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Updated October 14, 2007 |
     
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As Don
Carlo in La Forza del Destino:
“Among this opera's chief glories are the three big tenor_baritone duets, and they sounded sensational here thanks to the performance's biggest surprise, Mark Rucker as Don Carlo. This exceptional but as yet uncelebrated baritone rejoices in a lean, spinning, perfectly focused tone of unfailing natural beauty and vibrancy, while his grasp of Verdi style and phrasing is all but complete.” - New York Magazine “A wonderful surprise was baritone Mark Rucker, rarely heard in New York, who offered a moving Carlo, with smooth legato, great eloquence, and nuanced shadings, and rousing, interpolated high notes.” - Classics Today “Baritone Mark Rucker gave an impressively fierce performance as the obsessive Don Carlo,... Rucker, matched Licitra note for note in their two extended duets.” - New York Times/Associated Press “Baritone Rucker, as Leonora's brother and Alvaro's sworn enemy, made a fine first impression with a vibrant and biting entrance monologue, “Son Pereda, son ricco d'onore,” in the inn scene. He confirmed it by proffering a commanding third act scena, bringing resonance, sensitivity and flexibility to the cavatina “Urna fatale” and urgency to the recitatives and the cabaletta “Ah, egli e salvo!” ” - TheatreScene.net
“Rigoletto really belongs to the baritone– in this case, Mark Rucker, who sang heroically. Rucker moved fluidly from broad mockery of the Duke’s courtiers though the dark recitative “Pari siamo!” into the tender father-daughter duet.” - Opera News “Mark Rucker portrayed Rigoletto, the power and beauty of his voice retaining luster no matter what the dynamics. As an actor, the baritone welled with emotion without becoming maudlin or pathetic.” - Opera News “Mr. Rucker's attractive baritone has the power and projection that makes his voice seem the right weight for Rigoletto. He also brings to the role the coloristic skills needed to give form to Rigoletto's impotent fury, and he is not averse to an occasional sob.” - The New York Times "The production had unmistakable musical strengths on Saturday. Chief among them was Rucker's resonant portrayal of Rigoletto. He revealed the rage behind the laughter, the vulnerability beneath the vengeance. - San Diego Union-Tribune “Mark Rucker hurls himself into the part (of Rigoletto) body and soul. One of the best Verdi interpreters around today, he has the style down pat...” - San Diego Magazine “Special credit should go to baritone Mark Rucker in the title role. Rucker was dramatically and vocally quite commanding. When his firm, powerful instrument was unleashed, it was as if nothing could stand in the way of this force of nature.” - Opera Canada “It’s chief magnet is Mark Rucker as the hunchback jester. He’s a Rigoletto of powerful conviction with a hefty baritone to match. He puts tears into his duets with Gilda and deeply stirs the courtiers who abduct his daughter with his plea Cortigiani, developing it into a subtle mixture of irony and grief.” - The Miami Herald “The evening’s one consistent strength was Mark Rucker, who has the innate dramatic flair to make Rigoletto a sympathetic, affecting character, and a voice with enough weight and nuance to do the score justice. From his posturing and bravado in the first scene to his final, desperate cry-complete with an extra high note that few baritones risk-Rucker commanded the stage. His sensitivity to words and appreciation for the eloquent arch of Verdi’s vocal lines offered abundant compensation.” - The Sun-Sentinel (Miami) “Mark Rucker in the title role is absolutely magnificent. Huge voiced and intensely passionate, he literally breathes this music, as Lipton does, (Maestro Daniel Lipton) as if it is the natural element giving them life.” - The Spectator - Hamilton “When the performance came to dramatic life it was usually with Mark Rucker on stage. The American baritone is a real singing actor, whose railing against the courtiers for Rigoletto's daughter's abduction struck a decisive note of emotional conviction. The very intensity of Rucker's characterization highlighted the stilted look of those surrounding him.” - Toronto Star “This listener was enthusiastic about the singers, particularly about baritone Mark Rucker as Rigoletto. This was a beautifully sung, intelligently acted and an insightful portrait of a character we initially perceived as a bitter monster and grow to sympathize with as a grieving father.” - The Baltimore Sun “Mark Rucker's Rigoletto was an absolute triumph...A wonderful amalgam of acting and singing that made the character of the tortured jester come alive. He