants to remove Cavaradossi from the picture, she develops a grittier, hard-edged guise.

Her third act aria, “Vissi d’arte,” in which Tosca laments how the fate of her lover is in Scarpia’s hands, is delivered by Campbell-Wallace with impressive vocal clarity and depth of emotion. You wonder whether Puccini would still have so seriously considered cutting the iconic piece because it “held up the action” if he listened to Campbell-Wallace’s devastating rendition."
Joshua Chong, Toronto Star (8 May 2023)

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"In the title role, Sinéad Campbell-Wallace looked the part and had the requisite vulnerability. She also sang beautifully"

John Gilks, Bachtrack (6 May 2023)

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puccini TOSCA / english national opera

"Tosca, Sinéad Campbell-Wallace, was in fine form and supplied most of the evening’s vocal thrills"
Richard Morrison, The Times (3 Oct 2022)

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"the top soars, and she sings with a generosity of spirit that fills the theatre."
Richard Fairman, Financial Times (3 Oct 2022)

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"her vocal command is absolute."
George Hall, The Stage (2 Oct 2022)

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"Campbell-Wallace’s voice blazes comfortably in its upper registers, but there’s great lyrical warmth in her scenes with Smith, and Vissi d’Arte is beautifully done."
Tim Ashley, The Guardian (1 Oct 2022)

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"Campbell-Wallace’s impetuous Tosca is powerful as she persuades Scarpia that she will submit to him, and then kills him. She sings her aria Vissi d’arte strongly as Scarpia literally tightens his grip on her. In the last act she is almost manic in her naïve belief that she and her lover will be free, and her final distraught leap of death is for once a convincing outcome."
Nicholas Kenyon, The Telegraph (1 Oct 2022)

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"Soprano Sinéad Campbell-Wallace is Tosca, bringing great rationality as well as passion to the role which she sings magnificently."
Claudia Pritchard, CultureWhisper.com (1 Oct 2022)

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"She owns the role of the singer Floria Tosca, consumed with love and with her art; and jealous and brave enough to take on the demonic Scarpia who takes a very hands-on approach to his pursuit of her."
Adrian York, London Unattached (1 Oct 2022)

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Beethoven FIDELIO / gstaad menuhin festival

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"Nach den krankheitsbedingten Ausfällen von Anja Kampe und Simone Schneider ist die Irin Sinéad Campbell-Wallace, die kürzlich auf einer Fidelio-Tour unter Laurence Equilbey auf sich aufmerksam machte, keineswegs dritte Leonoren-Wahl. Mag ihrem hellen, kraftvoll schlanken Sopran ein spezifisches Timbre abgehen, sie meistert die nicht wenigen Klippen der Partie höhengewandt und techniksicher, berührt mit mädchenhafter Fragilität"

"Following cancellations by both Anja Kampe and Simone Schneider due to illness, the Irish Sinéad Campbell-Wallace, who recently drew attention on a Fidelio tour under Laurence Equilbey, is by no means a third-rate Leonore. Her bright, powerfully slender soprano may lack a specific timbre, but she masters the numerous hurdles within the score in a heightened and technically confident way, touched with girlish fragility"

Manuel Brug, Oper! Magazin (September 2022)

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"et puisqu’il semblait écrit que rien ne devait être simple jusqu’au bout pour la tenue de cette édition “viennoise”, c’est d’abord Anja Kampe qui est annoncée, puis Simone Schneider, avant que celle-ci, malade, ne soit finalement remplacée par l’irlandaise Sinéad Campbell-Wallace. Et, déjà entendue dans ce même rôle en mai dernier à Bruxelles (notre compte-rendu), la soprano se présente là comme une grande révélation. Voix d’une brillance exquise, rondeur d’émission, graves creusés et aigus rayonnants : tout concourt à parer cette Leonora d’atours d’excellence. Tantôt femme habitée par un amour passionné ici formidablement servi par un chant d’une ardente sonorité, tantôt guerrière prête à affronter la mort pour sauver l’élu de son cœur, ce Leonore là a tout pour aimanter l’attention, égal d’intensité dramatique et de musicalité dans chacune de ses interventions, dont le “Wo eilst du hin?” empli d’une saisissante affliction et d’une délicieuse musicalité."

