“…Elizabeth Llewellyn’s gorgeously sung, unendurably moving Desdemona.”

Opera Otello – July 2022


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Primadonna/Ariadne, Ariadne auf Naxos

Opera North, UK  |  February 2023


“With her rich lower register and opulent high notes, Llewellyn makes an excellent Ariadne, the transformation from grief to rapture beautifully negotiated.”
The Guardian

“The big attraction here is a pair of over-the-top vocal set-pieces: the first for Ariadne, deeply serious and gloriously sustained by Llewellyn”
The Telegraph

“Elizabeth Llewellyn sang her tragic “Es gibt ein Reich” gloriously, and the quality of her gorgeous low register is one of the phenomena of this show that sticks in the memory”
The ArtsDesk

Desdemona, Otello

Grange Park Opera, Surrey  |   June 2022


“There is, thankfully, much human emotion in Elizabeth Llewelyn’s luminous portrayal of Desdemona. Llewellyn’s luscious brandy-and-cream soprano is perfectly produced from the top to the bottom of her voice. She has the vocal heft to ride the huge ensemble at the end of Act Three and still scale down to a poised and heartbreaking ‘Willow Song’ and ‘Ave Maria’ in the final scene as she waits for Otello to come to her bedchamber.”
Culture Whisper 

“…Elizabeth Llewellyn’s gorgeously sung, unendurably moving Desdemona.”
Opera

“Elizabeth Llewellyn’s Desdemona has superb top notes of unearthly directness and purity”
The Telegraph

“Poised between sweetness and dignity, Elizabeth Llewellyn plays a beautifully judged Desdemona.”
Financial Times

 Jenůfa, title role

Welsh National Opera, Cardiff  |   March 2022


“Making her debut in the title role, Elizabeth Llewellyn brought both strong character and immense sensitivity to her portrayal, finding different expressive colours to convey the play of emotions across the opera. Jenufa’s passage from anguished love for Steva to her torment on learning that her baby is dead to her acceptance of a more meaningful love with Laca reflects precisely the humanity to which Hanus had referred, and Llewellyn achieved this with a natural grace.”
Opera 

“With Elizabeth Llewellyn in the title role, it is Jenůfa’s intrinsic goodness that emerges so convincingly: her singing had great poise and lyrical line, she coloured the tenderness and compassion of her character, her agony at Stevushka’s loss simply heart-rending.”
The Guardian

“In her first appearance with the company, Elizabeth Llewellyn shines with all the subtleties this lead role asks for, along with the passions and subtle confidences.”
Buzz Magazine

“Making her role debut, Elizabeth Llewellyn brings to the eponymous heroine a vocal depth and dignity that shines through her transformation from spirited lover to battered, bereaved survivor, empowered by her capacity to forgive.”
The Stage

Alice Ford, Falstaff

Scottish Opera, Glasgow & Edinburgh International Festival  |   July 2021


“Chief among the ladies is Elizabeth Llewellyn, whose rich, opulent voice brings aristocratic warmth to Alice.”
The Times

“Soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn, whose Mimi illuminated Haine’s La boheme, brings a similarly beautiful depth of expression and emotional intelligence to the role of the Windsor wife Alice Ford.”
The Telegraph

“Elizabeth Llewellyn is a magnetic presence as Alice Ford, vocally voluptuous and gently magisterial in character…”
The Scotsman

Title role, Luisa Miller

English National Opera, London  |   February 2020


“Alexander Joel …brought the magnificent third act to the boil, fired by the super-charged singing of Elizabeth Llewellyn in the title-role. Llewellyn has been absent from the Coliseum for too long, but she returned in triumph, singing throughout with a full-throated ease that amply filled the auditorium and portraying the character with a vivid naïvety that even the production’s vacuity couldn’t blur.”
The Telegraph

“…in Elizabeth Llewellyn we get a gorgeously-sung Luisa.”
The Independent

“With her compellingly focused voice, Elizabeth Llewellyn  is superb in the title role.”
The Times

“Elizabeth Llewellyn’s Luisa, richly and subtly voiced, still manages to exude passion and sincerity.”
The Stage

Title role, Aida

Theater Bielefeld, Germany  |   November 2019


“Elizabeth Llewellyn chose Theater Bielefeld for her role debut as Aida…and she has given a gift to the theatre! For her interpretation of this role was highly expressive, touching, and vocally of the very highest quality. She was at the centre of this production at all times, even when she had nothing to sing. Her gestures, her body language, were always like a mirror of her interpretation of Aida. Her solo scenes were sung in a grand and penetrating manner, outstanding in the ensembles. The way she used vocal means to express the feelings of the Aida was an experience.  A really great debut as Aida, for which she was celebrated by the opening night audience with ovations. BRAVO!”
Das Opernmagazin