is one of the best Rigolettos we have seen in some time.” - WLG Radio Baltimore “This concert was very strongly cast - in the case of the title role, sensationally cast. There has been considerable buzz about Mark Rucker, particularly in this role. It's a pleasure to report that the buzz is right on the money. Rucker commands a big rich, colorful sound which he pours out with abandon - but also with striking intelligence. Every detail of this interpretation has been polished to a brilliant gloss. This baritone sings Rigoletto in the old-fashioned manner, replete with snarls and sobs, but the conviction and the vividness that he brings to the role sweep niggling questions about style right out of the picture. One simply cannot imagine Act III better sung, or Act IV better paced.” - The Newark Star-Ledger “The weight of the show rests primarily on the shoulders of the title character. Rucker created a complex but deeply sympathetic Rigoletto. It's a bear of a role, with almost nonstop singing from beginning to end. But not only did Rucker not tire, as the fate-decreed misery of his life became progressively more apparent to him, he actually seemed to gain strength and intensity. Rucker's vocal production was clear and powerful, but with some real nuance to it. It was a major-league Rigoletto in Every way.” - The Hartford Courant
“Mark Rucker (Macbeth) sang with real feeling for the Verdian legato, phrased most beautifully, and added the 1847 ‘Mal per me’ which he interpreted superbly.” - Opera “Unlike the scenery, Rucker was unflappable. His performance remained deft, concentrated and evenly produced. He has a shapely way with song, which stands him in particularly good stead with Verdi. He was emblematic of opening night at its best.” - The New Orleans Times-Picayune “Baritone Mark Rucker sang with fine line and generous phrasing in the title role. His is a true Verdi baritone, smooth and well-knit from top to bottom. He acted with skill, making the most of his part in the extended duets with Roark-Strummer in Act I and the apparition scene.” - The Baton Rouge Advocate “In the title role, Mark Rucker gave a first-rate performance. Rucker displayed a splendid baritone voice - powerful and with an attractive resonance, especially in the upper part of the range. He portrayed Macbeth's torment and decline convincingly, without becoming overwrought.” - The Salt Lake Tribune “Mark Rucker possess a voluminous baritone. His singing is impressively round-tone and forceful, his ardent vocalism was stirring.” - The Miami Herald “In the title role, baritone Mark Rucker sang with considerable vigor and a tone that rang out firmly, vibrantly. His acting was astute and dynamic.” - Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel As Enrico Ashton in Lucia di Lammermoor: “The vocal gems started arriving early, with Mark Rucker's scene-grabbing first appearance as Enrico, the ambitious conniving brother of Lucia. His baritone voice rang with thrilling edge to it. Much later, he rose to the occasion in his confrontation with Edgardo with one compelling high note after another.” - The Portland Oregonian “Baritone Mark Rucker (Henry Ashton) gave a strong, commanding performance, which included displaying his exciting upper vocal register.” - Opera Canada “Mark Rucker's Enrico was dramatically and vocally passionate.” - Opera “Lucia was preyed upon with able malevolence by baritone Mark Rucker. He set up his character well in the opening scene with his venomous aria ‘Cruda, funesta smania.’ Rucker’s sound had a biting malice, and when he opened up on his high notes in the cabaletta he was a formidable vocal presence. He also softened admirably for his duet with Lucia in Act 2.” - The Orange County Register As Germont in La Traviata: “Mark Rucker brought inner turmoil to Germont, his singing lyrical and ardent. His precarious dignity lent poignance to the Act II confrontation with Violetta.” - Opera News “Perhaps the creamiest voice of all was Rucker's thick, deliciously napped and powerful baritone...his 'Di Provenzia il mar' was perhaps the performance's best vocal moment.” - The Hamilton Spectator (Ont) “Mark Rucker as Germont (had) a splendidly sonorous voice.” - Opera Canada
“Mark Rucker offered a commanding
portrayal of the title role. This Nabucco battled Hebrews and hubris in
dramatically persuasive fashion, all the while pouring - Opera News
“Mark Rucker's Amonasro featured both strong stage presence and potent vocal tehnique.” -Opera News “The only real actor in the cast was the excellent Mark Rucker, a vibrant and intense Amonasro.” - Opera “Mark Rucker's Amonasro was commanding in every respect, his presence especially welcome among principals who acted like part of an Egyptian frieze.” - Opera News “The Amonasro of Mark Rucker was nearly her (Leona Mitchell) equal, and his powerful and splendid voice filled the house.” - Opera “Amonasro, Mark Rucker, was excellent.” - The Boston Globe