"and since it seemed ordained that nothing should be straightforward for this “Viennese” rendition, first Anja Kampe was announced, then Simone Schneider, until she, taken ill, was finally replaced by the Irish Sinéad Campbell-Wallace. Having appeared in this same role last May in Brussels (our review), this soprano had already shown herself to be a great revelation. A voice of exquisite brightness, roundness of delivery, deep lows and radiant highs: everything contributes to adorn this Leonora with the finery of excellence. At times a woman inhabited by a passionate love wonderfully served by a voice of ardent resonance, at other times a warrior prepared to face death to save the love of her life, this Leonore has everything to draw one in, dramatic intensity and musicality in equal measure throughout her performance, of which her “Wo eilst du hin?” is brimming with gripping affliction and a delicious musicality."

Pierre Géraudie, Olyrix.com (14 August 2022)

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"Face à l'épidémie de covid qui continue à sévir, le directeur du Gstaad Menuhin Festival Christoph Müller a dû s'y reprendre à deux fois pour trouver une Leonore de substitution. Il a eu la main heureuse avec Sinéad Campbell-Wallace. A l'heure des saluts, cette soprano dramatique irlandaise a été très applaudie pour sa prestation vocale et pour son investissement scénique dans le personnage auquel elle a su conférer vaillance et une forme de fragilité. Beauté du timbre, homogénéité de la voix sur l'ensemble de la tessiture (et on sait combien celle-ci est escarpée), conduite de la ligne vocale, alternance d'accents éplorés et de nuances plus intimistes, registre grave éloquent, aux couleurs mordorées: ce fut la révélation de la soirée."

"Faced with the Covid epidemic which continues to rage, the director of the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Christoph Müller, had to try twice to find a substitute Leonore. He struck lucky in Sinéad Campbell-Wallace. At the curtain call, this Irish dramatic soprano received huge applause for both her vocal performance and her committed characterisation on stage, to which she was able to confer both courage and a sense of fragility. The beauty of timbre, homogeneity of the voice over the full range (and we know how steep it is), sustainment of the vocal line, alternation of heartfelt accents and more intimate nuances, the eloquent, deep golden colours of her lower register: this was the revelation of the evening."

Julian Sykes, Le Temps (13 August 2022)

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Ein Name, den man sich merken sollte. Die Salzburger-Festspiele-Erprobte steuert ihren grossen Anteil dazu bei, dass der konzertant gegebene «Fidelio» am Donnerstag eine starke Leuchtmarke setzt und eine sängerische Strahlkraft von erster Güte erreicht. Mit Sinead Campbell-Wallace, ihrem dramatischen, ungemein leucht- und gestaltungskräftigen Sopran und ihrer Ausstrahlung an der Spitze eines Ensembles, das man in dieser Qualität erst mal finden muss."

"A name to remember. The Salzburg Festival's tried and tested performer makes a major contribution to the fact that Thursday's concert version of "Fidelio" sets a strong benchmark with a vocal radiance of the highest order. In Sinead Campbell-Wallace's dramatic, incredibly luminous and creative soprano and her charisma at the head of the ensemble, this quality is a real find"

Svend Peternell, Berner Oberländer (12 August 2022)

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"Sinead Campbell-Wallace interpretierte mit ihrem jugendlich-dramatischen Sopran eine starke und zugleich sensible Leonore: Die Entdeckung des Abends! Ihre Stimme jubilierte mit Kampfbereitschaft in den Höhen mit der Arie: „Abscheulicher! Wo eilst du hin? … Komm, Hoffnung, lass den letzten Stern der Müden nicht erbleichen!“"