“Elizabeth Llewellyn, daughter of Jamaican parents, gave an Aida of enormous dramatic urgency….The highly dramatic British soprano effortlessly outshines the concentrated sound of the choir and orchestra, and has a poignant vocabulary of lamentation – an ideal piece of casting for this Bielefeld staging.”
Neue Westfalischer

 

“Elizabeth Llewellyn hatte sich das Theater Bielefeld für ihr Rollendebüt als Aida ausgesucht. Und sie hat damit dem Theater ein Geschenk gemacht. Denn ihre Interpretation dieser Partie war in höchstem Maße ausdrucksvoll, berührend, und gesanglich von allererster Güte. Sie war zu jeder Zeit Mittelpunkt dieser Inszenierung, selbst dann, wenn sie nichts zu singen hatte. Ihre Gestik, ihre Körpersprache, waren immer wie ein Spiegel ihrer Interpretation der Aida. Großartig und eindringlich gesungen ihre Soloszenen, überragend in den Ensembles. Wie sie mit stimmlichen Mitteln den Gefühlen der Aida Ausdruck verlieh war ein Erlebnis. Ein wirklich großartiges Debüt als Aida, für das sie vom Premierenpublikum mit Ovationen gefeiert wurde. BRAVO!”   

Das Opernmagazin

 

“Elizabeth Llewellyn, Tochter jamaikanischer Eltern, gab eine Aida von enormer dramatischer Dringlichkeit. Fast hat man das Gefühl, eine dem Elend und der Erniedrigung verfallenen Protagonistin aus “Onkel Tom’s Hütte” zu begegnen. Die hochdramatische britische Sopranistin überstrahlt mühelos den geballten Klangapparat von Chor und Orchester, verfügt über ergreifende Vokabeln der Klage – eine Idealbesetzung der Bielefelder Inszenierung.”     

Neue Westfälischer

 

Title role, Manon Lescaut

Opera Holland Park  |   June 2019


“The announcement pre-curtain that soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn had only recently recovered from laryngitis was inauspicious, and Llewellyn understandably played it safe at first. But, when in the latter stages, reassured that her voice would hold out, she relaxed and released a wonderfully expressive and dramatic flood of glorious colour, the wait was proven more than worthwhile. In fact, the slight frailty at the start was not inapt, capturing as it did some of the innocence of the young Manon (especially as she is not presented here as a young girl being escorted to a convent), and the blossoming of Llewellyn’s soprano in the final two Acts communicated the maturity and growth borne of Manon’s experiences. Llewellyn exploited the full range of her soprano, including a rich chest voice, encompassing a vast emotional spectrum and sensitively capturing Manon’s femininity. As Manon finds herself at the limits of her resilience, so Llewellyn pushed her soprano to its limits, though never sacrificing her creamily smooth legato, with compelling power and effect. As her voice recovers fully, Llewellyn’s performance will be a persuasive reason to see this production.”
Opera Today

“Star-quality comes at last with the elegant and slightly sphinx-like presence of Llewellyn’s Manon, and a bit of moonshine in her first meeting with Des Grieux;…Llewellyn is perfectly poised and now in near-vintage voice.”
The Artsdesk

 

Elizabeth Llewellyn – Manon Lescaut – Opera Holland Park – Photo Robert Workman
Elizabeth Llewellyn – Mefistofele – Southbank Centre, 2019

Margherita & Elena, Mefistofele

Chelsea Opera Group  |   March 2019


“When I first heard Llewellyn sing, in ENO’s 2010 La Bohème, I admired her ‘warm, generous voice [which] easily reached the rafters of the Coliseum’, and the warmth and generosity of her lyric spinto have only blossomed more richly during the intervening years. She commanded the attention of all in the Queen Elizabeth Hall during the Act 3 prison scene, her soprano falling with a slight duskiness and rising with a rapturous sheen, the projection easy and the phrasing beguiling. If the drama of ‘L’altra notte’ was well-crafted, in the great love duet, ‘Lontano, lontano’, she spun an exquisite, gentle pianissimo; and, when she prayed to God for salvation and rejecting Faust, her dying phrases conveyed every drop of emotional intensity. The spontaneous applause that greeted ‘L’altra notte’ seemed to take Llewellyn a little by surprise, just as she had astonished those in the Hall with such powerful expressivity – an expressively which was equally captivating when she assumed the persona of Helen of Troy in the following Act.”
Opera Today

“The character of Marguerite can seem sweet but empty; Elizabeth Llewellyn had the vocal and dramatic range to make her a truly operatic figure, impulsive yet profound. This was a concert performance to make you long for an opera house staging.”
Evening Standard