“High point of the evening was the Pagliacci prologue. Mark Rucker delivered Tonio with so masterful a blend of vocal power and delicacy of expression, his resonant baritone brimming with highly charged yet controlled emotion, that one could overlook the fact that he was dressed in a tuxedo for the occasion.” - Opera News “Mark Rucker's jealous Tonio was the strongest character on stage both vocally and dramatically.” - Opera Canada “Mark Rucker as Tonio is another major asset. He not only has a voluminous baritone that can boldly sing rather than belt out a line coursely, but he’s also an involving actor.” - The Miami Herald “Mark Rucker’s imposing baritone and vivid acting style made Tonio what he is supposed to be - the opera’s driving force. It was a masterful interpretation.” - The Sun-Sentinel (Miami) “The opening night blockbuster was baritone Mark Rucker's Prologue in ‘Pagliacci’. Applause held up the show with just cause for the baritone gave robust value for money.” - New Orleans Times - Picayune As Tonio in I Pagliacci and Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana: “Fortunately there was some redemption provided by the principals and especially by the baritone Mark Rucker. His voice was generous with a free and ringing top, and his Alfio and Tonio gave meaning to both works.” - Opera “Mark Rucker was an intense, detailed and sympathetic Tonio. Rucker had also proved a credibly menacing Alfio in the earlier 'Cavalleria'.” - Los Angeles Times “Rucker looked the part of the hunchback Tonio in 'Pagliacci' - and he found much character to flesh out in his prologue: There was gripping. lyrical pathos, good humor, bravura and fine tints of irony. His Alfio was always dramatically concentrated and vocally compelling.” - The Orange County Register
“But Mark Rucker's full-throated Count di Luna was the only notable plus in the National Series cast...Rucker was making his Miami debut. He displayed a dark lyric baritone that took 'Il Balen' in supple stride, and he also gave a manly impersonation of the malevolent Luna.” - Miami Herald “Mark Rucker made a convincing Count di Luna.” - Opera News “Mark Rucker's Count di Luna exhibited a fine sense of Verdi Style.” - Musical America “As the villainous Count di Luna baritone Mark Rucker is excellent. Given leisurely support from conductor Dejan Savie, Rucker turns in a characterful Act 2 Il Balen.” - Sunday Times (Ireland) “Mark Rucker is a quite powerful Count.” - Irish Times As the High Priest in Samson et Dalila: “Rucker's High Priest was a standout performance. He declaimed his part so well he actually outsang Dalilah in their duet, which is hard for a baritone to do.” - The Oregonian “Dagon High Priest Mark Rucker sang with forthright tone and was most effective in the second act duet with Paunova.” - Opera Canada As Sharpless in Madama Butterfly: “As the American consul Sharpless, baritone Mark Rucker impressed with his rich voice and authoritative portrayal.” - The Hartford Courant “Mark Rucker as Sharpless, the U.S. Consul to Nagasaki, sang with opulent tone and dramatic intensity. Baritones don't get any better than this. His Sharpless was compassionate and sympathetic, not stiff and wooden as some.” - Springfield (MA) Union-News “And the role of Sharpless, Pinkerton's American confident and consul, was magnificently performed by Mark Rucker.” - Ansonia (CT) Evening Sentinel As Giacomo in Giovanna d'Arco: “For many listeners, however - including this one - the unexpected highlight of the evening was the mastery of baritone Mark Rucker who dominated the stage with his imposing vocal sonority and dramatic muscle whenever he appeared. With a weighty-yet-fluid voice that is ideal for Verdi repertoire, Rucker brought to the role of Giacomo an electrifying heroism that was merely intensified by keen sense of dramatic understatement.” - Scottsdale Progress
“The strongest and most consistent singer in the cast was Mark Rucker, a baritone, as Stankar.” - The New York Times “The best singing of the evening comes from Mark Rucker, who retains the rich sound and forthright vocal style that impressed in OCP's Un Ballo in Maschera three seasons ago. He fashioned an imposing performance of Stankar, the count who plays his daughter's paramour.” - Camden Courier-Post Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast: “The baritone soloist, firm and dark of tone, was the excellent Mark Rucker.” - The Baltimore Sun |
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This site was last updated 10/14/07