"With her youthful, dramatic soprano, Sinead Campbell-Wallace portrayed a strong yet sensitive Leonore: She was the discovery of the evening! Her voice was jubilant with combativeness in the highs with the aria: "Abscheulicher! Wo eilst du hin? … Komm, Hoffnung, lass den letzten Stern der Müden nicht erbleichen!""
Marcel Burkhardt, OnlineMerker.com (12 August 2022)

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Beethoven FIDELIO / grafenegg Festival

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"Sinead Campbell-Wallace gab eine mehr als überzeugende Leonore, nicht zuletzt auch im Wechselspiel mit Andreas Bauer Kanabas als Rocco."

"Sinead Campbell-Wallace gave a more than convincing Leonore, not least in the interplay with Andreas Bauer Kanabas as Rocco."

Gerald Heidegger, ORF.at (14 August 2022)

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puccini TOSCA / irish national opera

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"Central to this production is Sinéad Campbell Wallace’s sensational singing as the title character. Tosca is a demanding role for any artist, as the character’s journey across a wide emotional spectrum from jealous pride to desperate passion requires a richly-textured voice, expressing by turns vulnerability, wit, and strength. Campbell Wallace reflects all of this and more in her perceptive interpretation.  As she seems to succumb to the villainous Baron Scarpia (sung by bass-baritone Tómas Tómasson, in fearsome form) in their disturbing second act face-off, she sings one of the few arias in this work. Vissi d’arte (‘I lived for art…’) comes across not as the usual showpiece solo, but begins in the moment, suggesting an inward turn, the sudden softness and gentle colouring of her sound simply heart-stopping."
Michael Lee, Goldenplec.com (13 July 2022)

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"entirely persuasive Tosca that Campbell Wallace establishes" ... "in Tosca’s most famous aria, Vissi d’arte, ... voice, emotion and humanity all come together with great power."
Michael Dungan, The Irish Times (12 July 2022)

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Beethoven FIDELIO / Insula Orchestra Tour

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BARBICAN CENTRE, LONDON

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"If I’ve heard Leonore’s stupendous recitative-aria “Abscheulicher! Wo eilst du hin?” sung with greater force and nuance than here, when Campbell-Wallace settled into her flickering glimpse of hope, “Komm Hoffnung”, she moved and touched us as some heavier soprano guns do not. ... Campbell-Wallace bloomed gorgeously in the final duet with De Barbeyrac, “O namenlose Freude” – with a lovely catch in her breath as she pronounced “Florestan”.
Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk (May 2022)

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"Although not a role debut (she previously sang Leonore with Irish National Opera), Campbell-Wallace’s interpretation of Fidelio/Leonore had real freshness about it. She is a radiant soprano, yet her lower register is so strong (Beethoven does make considerable demands down there, too). Her voice itself is remarkably free, and absolutely equal to Beethoven’s sometimes cruel demands (that final scene!), her stamina remarkable, the pivotal reveal (‘Töt’ erst sein Weib!’) stunning in its vocal heft. The Florestan/Leonore duet, ‘O namenlose Freude!’, found them both at their very best."
Colin Clarke, Seen & Heard (May 2022)

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"In the roles at the centre of the drama, soprano Sinéad Campbell-Wallace and tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac gave truly engaging performances. ... Campbell-Wallace has a fairly light soprano, but it is generous of colour and strong across the range – her chest voice, which the role challenges, was powerful and rich.  The Irish soprano affectingly communicated Léonore’s determination – the angular intervals of ‘Ich folge dem inner Triebe’ were flexibly shaped – and ‘Abscheulicher!’ conveyed a psychological depth that was absolutely persuasive.  The conjugal bliss of the reunited pair was fervently expressed in ‘O namenlose Freude!’, but even at this emotional peak there were expressive subtleties that made the intensity feel ‘real’ and human."
Claire Seymour, Opera Today (May 2022)

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BOZAR, BRUSSELS

"Sinéad Campbell-Wallace en Léonore marque par sa force de caractère et sa grande versatilité. La soprano qui sait donner la richesse vocale requise mais aussi alléger la tessiture pour traduire son aspiration à la liberté, offre des aigus chauds et pourtant limpides et véloces, des graves profonds et amples. La souplesse de sa diction allemande s'allie à son aisance de jeu, tant dans les parties chantées que parlées."

