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Takesha Meshé Kizart

Introduction

Chicago native and star of the feature film "The Verdian Voice", Takesha Meshé Kizart, was lauded by the prestigious Concorso Internazionale Voci Verdiane "Città di Busseto" as Grand Prize Winner and the next great Verdian Voice of her generation, awarded Grand Prize at Concurso Internacional de Canto Montserrat Caballé by Caballé herself, and has captured top prizes from numerous organizations and competitions throughout the world. A performer since the age of two, she is also the grand-niece of Music Legends McKinley "Muddy Waters" Morganfield and Tina Turner.

Praised for "blasting star quality all over the stage with her stunning voice and sensational good looks" (Opera News), her "powerful, lustrous, silky, caramel-hued soprano wields impressive ease and elegant control" (New York Times). Having appeared with The Philadelphia Orchestra, MIDEM & Radio France, SWR, Baden Badener Philharmonie, The Metropolitan Opera Live HD Broadcast Intermission Feature, and many others, her exceptionally vivid portrayals include the title role of Marie Victoire and Mimi (La Boheme) with Die Deutsche Oper Berlin, Donna Leonora (Il Trovatore) with Staatsoper Stuttgart, the title role of Tosca with Opera North-UK and The Dallas Opera, Donna Leonora (La forza del destino) with Caramoor International Music Festival and The Academy of Vocal Arts of Philadelphia (AVA-2008 Alumnae), Lucrezia Contarini (I Due Foscari) with Opera Orchestra of New York, Costanza (L'isola disabitata) with Gotham Chamber Orchestra, The Duchess (Powder Her Face) with Musikfest Bremen, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with The Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn's Lobegesang with The Fort Worth Symphony, Wagner's Liebestod with Symphony in C, Amelia (Un ballo in maschera), the title role of Vanessa, Anna (Le Villi), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Rossini's Stabat Mater, and Mendelssohn's Elijah with AVA, Desdemona (Otello), Violetta (La Traviata), Giorgetta (Il Tabarro), the title roles of Suor Angelica and Manon Lescaut, Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Lià (L'Enfant Prodigue), Händel's Messiah, Dubois' Seven Last Words, and Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio.

Contracted with engagements through the 2012/2013 season, upcoming appearances include exciting debuts with The Metropolitan Opera of New York; in Recital with renowned pianist Ken Noda; the title role of Tosca with Opera Australia; Margherita & Elena (Mefistofele) with Opera National de Montpellier; the title role of Maria di Rohan with Caramoor International Music Festival; the title roles of Marie Victoire and Madama Butterfly, and Klytemnestra (Cassandra by Gnecchi) under Maestro Runnicles with Die Deutsche Oper Berlin; the title role of Tosca with Die Oper Frankfurt; Donna Leonora (Il Trovatore) in a new production with New National Theatre Tokyo; new productions of Verdi's Requiem, Judith (Bluebeard's Castle), and Tosca with Oper der Stadt Koeln; and the title role of Tosca with Die Bayerische Staatsoper.

This is for information only and should not be reproduced. Please contact Kate Baylis for a full biography and for performance details

Press Reviews

Opera Australia - Tosca - January 2010

Opera Australia achieved a real coup in securing the American soprano, Takesha Meshé Kizart. Kizart played Tosca in Alden’s original Opera North production in 2008 and her performance certainly lived up to its outstanding reputation in the eyes of the first night audience, many of whom gave her a standing ovation. She inhabits the role – her stage presence is breathtaking, her control relentlessly accurate and sublime. The power and depth of her voice gives her soft tones a radiant heat and her loud a fullness textured with subtlety. As the object of Scarpia’s unbridled and terrifying lust - the toy with which he plays a sadistic game - Kizart’s Tosca is beautifully realised, drawing the audience into an intensely personal identification with her love and her fear by turns.
Jennifer Spark, Arts Hub - The Australian Arts Portal

A vital part of that truthfulness is the arresting central performance of Takesha Meshé Kizart as Tosca, embodying this very different incarnation of her character with deep, unwavering commitment. Kizart's Tosca — Alden's Tosca — is a fragile romantic whose beauty far transcends her shabby circumstances, and whose dreams are her only refuge from an unromantic and precarious existence. From the outset she inhabits a world of her own, and every injury she suffers, be it emotional or physical, causes her to retreat further into her own delusions. By the final act she is completely undone, cowering in the confessional, and babbling of mock executions and future happiness to a Cavaradossi who might be dead already, for all the difference it would make. Kizart's singing is as fearless and as eerily beautiful as her characterisation. Her dark, distinctive timbre asserts itself from its very first "Mario!" and never once slackens its grip: she weathers the score's every storm with irresistible, Italianate style. Her experience in the role (and in Alden's staging) pays dividends: she's alive to the nuances of score and text and not afraid to assert her individuality. At the role's vocal extremes — and Tosca does spend most of the opera in extremis — she is sensational. Her "Vissi d'arte" is entirely her own, its soaring climax and exquisite pianissimi blooming organically from the drama, with not a trace of the warhorse about them. Takesha Meshé Kizart defies belief. She was amazing... There was not a single note of this performance I would have changed. She's sensational. I can't do her justice. Her "Vissi d'arte" tonight is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard in any theatre, ever.
Sarah Noble, Prima la music blog

