Press

A summary of James' recent reviews and other appearances he has made in the press.

"The Magic Flute": The Opera Critic, September 29th 2009.

"James Benjamin Rodgers was a splendid Tamino. Throughout he sang with great passion and clear diction. His portrait aria had that almost heroic tone that I like to hear in Tamino."

 

"The Magic Flute": Theatrereview, October 2nd 2009.

"In this Magic Flute, from the firmly incisive and lyrical voices of Tamino (James Benjamin Rodgers) and Pamina (Rebecca Ryan), to the Two Priests .... everyone sings with perfect intonation, firm tone, clear diction and a very welcome consistency of expressive and legato phrasing. I would be impressed with this ensemble anywhere in the world."

 

Schwabacher Debut Recital Review: Jason Victor Serinus, Classical Voice, March 8th 2009.

"Rodgers exhibited a winning, well-produced tenor, strong and virile at the core."

"How many tenors who hail from New Zealand can put across the Neapolitan songs of Francesco Paolo Tosti as if born and raised in southern Italy? James Benjamin Rodgers can.The Tosti set was wonderful. Rodgers produced a caressingly beautiful sotto voce in the middle of the song "Non t'amo piu" (I do not love you any more), and a lovely falsetto at the end of "A Vucchella" (A sweet mouth). He also treated us to the first of the many times he used his eyebrows, mouth, and gaze to charmingly illustrate a song...taken as a whole, the singing was marvelous."

"Rodgers did a fine job with the eight songs of Britten's Winter Words, songs that he clearly relished performing."

"Complete with another opportunity to indulge in his marvelous falsetto, Rodgers' beautiful delivery of his fellow New Zealander's songs (Douglas Lilburn's "Sings Harry") led the appreciative audience to demand an encore. Thus came Youkali. Pulling his voice back, balancing requisite spite with a beautifully sweet high ending, Rodgers gave us Weill by way of Edith Piaf. Rodgers could well develop into a recitalist of distinction."

 

Merkin Hall Recital Review: Harry Saltzman, New York Concert Review, Winter 2009.

"Mr. Rodgers has a very well produced tenor voice, one whose many colors were not only a joy to hear, but were always used in the service of the texts he was declaiming."

"The high point of the recital was Rodgers' riveting performance of Kurt Weill's "Four Songs to texts by Walt Whitman"....Rodgers sang them with perfect diction and emotional restraint. He seemed to be inside the songs, singing without artifice."

"In the Rachmaninoff, Rodgers let loose with some very exciting singing."

 

Schwabacher Recital: San Francisco Opera Centre.

Information on James' upcoming recital in San Francisco.

 

Albert Herring Review: Joshua Kossman, San Francisco Chronical. July 22nd, 2008.

"At the center of the production, happily, was tenor James Benjamin Rodgers, giving a detailed and vocally resplendent performance in the title role. Rodgers, whose limpid tone and impeccable diction matched his frail, slightly ethereal stage presence, traced Albert's metamorphosis in both theatrical and musical terms."

 

Albert Herring Review: Jason Victor Serinus, Classical Voice. July 20th, 2008.

"As her unlikely antagonist, New Zealand tenor James Benjamin Rodgers portrayed the virtuous-by-default Albert Herring with rare physical mastery. At the coronation banquet, he slumped blank-faced and diminished; once liberated by alcohol, he was vaulting over platforms without resorting to cheap drunk mannerisms. "

 

Albert Herring Review: Linda Ayres-Frederick, San Francisco Bay Times. July 24th, 2008.

"It doesn’t hurt having a fine tenor in the lead role (James Benjamin Rodgers) who can not only hit all the notes but mine the comic moments as well. His wide-eyed dead pan expression - reminiscent of Buster Keaton - is particularly charming conveying all the bewilderment of a man out of his element."

 

Street Scene Review: Judith Malafronte, Opera News. May 2nd, 2008.

"Rodgers, with an affecting voice and a dreamy, Clark Kent look, turned in a terrific performance as Sam Kaplan, the repressed and bookish law student willing to scrap it all and run away with Rose to a better life."

 

Street Scene Review: Vivien Schweitzer, New York Times. May 3rd, 2008.

"The Manhattan School of Music’s smartly produced, professional-quality production, which opened on Wednesday in the John C. Borden Auditorium as part of the conservatory’s 90th-anniversary celebration, vibrantly conveys the conflicted lives of the tenement’s gossipy inhabitants....James Rodgers is ardently hopeful as Sam Kaplan, her rejected admirer."

 

Joy in Singing Website: James' Profile.

James appears on the Joy in Singing Website as winner of the competition in 2008.

 

Albert Herring at the Fort Mason Center.

Advertisement that appeared on their website for the upcoming production of Albert Herring.

 

Wellingtonian Newspaper: Finding Joy in SInging. May 22nd 2008.

James' talks on his recent success in the "Joy in Singing Competition" and his hopes for the future.

 

Kurt Weill Foundation Newsletter. Spring 2007.

The article talks about the Lotte Lenya competition finals. Load the PDF file and schroll to page 7a.

 

Kurt Weill Foundation Website: James' Profile.

James appears on the Kurt Weill Foundation website as winner of the Lotte Lenya competition in 2007.

 

The Blenheim Sun Article. July 2006.

Article outlines James' reciept of a scholarship from the Manhattan School of Music in July, 2006.