„Anne Schwanewilms has impeccable technique and innate musicality, knowing just how to use phrasing, word coloration, and dynamic variety to bring out the subtleties of the text and music. She achieved expressiveness with an economy of gesture (…)“
www.vocedimeche.reviews, 17 April 2017
„It’s Anne Schwanewilms who works this magic with her outstanding incarnation. From the beginning, it’s not the German soprano we see on stage but the Marschallin herself, just as Strauss and Hoffmannsthal may have imagined her. It’s more than a performance, it’s an incarnation. It hardly possible to put into words such a strong phenomenon, every syllable seemed to be dictated by the librettist, every inflexion administrated by the composer himself. There was not one gesture, which sense did not became completely accessible, not one expression which did not unfold Bichette’s heart. Her painful insight that time is passing by so quickly, her truthful love for Oktavian and her resignition to set him free – one does not know what to remember most of this portait which is very close to perfection.
If we add her queenlike posture, crowned with flaming red hair, we have tears in our eyes when Anne Schwanewilms enters the stage in the last act, more Marschallin than ever. In the midst of all vocal perfection two moments stand out: At the end of act one, the almost surreal pianissimo on the word „Ros’n“, when her timbre, clear as spring water, seems to float over the orchestra; and in the third act, when her last phrase „Hab mir’s gelobt“ raises with poignant Portamenti melting my heart.“
Nicolas Grienenberger, www.classiquenews.com, 7 February 2017
„Anne Schwanewilms is a safe bet and she did not disappoint. She completely controls her subtle voice which is more than appropriate to mirror the qualities of the Marschallin, from elegance to resignation.“
Esteban Hernández, Platea Magazine, 6 February 2017
The Houston Symphony Orchestra just released a recording of Alban Berg’s „Wozzeck“ with Roman Trekel and Anne Schwanewilms. The conductor is Hans Graf. „The singing is gripping: baritone Roman Trekel is one of today’s top Wozzecks, full-on and volatile, his violence cracked with frailty, and Anne Schwanewilms plays Marie with devastating dignity“, says music critic Kate Molleson from „The Guardian“ in her review. The CD has been released by Naxos on 13 January 2017.
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"Acclaimed for her compelling interpretations of Richard Strauss’s operatic heroines, German soprano Anne Schwanewilms ignites this Wozzeck with a forceful, fascinating interpretation of the prismatic Marie. (…) Vocally, Schwanewilms is as talented a technician as has ever been heard as Marie, and she rivals Steber, Eileen Farrell, Christa Ludwig, and Sena Jurinac for tonal luster in this music. From her lulling ‘Tschin Bum, Tschin Bum, Bum, Bum, Bum! Hörst Bub? Da kommen sie!’ at her entrance in the third scene in Act One to the final note of her part, Schwanewilms inhabits the rôle with conviction, breathing life into Marie with atypical decorum and no shortage of temperament.
www.voix-des-arts.com, Joseph Newsome, 11 January 2017
"But the singing is gripping:… Anne Schwanewilms plays Marie with devastating dignity.“
The Guardian, Kate Molleson, 5 January 2017
Photo: Wilfried Hösl
Photo: Wilfried Hösl
"Anne is amazing… The actual sound makes me want to cry… She has personality, generosity, warmth and humanity…She is one of the greatest Strauss sopranos in the world today…She sings Strauss lieder, for me, like nobody else."
Malcolm Martineau
"She has a glint and sparkle not only in her voice but in her eyes."
Comment by the announcer of the audience reaction
"Strauss’ Ophelia songs are perfect for one of the great singing actresses around."
Comment by the announcer
BBC Radio 3 broadcast of Anne Schwanewilms recital, Glasgow
"Schwanewilms's dynamic control across her range is quite superb, and her expression always rooted in the lyric. She is a masterpiece of physical stillness so that the slightest facial expression or the merest relaxing into the crook of the piano can seem surprisingly dramatic. Martineau, of course, was with her every note of the way, as we expect, but all eyes and ears were on the soprano."
The Herald Scotland, Keith Bruce, 3. Juni 2016