 

Cio-Cio San, Madama Butterfly

Royal Danish Opera  |   September 2017


“Llewellyn’s soprano has wonderful fullness and her all-embracing and sweet Butterfly catches Act 1 in the second and third acts so you feel the heartbreaking longing and the unbearable situation she is in. Elizabeth Llewellyn’s fine interaction with the charismatic mezzo soprano Johanne Bock [as] Suzuki, must be emphasized.”
OplevByen.dk

“…the English soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn sings brilliantly as Cio-Cio San, Madame Butterfly”
Sklassisk.dk

“Elizabeth Llewellyn’s portrayal of Cio-Cio San, better known as Madame Butterfly, was exquisite as she conveyed the personal anecdote of this geisha wife through her angelic vocals. Her beautifully layered singing reverberated through the entire roomand made a world outside of her perfectly pitched notes seem obsolete.”
CPH Post

Elizabeth Llewellyn – Cio-Cio San, Madama Butterfly – Royal Danish Opera, 2017 – Photo Mikael Flis
Elizabeth Llewellyn – Magda de Civry, La Rondine – Opera Holland Park, 2017

Magda de Civry, La Rondine

Opera Holland Park  |   June 2017


“Elizabeth Llewellyn is a British soprano… whose rich, lyric instrument produced refined tone at every point in her wide rangeand whose sense of Puccinian style was consistently impressive; she brought to the role of Magda glamour, sophistication and a voice it would be hard to match anywhere in terms of beauty and color.”
Opera News

“The aria, Doretta’s Song, is truly memorable, and especially well sung here by the British soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn, a fine Verdian possessed of a voice that effortlessly fills OHP’s big tent with gloriously unforced sounds.”
Mail on Sunday

“Llewellyn and Lippi soared again in the final duet, and…Llewellyn showed how to make it count with sheer beauty of line and a glorious sheen to the voice. This certainly showed how having a real spinto soprano in the role can count.”
Opera Today

 

Tosca

Theater Magdeburg  |   October 2016


“Tosca operates entirely as a prima donna, both in her set-up jealousy as well as in her iron loyalty. Only alone with her lover is she human.Elizabeth Llewellyn plays these changes as closely as she interprets them vocally. For coquettish and playful she finds warm heart-tones. The sound of each note is beautiful, but the vocal-acting makes her Tosca outstanding.”
Volkstimme

“In the case of “Tosca” [Theater Magdeburg] has engaged a downright dream-cast, which every major house might envy: in the first place to mention is the English soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn who sings and plays a glowing, passionate Diva.”
MDR Radio, Dieter David Scholz

Elizabeth Llewellyn – Tosca – Theater Magdeburg, 2016 – Photo Nilz Bohme
Elizabeth Llewellyn – Suor Angelica and Giorgetta – Royal Danish Opera, 2015/16

Suor Angelica & Giorgetta, Il Trittico

Royal Danish Opera  |   2015 & 2016


“Indeed, the Suor Angelica in particular moved me immensely, especially due to Elizabeth Llewellyn’s sensational debut in the title role… Elizabeth Llewellyn’s role debuts were absolutely thrilling. She was a fine Giorgetta but it was really as Angelica that she gave a truly overwhelming performance. The voice has a beguiling combination of duskiness and velvety warmth. It’s a good size and she rode the orchestra with ease. Her Angelica was shattering, her acting completely raw and so immediate, her vocalism so full and generous that one could not help but be moved. This is a significant role debut for this excellent British soprano, one I hope she will return to very soon.”
OperaTraveller

“Elizabeth Llewellyn [is] strong, open and pivotal as hybrid Giorgetta/Angelica”
Andrew Mellor, @operalastnight

 

Elsa, Lohengrin

Theater Magdeburg  |   September 2014


“In her debut as Elsa, Elizabeth Llewellyn reaped a huge personal triumph. With well-nigh-perfect diction, she modulated her ever-so-slighty smoky timbre from the dreamy forlorness of the first scenes to an unusually strong confrontational tone. Her voice carried to the furthest nook, even in the pianissimo passages, and – almost alone in the cast – she seemed to have power in reserve during even her most outgoing effusions.”
Opera magazine

“A beguiling luminous voice that alternates between perfect dreamy sounds and effortless power, and on top of that offers exemplary diction. This must be a name to remember.”
Neue Musik Zeitung

 

