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  20 Jan 19 MAHLER - Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen / DU YUN - Where We Lost Our Shadows Aurora Orchestra
  Southbank Centre

  “the Pakistani singer Ali Sethi embroidered exquisite raga material around the colours of western orchestral sounds, eventually joined, to ethereal effect, by the British mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston (who also sang, terrifically, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen).”
  Fiona Maddocks, Observer

  “It is typically eerie and disturbing fare for an ancient folk song, and its transformative journey began with a lyrical arrangement by Iain Farrington, full of blissful harp and Jennifer Johnston’s sensitive, delicate mezzo-soprano… Johnston and the orchestra then moved seamlessly into a rendition of Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, full of tension and grace, an interlude of surety and warmth… The main musical joys were twofold: raga singer Ali Sethi, whose beautiful vocal lines eventually interlaced with those of Johnston’s western tradition, leading us toward a deeply affecting conclusion.”
  Gus Mitchell, Bachtrack

  “Amid all this, Johnston movingly performed Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, forged from “love and sorrow and world and dream”
  Rebecca Franks, The Times

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  14 Sep 19 MAHLER: Second Symphony RTE National Symphony Orchestra
  National Concert Hall, Dublin

  “English mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston captured the mood precisely for one of Mahler’s most poignant passages, one that ends, however, on a note of hope rather than despair, which she pulled off perfectly.”
  Michael Roddy, Bachtrack

  “The RTÉ NSO played Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony under Robert Trevino with the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir on glorious form and a particularly touching contribution from mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston in this most stirring of late-19th-century symphonies.”
  Michael Dervan, The Irish Times

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  29 Jul 18 WAGNER Götterdämmerung
  Bayerische Staatsoper

  “The Rhinemaidens and Norns were, without exception, excellent. I especially loved the contrasting colours – Jennifer Johnston’s contralto-like mezzo in particular – and blend from the latter in the opening scene.”
  Mark Berry, Opera Today

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  02 Jul 18 ADAMS Doctor Atomic
  CD - BBC Symphony Orchestra

  “All else is compelling on every level, with superb British support from Brindley Sherratt as doubtful fellow physicist Edward Teller and three younger generation singers, tenor Andrew Staples, baritone Marcus Farnsworth and contralto Jennifer Johnston, mesmeric in maid Pasqualita’s lullabies.”
  BBC Music Magazine

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  20 May 18 BEETHOVEN: Ninth Symphony Franz Welser-Möst, Cleveland Orchestra
  Severance Hall, Cleveland

  “Erin Wall, Jennifer Johnston, Norbert Ernst, and Dashon Burton were an unusually well-matched quartet of soloists”
  Timothy Robson, Bachtrack

  “The four guest vocalists, soprano Erin Wall, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston, tenor Norbert Ernst, and bass-baritone Dashon Burton, deployed themselves with individual and collective élan.”
  Zachary Lewis, Cleveland

  “Jennifer Johnston brought warmth to the alto parts.”
  Mark Jordan, Seen And Heard International

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  01 Apr 18 HAMILTON Requiem
  CD

  “The soloists are excellent. Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston shines; her powerful intonation of the Agnus Dei is one of the high points. Johnston’s versatile instrument conveys both the tenderness and the drama in this familiar plea for clemency.”
  American Record Guide

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  15 Apr 18 MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde
  Laeiszhalle, Hamburg

  “Was dort fehlte, machte die Mezzosopranistin Jennifer Johnston in ihren drei Liedern wieder wett. Sie bekam und nahm sich mehr und mehr die nötigen Freiräume, um zu gestalten und nicht lediglich mitzuhalten. Mit den ins Verklingen gesungenen “Ewig … ewig …”-Worten im Finale von “Der Abschied”, umspielt vom Sternenstaub aus Celesta, Harfe und Streichern, löste dieser Abschluss ein, was dem Ende des Symphonie-Adagios nicht gelungen war.”
  Joachim Mischke, Abendblatt

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  11 Jan 18 WAGNER Das Rheingold
  Bayersiche Staatsoper

