Rachel E. Copeland, soprano
NEWS
Soprano Soloist, Brussels Chamber Orchestra
“Rachel Copeland began with Handel’s ‘Endless Pleasure’ from Semele. Even from her first note, she showed a depth of character and expression in her singing that was subtle and clever. Her range of character interpretation was exemplified in ‘Piangeró la sorte mia,’ from Handel’s Giulio Cesare, where she depicts Cleopatra as both a despairing martyr and a demonic haunt. Her soaring tone carried her voice through all her characters and made both Handel and Mozart truly sparkle…..When Costanzo and Copeland sang duets, many members of the audience reached for handkerchiefs, tissues, sleeves - whatever they could find - for the depth of love and complex emotions stirred in many a breast. The pair was phenomenal, and their complex depiction of character and emotion completely captured the spirit of opera.”
--Andrea McKerlie
Rusalka, North Carolina Opera
“Soprano Rachel E. Copeland [and the other sprites] sang lustrously as the trio of Wood Sprites. Ms. Copeland's singing of the First Sprite's song of admiration for her beautiful hair was appropriately luminous, and when Ms. Schwecke and Ms. Rhodes joined her to complete the trio in praise of their youthful enticements, the close harmonies were sung with accuracy but every appearance of spontaneity. In the opera's first scene, the three ladies' singing glowed with gaiety, and Ms. Copeland's technique proved equal to the First Sprite's long-sustained trill and top As. All of America's regional opera companies should aspire to the high standard of casting of secondary roles achieved by North Carolina Opera in this performance."
--Joseph Newsome
Queen of the Night, Apollo's Fire
“The vocal fireworks of the Queen of the Night were spectacularly set off by Rachel Copeland, whose high arpeggios in her revenge aria delivered like burning hot knife thrusts.”
--Nicholas R. Jones