IN THE PRESS
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“Scottish mezzo Karen Cargill impressed as an involved and immensely sympathetic Brangäne”
Christopher Corwin, Observer US 20.6.25
“Karen Cargill was a vocally glowing and dramatically engaged Brangäne. Her lovely, blonde-toned mezzo has the open upper register this role needs, and though she didn’t quite float “Einsam wachend” as I wished, it was still very effectively delivered, shimmering forth from the top-tier of Marian Anderson Hall, high above the stage.”
David Fox, Parterre.com 6.6.25
“Karen Cargill as Isolde’s servant, Brangäne, gave a rich, evocative performance, adding another level to the meaning of love that is explored in this dramatic work.”
Linda Holt, Concerto.net June 2025
“Karen Cargill was a compelling Brangäne, her mezzo-soprano rich and steady with a natural warmth that projected effortlessly from her position in the upper balcony during Act II. Singing from above heightened the scene’s tension while allowing her voice to float across the hall with a haunting clarity. She shaped her lines with care, imbuing Brangäne’s warnings with both urgency and restrained compassion.”
Edward Sava-Segal, Seen & Heard International 3.6.25
“Karen Cargill’s high-lying mezzo made her a gleaming Brangäne, especially as it sailed from Marian Anderson Hall from her placement in the corner of the third tier during “Einsam wachend in der Nacht”. A veteran of the role, Cargill convinced absolutely as Isolde’s devoted and distraught companion.”
Cameron Kelsall, Bachtrack.com 2.6.25 -
“Karen Cargill’s Angel fully embraced the dramatic narrative of Newman’s text. Her gentle, nurturing ruminations not only questioned, but provoked the Soul. Moments of great intimacy and dramatic climaxes interchanged seamlessly, laying bare the “bitterness of death”. Her hugely impressive dynamic range, especially in her lower register, challenged all. Williams’ Angel of the Agony provided the emotional highpoint of the evening. The raw emotion in his repeated “Jesu!”, pleading for tormented souls to be spared, and “bid them come to Thee” was never in dispute. The Soul’s journey through purgatory was nigh.”
Clare Varney / Bachtrack -
“… the luscious mezzo of Karen Cargill, whose beautiful rendition of the great aria, ‘Woe unto them that forsake him’, was one of the highlights of the evening. In Part 2, her assumption of the ghastly role of Jezebel was brilliantly malignant, and her clear diction as she laid into Elijah was exemplary. We are indeed fortunate at the moment to have some of the finest mezzo-sopranos in the world all coming from Scotland, with Ms Cargill as the vanguard”
Brian Bannatyne-Scott, Edinburgh Music Review, 24.8.25
“Karen Cargill took the mezzo soprano role of An Angel, a quieter and more contemplative role than the ones in which she is often heard, and she seemed to relish the opportunity, especially in the aria ‘Woe unto them’ where she produced a sotto voce tone of great beauty and intensity.”
W J Quinn, The Quintessential Review 25.8.25
“Among the soloists, mezzo Karen Cargill sang a quietly radiant angel, and enjoyed herself marvellously as a brief but bloodthirsty Jezebel”
Simon Thompson, Bachtrack 25.8.25 -
“A contrasting tenderness was the overriding characteristic of Karen Cargill’s interpretation of the melancholic second song ‘Der Einsame im Herbst’... Cargill delivered a vocal performance that encapsulated both the haunting bleakness and rapturous joy inherent in one of Mahler’s most personal movements.”
Adrian Smith, The Journal of Music - 21 February 2025 -
Karen Cargill as Brigitte - in utter luxury casting - made the most of every rich note and textual nuance.
David Shengold, Opera News - 27 February 2025“The character of Brigitta, executed with resolute acumen by Karen Cargill, enters the story as Paul’s housekeeper. Had this been a Greek tragedy, she would double as the coryphaeus who warns the hero of the folly of his hubris.”
John Tamilio III, The Boston Musical Intelligencer - 01 February 2025“Karen Cargill brought a zesty and vibrant personality to Brigitta, Paul’s upright housekeeper... she looked as if she’d stepped out of an Expressionist painting.”
Cameron Kelsall, Bachtrack - 31 January 2025 -
“Karen Cargill had suffered an injury, but gamely sang Brangäne from the wings... Cargill is one of those singers whose presence on a cast list immediately inspires confidence and her warm, treacle-rich middle register was ideally suited to the role. Empathy, concern, guilt all suffused her performance as the opera unfolded.”
Dominic Lowe, Bachtrack - 31 July 2024“Her vocal performance was thrilling...”
Sam Smith, Muisc OMH - 31 July 2024“Karen Cargill – injured in rehearsal... – sings Brangäne magnificently from the wings...”
Michael Church, iNews - 30 July 2024“...Cargill sings magnificently...”
George Hall, The Stage - 30 July 2024“Karen Cargill may have suffered a nasty fall which impaired her mobility, but her voice remained supremely agile in her role as Isolde’s faithful maid, Brangäne. She sang with remarkable projection.”
Mike Hardy, OperaWire - 02 August 2024 -
“This Wotan clearly came off second-best in his encounter with an imperious, vengeful and bitter Fricka; Karen Cargill berated her errant husband fearsomely right up to her last emphatic consonant.”
Jim Pritchard, Seen and Heard International - 29 April 2024“Theatrically committed and visibly experienced on stage, Karen Cargill is an imperious, vindictive Fricka, whose authoritative, incisive vocals change the course of fate in just ten minutes.”