"Sinéad Campbell-Wallace as Léonore stands out for her strength of character and her great versatility. The soprano who knows how to give the required vocal richness but also to lighten the range to convey her aspiration for freedom, offers warm yet limpid and swift highs, deep and ample lows. The flexibility of her German diction combines with the ease of her acting, in both the sung and spoken parts."

Soline Heurtebise, Olyrix.com (May 2022)
 

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Puccini LA BOHEME / English National Opera

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"And what a revelation this Mimì is – Sinéad Campbell-Wallace makes her ENO debut, and we are sure to see and hear more of her. Elsewhere, she already as Puccini's Tosca under her belt, and Tchaikovsky's Tatyana in Eugene Onegin lies ahead. It's easy to see why, as she conveys in Mimì both fragility and the gleam in her radiant top notes of a glimpse at a brighter horizon. Remember her name."

Claudia Pritchard, CultureWhisper.com (February 2022)

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"First, there was a fine ENO debut from the Irish soprano Sinead Campbell-Wallace as Mimi, the consumptive neighbour who embroiders flowers. She, though, was no shrinking violet. Tuberculosis could kill anybody, sweet or otherwise, and this Mimi seemed independent, self-assured and somewhat ahead of Rodolfo’s seduction game.
Campbell-Wallace is blessed with a big, bright belter of a voice and one suspects Mimi won’t always be her signature role, given the large repertoire that awaits her."
Jessica Duchen, inews.co.uk (February 2022)

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"Holden’s words were routinely muffled until Sinéad Campbell-Wallace’s attentively sung Mimì finally arrived with her blown-out candle — she’s that rare thing, a soprano who makes every word clear."
Neil Fisher, The Times (February 2022)

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"... the sickly seamstress Mimi, was beautifully performed last night by Irish soprano Sinead Campbell-Wallace. Her voice has a wonderful clarity of tone and sense of dynamic control"
Adrian York, London-unattached.com (February 2022)

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THE PUCCINI COLLECTION / scottish Opera gala, caird hall, Dundee

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"The soloists – sopranos Sinead Campbell-Wallace and Catriona Hewison, bass Roland Wood and tenor David Junghoon Kim – really seized the opportunity to make this an evening to remember. ... Kim set the bench-mark pretty high with his opening aria from Manon Lescaut, but the others simply carried on where he left off, Sinead especially. Have I heard a better delivery of Tosca’s Vissi D’arte? Probably not, but that was just one instance of a soprano in peak form."
Garry Fraser, The Courier (December 2021)

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"Sinéad Campbell-Wallace and Wood use the theatricality of the music to their full advantage, turning in perhaps the most evident presence of ‘acting’ along with their singing. Campbell-Wallace projects emotion effortlessly, capturing the ferocity and anguish of Floria Tosca as she desperately sources a way out of the situation whilst still protecting Mario."
Corr Blimey, (December 2021)

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Beethoven FIDELIO / Irish National Opera

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"The story centres on Leonore, magnificently sung by Sinéad Campbell Wallace, who has disguised herself as Fidelio, a guard in a totalitarian prison camp, in order to rescue her husband Florestan (Robert Murray). In modern parlance, Florestan, played by Murray with a stirring performance, was a whistleblower, publicly exposing corrupt prison governor Pizarro (Brian Mulligan), who consequently imprisoned Florestan to shut him up. When the action starts, time is running out as Pizarro is planning to kill his prisoner before an official state visit. This kind of convoluted subterfuge doesn’t always work but Campbell Wallace convinces as Fidelio. Accordingly, we believe it when, in order to find her husband, she worms her way into the affections of Rocco, the senior guard, wonderfully acted and sung by Daniel Sumegi, and even passes herself off as the love interest of his daughter, Marzellia (Kelli-Ann Masterson)."