Elizabeth Llewellyn – Elsa, Lohengrin – Theater Magdeburg, 2014

Amelia, Simon Boccannegra

English Touring Opera  |   Sir Mark Elder & Hallé , 2013


“Only one element of the performance truly comes alive. Elizabeth Llewellyn’s Amelia shines brightly: as well as negotiating one of Verdi’s trickiest arias with elegant aplomb and crowning the wonderful Council Chamber ensemble with glory, she also makes the girl’s hopes and fears vivid, suggesting that innocent womanhood can point the way out of the mess that men have made of the world.”
Rupert Christiansen, Daily Telegraph

“Elizabeth Llewellyn continues to fulfil her promise… [with] her powerful and lyrical soprano.”
Daily Telegraph

“Elizabeth Llewellyn uncorks passages of glorious timbre as Amelia…”
The Times

“[ETO] fielded a far superior Amelia, the rising lyric soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn.”
Hugh Canning, Sunday Times

 

Mimi, La Bohème

Scottish Opera | 2020
Theater Magdeburg, Germany   | 2015
English National Opera | 2010


“For her part, Llewellyn delivered her great set-piece aria with immense conviction and unflinching sincerity – a rich, glorious voice that I hope we’ll hear at Scottish Opera again.”
The ArtsDesk, 2020

“Into the mix comes Elizabeth Llewellyn’s warm-hearted Mimi, rich and resonant in tone, with a growing sense of tenderness and vulnerability as the shadow of her impending fate looms larger.”
The Scotsman, *****

“Llewellyn has both a wonderfully fragile edge to her voice and a great natural power, respectively echoing Mimi’s physical and emotional states.”
The Stage, ****

“With her velvet-hued voice, Elizabeth Llewellyn is a dignified Mimì, seemingly more worldly-wise than Samuel Sakker’s youthfully impassioned Rodolfo.”
The Guardian, *****

 

Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni

Bergen National Opera  |   March 2015


“Both the donne were in formidable command of their coloratura…Elizabeth Llewellyn characterizing Elvira with a formidable blend of double cream and gleaming metal”.
Opera magazine

“The ladies…are brilliant in their own way. Elizabeth Llewellyn had authority in her interpretation of Donna Elvira.”
Bergen Tidende

Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte

Opera Holland Park  |  June 2012


“[Dorabella’s] antics … are a foil to the moving vulnerability of Elizabeth Llewellyn’s outstanding Fiordiligi, whose Per pietà is racked by inner sadness.”
The Times

“Cosí has some terrific young singers — Elizabeth Llewellyn’s sumptuously sung Fiordiligi…”
Hugh Canning, Sunday Times, June 2012  

“The vocal blend is ideal: pure, supple and perfectly balanced… Llewellyn makes priggish Fiordiligi human, warm, even funny, in the coloratura pomp of ‘Come scoglio’.”
The Independent

 

Elizabeth Llewellyn – Fiordiligi, Cosi fan Tutte – Opera Holland Park, 2012
Elizabeth Llewellyn – La Contessa, Le Nozze di Figaro – Opera Holland Park, 2011

La Contessa, Le Nozze di Figaro

Opera Holland Park & English National Opera  |   2011


“Elizabeth Llewellyn’s peachy soprano is the perfect sound for the Countess…she moved and acted with dignity, dominating the moral and emotional high ground.”
Opera Magazine

“Indeed, the vocal expressivity of Elizabeth Llewellyn, as the disillusioned, disheartened Countess, was one of the highlights of the evening. Both ‘Porgi amor’ and ‘Dove sono’ powerfully conveyed her distress and established her aristocratic dignity.”
Opera Today

 

Bess, Porgy and Bess

Royal Danish Opera  |  2014
Seattle Opera  | 2018
The Metropolitan Opera  | 2019


“Elizabeth Llewellyn’s Bess was equally captivating. Her golden-toned voice had many colours and convincingly expressed everything from hope to despair, love to loneliness. Her acting was also many-faceted, showing Bess’ vulnerability and most of all why Bess loves Porgy”
Seen and Heard International

“Only Elizabeth Llewellyn stood out, not just as the only singer who did not force her voice to cope with the acoustics of the opera and the grand orchestral playing, but as a singer with so rare a combination of grace and strength, reminiscent of a young Leontyne Price.”
Information.dk

“Angel Blue sang Bess in the Met’s new production of Porgy and Bess and she was wonderful… Equally good, yet very different, was the single performance of Bess given last October 13 by British soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn… Seattle had all gushed about her gorgeous voice, passionate and highly musical singing, beautiful appearance, and intense acting. When I saw that she would be coming to the Met to make her debut, I had to be there. 

“Llewellyn’s interpretation of Bess was, to me, a confident assumption of a character who is often lacking in confidence. She made no effort to be endearing to the audience, even as she sang the glorious Gershwin music. I found her take on the character most persuasive.”
WQXR – Operavore