CD – Wozzeck

"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! Hö​rst 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

CD – Wozzeck

"But the singing is gripping:… Anne Schwanewilms plays Marie with devastating dignity.“

The Guardian, Kate Molleson, 5 January 2017

Concert Richard Strauss and Hugo Wolf, Glasgow, 2 June 2016

"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

Concert Richard Strauss and Hugo Wolf, Glasgow, 2 June 2016

"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

Konzert Barbican Centre London – November 2015

"Schwanewilms presented a Countess who could hardly be more different from Renée Flemming in the role. Concerned less with the dubious appeals of her two suitors, poet and musician, than what making the choince will mean to her, she sang herself into a bind of intense loneliness and vulnerability (…)."

www.amati.com, Peter Quantrill, 17. November 2015

Capriccio – Barbican Centre, London

„In fact, Schwanewilms was simply magnificent. (…) It was in fact the perfect complement to Schwanewilms’ stunningly pure, powerful voice, a sound in itself perfectly Straussian.  Schwanewilms’ tuning was also impeccable, but what shone out like a laser beam was her clear and intuitive understanding of the import of the Countess’s final moments in the opera.

The outpourings of the central part of the excerpt revealed a true Strauss soprano. In the full voice of the later stages Schwanewilms was simply mesmeric; yet her unfolding of “Du Spiegelbild” was as delicate as a thread of spun gold.“

Seen and Heard International, Colin Clarke, November 14, 2015