Fiona Charleton, The Times (November 2021)

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"Sinéad Campbell Wallace was superb in the role of Leonore. She struck just the right balance between concealing her true feelings from her fellow jailors while at the same time expressing her anxiety and desperation about the plight of her husband. In the famous ‘Abscheulicher’ aria she sustained the expressive lines beautifully while at the same time delivering the more dramatic material with gusto. I was particularly impressed with her singing in Act II’s great love duet with Florestan where the blazing joy of deliverance really shone through."
Robert Beattie, Seen and Heard (November 2021)

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"Sinéad Campbell Wallace’s Leonore has a rich, powerful soprano and transforms spectacularly from watchful man into passionate woman."
Katy Hayes, Irish Independent

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"As the ‘male’ title character (before long revealed as the female Leonora, undercover freedom-fighter), soprano Sinéad Campbell Wallace returns to this stage in brilliant form. Always an arresting figure in performance, and a marvellous singer, she inhabits this role with riveting intensity and focus, her voice vibrant and true. Is there no limit to what she can do?"
Michael Lee, GoldenPlec.com (November 2021)

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"Sinéad Campbell Wallace’s debut with the Irish National Opera is a triumph – both for her and the company. ...
At the heart of the whole piece is Campbell Leonore. Her deeply internalised performance is spellbinding, colouring the emotional complexity of ‘Abscheulicher, wo eilst du hin?’ ending in her determination to free Florestan."
Paddy McGovern, No More Workhorse (November 2021)

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"The soprano Sinéad Campbell Wallace brilliantly walks the tightrope between selling her Fidelio persona to her fellow characters while providing the audience with a window into her emotional state as the heroic wife, Leonore"

Michael Dungan, Irish Times (November 2021)

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"Soprano Sinéad Campbell Wallace was a thoroughly convincing Leonore/Fidelio. Her voice is on the light side, but that did not stop her pouring out her soul in her “Abscheulicher” set piece, imbuing it with great sensitivity. Dramatically too, Campbell Wallace conveyed the anguish, the desperation and finally the joy of her character marvellously."
Andrew Larkin, Bachtrack (November 2021)

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"Soprano Kelli-Ann Masterson's (Marzelline) crystal timbre offset by Soprano Sinéad Campbell Wallace's (Leonore) robust and commanding power."Chris O'Rourke, The Arts Review (November 2021)

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Beethoven FIDELIO / National Concert Hall, Dublin

“Sinéad Campbell-Wallace (Leonore) excelled in the demanding role, a real feather in this outstanding singer’s cap”

Business Post (1 March 2020)

“Sinead Campbell-Wallace was a remarkable Leonore, vocally and dramatically....”

Opera Magazine (May 2020)

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Stanford THE VEILED PROPHET / Wexford Festival

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“Soprano Sinéad Campbell-Wallace was parted as Zelica, the focus of Mokanna’s attentions. She was truly excellent in the role and delivered an emotionally expressive performance. Campbell-Wallace possesses an attractive, agile voice, which blooms as it climbs in the upper register. The quality of her phrasing was formidable; clothing her words with well-placed accents, colourful and dynamic flashes enabled her to create a passionate and emotional portrait. So many examples could be cited to illustrate her talent, such as the Act one lament, in which she captured the anguish and fears of seeing Azim sent into battle.”

Alan Neilson, Operawire (November 2019)

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Mascagno ZANETTO / Scottish Opera

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“But it’s easy to sit back and let the swooning melodies overwhelm, especially here given the richly sung performances, Campbell-Wallace’s powerful but burnished soprano sinuously intertwining with Hipp’s seductive darker hues.”

Rowena Smith, The Guardian (September 2019)