Pierre Degott, ResMusica - 29 April 2024“Faced with Karen Cargill's prodigious sovereign Fricka (a very good actress with a triumphant mezzo), he can only be defeated.”
Christine Ducq, ForumOpera - 06 May 2024“And then, finally, there's Karen Cargill, a sumptuous Fricka, whose meticulously honed argument can be savored like a brilliant theatrical number, slowly but surely pushing Wotan to the point of apoplexy. Certainly the high point of an intense, but uneven evening.”
Laurent Barthel, Concerto Net - 04 May 2024“Last but not least, Karen Cargill is an absolutely extraordinary Fricka. Incredibly invested dramatically (she's totally liberated from her score), she's undoubtedly the most energetic and theatrical of the cast. As for her voice, it literally dazzles: a marvellous mezzo with dark colors, yet capable of dagger-like high notes. A sign that is not misleading: the famous "household scene" with Wotan, which, interpreted by lesser singers, sometimes becomes a real "tunnel", is literally transfigured here to the point of appearing as the best scene in the opera!”
Pascal Leliévre, Premiére Loge - 06 May 2024“Karen Cargill's Fricka is fierce and vengeful. She possesses the greatest dose of energy of the entire solo ensemble and is very outspoken in her demands in Deiner ew'gen Gattin heilige Ehre.”
Olga De Kort, Place de l’Opera - 02 May 2024“Brian Mulligan as Wotan is just as convincing with his extremely high bass as Karen Cargill as Fricka with her multi-faceted mezzo-soprano.”
Alexander Walther, Online Merker - 29 April 2024 -
“Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill was equally magnetic, from silken top notes to imperious bottom. A preternaturally communicative singer, she had a personal message, it seemed, for everyone in the hall. Her sympathetic partnership with Moore was one of the evening’s bel canto glories.”
Clive Paget, The Guardian - 24 July 2024“...mezzo Karen Cargill, the multifaceted jewel in this Requiem’s crown. Cargill dared so much, drawing you in across the spaces with slivers of sound, winning total intimacy before pulling out all the stops again in chest voice and top-note brilliance”
David Nice, The Arts Desk - 24 July 2024“Mezzo Karen Cargill was the voice of authority, announcing that all is written in the Book of Judgement (and apparently unfazed by having a camera thrust almost into her face as she did so)... There were many vocal highlights to savour... a meltingly glorious duet between Moore and Cargill for “Juste judex”
David Karlin, Bachtrack - 24 July 2024“Mezzo Karen Cargill’s instrument is like butter with attitude (her opening statement of ‘Liber scriptus’ combined opulence and pinpoint accuracy, and the subsequent clipped Ts and rolled Rs added delicious menace), and the most magical moments of the whole evening came from the Recordare duet between Moore and Cargill. Both of them clearly knew the work inside out, and, between them, they created a vocal synergy that is so rare, but so marvellous when it happens.”
Barry Creasy, Music OMH - 23 July 2024 -
“Cargill was full and rich at the top…she nailed her high C at the opening of the fifth door, and she was touching when Judith tells Bluebeard “Hallgass, hallgass, itt vagyok még” (“Look! Look! I’m still here”) even as he’s assimilating her.”
Jeffrey Gantz, The Boston Musical - 10 February 2024“Karen Cargill brought similarly admirable dramatic instincts to Judith…she charted Judith’s journey from lovesick young bride to Bluebeard’s latest resigned casualty with intense fervor.”
Cameron Kelsall, BachTrack - 11 February 2024“Karen Cargill, led the way with some gleaming high notes and a steely lower register…the mezzo brought fire to her character’s demand for the final door to be opened.”
Jonathan Blumhofer, Boston Classical Review - 09 February 2024“Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill made a dramatically savvy and vocally powerful Judith, hues of innocence, curiosity, love, and despair flickering across her face as well as her voice. Her repeated intonations of “Szeretlek” (“I love you”) sounded achingly sincere.”
A.Z. Madonna, The Boston Globe - 09 February 2024 -
“Leah Hawkins and Karen Cargill were simply superb, and especially effective when singing together. It is amazing that two such dissimilar voices could blend so perfectly...Cargill’s voice is a remarkable column of sound that is even from top to bottom. It has a presence that was as impressive in the bold proclamation of the “Liber scriptus,” as it was soaring so beautifully in the moving “Lux aeterna.”
Rick Perdian, New York Classical Review - 28 September 2023“Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill’s vocal qualities were well-matched with Polenzani’s, the pair sounding natural together even though Cargill is a dramatic mezzo and Polenzani a lyric tenor. The alignment mostly resided in the smooth, brassy sound. Cargill, a Grammy nominee, has performed in multiple Wagner operas, and there’s little wonder why. She has serious power and a broad range that dives deep and soars high with equal firmness, making her voice a velvet hammer.”
Chris Ruel, OperaWire - 28 September 2023“The mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill and the soprano Leah Hawkins, soloists in the Requiem, admirably held together their own exposed singing in the “Agnus Dei,” ...the “Recordare” duet, in which Cargill and Hawkins closely collaborated as musical partners while offering distinct interpretations: Cargill, pitiful, prayerful, humbled; Hawkins, persuasive in recounting the beauty of Jesus’ sacrifice.”
Oussama Zahr, New York TImes - 29 September 2023