  “den fabelhaften Rheintöchtern (Christine Landshamer, Rachael Wilson und Jennifer Johnston) Hoffnung machte, den ihnen so entraubten goldenen Schatz zurückzuerhalten.”
  Norman Schwartze, Bachtrack

  “Auch die Damen konnten sich in dem Männer-dominierten Vorabend des Bühnenfestspiels sehen und hören lassen! Allen voran die leichtfüßigen und begehrenswerten Rheintöchter Christina Landshammer, Rachael Wilson und Jennifer Johnston, die so betörend sangen, dass man den armen Alberich in seiner Enttäuschung schon etwas verstehen konnte.”
  Gisela Schmöger, Online Merker

  “…the Rhine daughters were superb: Christina Landshamer (Woglinde), Rachel Wilson (Wellgunde) and Jennifer Johnston (Flosshilde).”
  José M. Irurzun, Seen and Heard International

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  26 May 17 MAHLER: Rückert-Lieder Royal Scottish National Orchstra
  Edinburgh/Glasgow

  “Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder brought a real discovery (for me) in the shape of mezzo Jennifer Johnston. Hers is an extraordinary voice, with a chest voice of arresting power that is reminiscent of a contralto. That strong centre to the voice gave her an almost declamatory air in ‘Um Mitternacht’, like an ancient prophetess, before a transcendent, triumphant ending as the singer places her trust in God. The RSNO brass crowned this moment, too, and the orchestra as a whole gave a folksy feel to ‘Liebst du um Schönheit’. ‘Ich bin der Welt’ was then beautifully controlled, allowed neither to wallow nor to lose focus.”
  Simon Thompson, Seen and Heard International

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  25 Apr 17 ADAMS Doctor Atomic
  Barbican, London

  “Dialogue is urgent and complex, offset by the expansive, impassioned outpourings of Kitty Oppenheimer and her Tewa Indian maid Pasqualita, sung in both instances with heartfelt grace by the soprano Julia Bullock and the mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston.”
  Fiona Maddocks, The Observer

  “In Act Two, the human response to the impending catastrophe has a numinous twist in the contralto range of Tewa Indian Pasqualita, a very specific role … The always impressive Jennifer Johnston had exactly the right timbre”
  David Nice, The Arts Desk

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  09 Feb 17 SCHUMANN Das Paradies und die Peri
  Accademia Santa Cecilia; Daniele Gatti

  “Il contralto Jennifer Johnston canta assai bene il ruolo dell’Angelo, ieratica e sicura
  negli acuti, come nel registro medio, conferendo agli interventi angelici
  particolare sacralità”
  L’Ape Musicale 

  ‘Gatti era sostenuto da una compagnia di canto di notevole livello: forza e dolcezza nelle voci di Angel Blue (Peri) e Jennifer Johnston (L’Angelo)’
  Sandro Cappelletto

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  29 Jan 17 ELGAR Sea Pictures
  Hamburg Symphoniker; Jeffrey Tate

  ‘Von ganz anderer kompositorischer Qualität war daraufhin der Liederzyklus „Sea Pictures op. 37“ von Edward Elgar, in dem die Orchesterregister als Begleitung zur wundervoll singenden Mezzosopranistin Jennifer Johnston viel besser aufgefächert wurden. Passend zu „Des Meeres Schlummerlied“ symbolisierten Harfenarpeggien die Gischt und in den Bläsern waren sowohl die Wellen als auch aufsteigende Luftbläschen aus der Tiefe des Ozeans zu hören. Johnstons glanzvoller, in der tiefen Lage sanft schimmernder Mezzosopran veredelte den „Sabbatmorgen auf dem Meer“ nach einem Gedicht von Elizabeth Barrett Browning, der sich plötzlich zu einem schwelgerischen Hymnus aufschwang und mit einem kraftvollen hohen Ton der Sängerin wahrlich heldinnenhaft beendet wurde. Jennifer Johnston überzeichnete nicht und setzte die richtigen Akzente in diesem von allerlei Klangfarbenzauber durchtränkten Werk, das im vierten Lied „Das Land, wo die Korallen blühen“ gar an Puccini erinnerte.’
  Helmut Peters, Die Welt