Key to the show's success is the confident performance of its Tosca, debuting American soprano Takesha Meshé Kizart received a substantial standing ovation. Kizart, who has sung in Alden's staging before, meets its unconventional challenges with gutsy self-possession, persuasively charting Tosca's slide into total nervous breakdown. Her fiery, fearless singing explodes with passion; at the role's dynamic extremes - the exquisite pianissimi of her "Vissi d'arte", her vicious confrontation with Scarpia - she is simply thrilling.
Sarah Noble, The Opera Critic

Power, Passion, Politics... Not for the faint-hearted. At the opening night of Opera Australia's new production of Tosca, soprano Takesha Meshe Kizart received a standing ovation for her performance in the title role. Tosca's traumatised reaction to attempted rape and murder rang true. The singing was this production's saving grace. Kizart thoroughly deserved her standing ovation. She gave a magnificent performance, displaying focused line, resounding clarity, a wide range of expressive colour and effortless agility.
Murray Black, The Australian

...the singing was superb...A standing ovation for Takesha Meshe Kizart's Tosca...Many of Puccini's defenders will forgive much to hear Kizart's Tosca. With a voice of bony power leavened by a rich dramatic vibrato, guttural low tones and natural instincts for the dramatic direction and shape of melodic lines, she was superb. Alden's conception requires her to perform the last act as deluded rather than deceived and whatever one thinks of the idea, her dramatic force is consummate.
Peter McCallum, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Brisbane Times

Despite all the critical hoopla over this updated production I enjoyed it and would rather like to see it again. The solo voices were magnificent...Ms. Takesha Meshé Kizart gave a sensuous and sensational performance. Dressed contemporarily ‘to kill’, she was jealous, loving, superior and finally stoic in the face of death. Boots, dress, Ray-Bans and gossamer hair. Her Vissi d’arte was a triumph and the ovation she received ecstatic. The final audience applause included a huge and prolonged standing ovation by a large majority of the stalls patrons...With great singing and Puccini’s immortal score this will not fail to exotically entertain.
Andrew Byrne, The Byrne Surgery Opera Blog

4 Stars... A well-deserved standing ovation given to American soprano Takesha Kizart. At the second performance, the curtain calls for the singers and conductor were uniformly rapturous.   Yes, they were booed for violating the irrational requirement that not only must Tosca be gorgeous (she was) but everything about the opera must be gorgeous - despite the sexual assault and murders. Even Tosca's trademark suicide leap from the parapets is jettisoned, leaving us with the heartbreaking sight of her body slumping on stage. But with singing of this quality, the set designer could have kept the soloists neck-deep in styrofoam without hindering the applause. Kizart's stage presence and acting were certainly impressive, but the voice was an astonishing combination of shimmering colour, emotional suppleness, and sheer power.
Jason Catlett,Time Out Sydney

The production sizzles with drama and raw emotion. US born Takesha Meshé Kizart comes to Opera Australia from performing this role in the UK for Opera North. Her ease within the contemporary setting is obvious, as she saunters across the stage in high-heeled boots and dark glasses, an air of mystery permeating her appearance. The mystery disappears... her raw jealousy dominating their exchange. Kizart’s Tosca is a woman of intense emotion, she is no paper heroine. Her jealousy is a palpable feeling that sets up her later commitment to Cavaradossi. Tosca's main aria, Vissi d'arte, is sung by Kizart in a restrained and internalized fashion... she sings as if to reassure herself as much as anything else. Kizart's voice is a magnificent vehicle for this aria, soaring effortlessly through the melodic line. This is a production marked by fresh innovation and solid performances. Kizart's Tosca is gloriously real.
Karen Finch, Suite101

Long and effusive ovations are one manifestation of this uninhibited investment... the first night crowd at the Sydney Opera House gave plaudits to the singers, bursting into enthusiastic applause as the performers took their bows. The real heat is generated by the friction between Tosca and Scarpia. Takesha Meshe Kizart combines excellent vocal characterization with acting skills and body language that intensify the emotional direction of the score. Kizart excels in the vulnerability she brings to Tosca’s passion, and in conveying her sense of being at the mercy of emotions that are a liability in a cynical world. Similarly, her quiet but adamant insistence ‘paint her eyes dark,’ cuts right to the core of her unsettled love for Cavaradossi – it is always resilient but dogged by insecurity. Kizart also excels in the quiet final phase of the much loved ‘Vissi d’Arte’.
Nick Terrell, M/C Reviews

