in concert, bayerische staatsoper opening of the ja, mai festival 2023

The next musical part presents three arias of Claudio Monteverdi. Immediately I discover the pattern like Hosokawa. The soprano voice in "Ohimè ch'io cado" is the musical line, the brush, the harpsichord the surface of the basso continuo. I follow the elegantly swinging voice brush Jessica Niles' from the opera studio of the Bavarian State Opera fascinated. Her voice is bright, clear and full of energy.

In Monteverdi's second aria "Sì dolc'è il tormento" the harpsichord acts more like a reverberation of the voice. What resoncts on the musical surface when the musical line is drawn? In the third aria "Damigella tutta bella" Jessica Niles is allowed to reveal her acting talent. She plays with me - the entire audience. Her singing is enticeful, which she herself rhythmically supports with a tambourine.

What wonderful lightness and at the same time precisely meticulous nuanced perfection Jessica Niles' voice has. A deep touching moment, which is intensified by the silence of the audience between the three arias in me.

—Klassik begeistert (translated from original german)