New Opera Star stuns Sydney. Rapidly rising Chicago born soprano, Takesha Meshé Kizart, had the Sydney Opera House audience on its feet after Friday night's premiere of Puccini’s Tosca. Kizart, who is the grand-niece of music legends Muddy Waters and Tina Turner, earned high praise.
Paul Williamson, The Fool and the Opera Blog

There was some fine singing from a wholly committed cast...American soprano Takesha Meshe Kizart gave a strong performance as Tosca; specially, as in her Visse d'arte...
Ninox, Wandering Ninox Blog

...The opening night of a new production of “Tosca” last week...was a standing ovation...There was real passion in the theatre. It was an exciting performance and interpretation...What unfolded was superb singing and drama...The tension between Takesha Meshe Kizart as Tosca and John Wegner as Baron Scarpia... could have been cut with the knife Tosca stabs him with. And even the bullet in the head from one of Scarpia’s henchmen, instead of Tosca’s traditional suicidal leap from the parapet when she discovers her artist lover dead works! Intrigued – buy a ticket, you won’t regret it. It’s an exciting new take on one of Puccini’s best and most loved Operas.
Bronwyn Bishop, The Punch

Deutsche Oper Berlin - Marie Victoire - April 2009

Besonders gelingt dies Takesha Meshé Kizart in der Titelrolle. Ihr Sopran hat ein wohltuend warmes, fülliges Timbre, er verfügt über Valeurs, Esprit, den nötigen Hauch an dramatisch aufgeladener Erotik.
Jürgen Otten, Frankfurter Rundschau, 10th April 2009

Particularly successful was Takesha Meshé Kizart in the title role. Hers is a pleasantly warm, rounded timbre which is full of richness and spirit and also contains a compelling hint of erotically charged drama.

Das Publikum bejubelte gleichwohl die Sänger, zumal Takesha Meshé Kizart mit ihrer an Jessye Norman erinnernden, höchst differenziert geführten, alles überstrahlenden Stimme.
Georg-Friedrich Kühn, Deutschlandradio (www.dradio.de), 10th April 2009

The audience were equally delighted by the singers, especially Takesha Meshé Kizart who evoked the memory of Jessye Norman, producing a refined and radiant sound.

Die Sänger werfen sich bewundernswürdig ins Zeug: Takesha Meshé Kizart mit Enorm konditionsstarker lyrischer Emphase in der Titelpartie…
Christine Lemke-Matwey, Die Zeit, 16th April 2009

The singers threw themselves into it: Takesha Meshé Kizart with strong lyrical emphasis in the title role.

Die Titelheldin, Takesha Meshé Kizart, ersang sich mit leuchtend leidenschaftlichem Verströmen jubelnden Szenenbeifall.
Laura Naumburg, Neues Deutschland, 15th April 2009

The title singer, Takesha Meshé Kizart, sang with luminous passion to spontaneous applause.

Die junge amerikanische Sopranistin Takesha Meshé Kizart singt die Titelpartie mit angenehm dunkel grundiertem Timbre.
Matthias Nöther, Berliner Zeitung, 11th April 2009

The young American soprano Takesha Meshé Kizart sings the title role with a gentle, darkly rounded timbre.

Als Marie Victoire beeindruckt die US-Sopranistin Takesha Meshé Kizart nach Art einer kleinen Leontyne Price.
Kai Luehrs-Kaiser - Die Welt, 11th April 2009

As Marie Victoire, the US soprano Takesha Meshé Kizart impresses in the vein of Leontyne Price.

Eine zauberhaft zarte, wunderbar ausdrucksvolle, durch wandlungsreiche Emotionalität hinreissende Stimme beherrscht den Abend: Takesha Meshe Kizart singt die Marie mit beglückender Leidenschaft, verleiht der so unzureichend angelegten Figur glaubwürdigen Charakter – betört mit seelenvollem Timbre und geschmeidiger Phrasierungskunst!

A magically gentle, impressive and gorgeous voice dominated the evening: Takesha Meshé Kizart sings Marie with uplifting passion, she gave the imperfect role a more credible interpretation – she infatuated all with her soulful timbre and flexible phrasing.

Der sängerische Glanzpunkt des Abends war ohne Zweifel Takesha Meshé Kizart in der Titelpartie. Eine helle und dabei starke Stimme mit einem angenehm schlanken Vibrato kombiniert diese Sängerin mit einer grossen darstellerischen Begabung.
Dr Martin Knust - Operapoint, 11th April 2009

The vocal highlight of the evening was, without a doubt, Takesha Meshé Kizart in the title role. She combines a clear, strong voice with a soft vibrato with impressive dramatic ability.

…ist Takesha Meshé Kizart eine Sängerin mit grösstem Zukunftspotenzial.
Dr Kevin Clarke - www.klassik.com

Takesha Meshé Kizart is a singer with a great promise.

Contact

Tim Menah

Kate Baylis

General Management: Askonas Holt

US Management: Zemsky Green