‘Eyley tackled the complex, rippling notes and some demanding high notes with nonchalant ease. Fe’germolgliare il fato was easily the highlight of the evening: a showpiece of agility, punctuated by French horns and underlaid by a beautiful oboe obbligato. Eyley was brilliant, turning out some long, swelling notes and adding plenty of supple ornamentation in the da capo, before rounding everything off with a ringing high note’
‘Harriet Eyley was regal as Meleagro. Her statuesque poise, enhance appropriately by the suggestion of an imperial blue toga, added to the majesty of her rich, sonorous singing a notable dignity and authority’
‘As the heroic Meleagro, soprano Harriet Eyley combined warmth and litheness. She captured the prince’s earnestness in Sol voi rese il ciel cortese, praising the Emperor’s glorious virtue, while Fe’germolgliare il fato was an absolute delight, [with] her finely shaped Gluckarian phrases’
‘Harriet Eyley gives a magical two-fold performance as the cute dungaree-clad health drink seller, Norina, who transforms into a vivacious valleys siren and turns both Pasquale and Ernesto’s worlds upside down with love and desire while she dazzles the audience with her beautiful soprano delivery.’
Entertainment South Wales
16/05/2019
Behind the Arras – Un Ballo in Maschera – Welsh National Opera
“Oscar
was sung quite beautifully on Press night by young Derbyshire soprano Harriet
Eyley. Her huge voice belies her diminutive size. It is a voice with a
wonderful warmth, clarity, and tone and she exudes charm on stage, and, in this
role, a sense of mischief and fun whenever she appears. Definitely one to
watch.”
The cast’s well-schooled voices showed their mettle, achieving striking impact. As Tytania, Harriet Eyley emitted sprays of notes that shot out like balls of mercury.
Opera Magazine 05/2018
21/04/2018
Seen and Heard International – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“Her coloratura is secure…within magnificent technique. She was at her best – and very memorable indeed- when the ass was wooing her.”
As the Vixen, the soprano Harriet Eyley displayed thrilling brightness and vocal intensity, conveying the character’s vulnerability as well as her confidence and insouciance. In the moonlit interlude her soaring lyrical lines blazed with passion.
Opera Magazine10/02/2018
Classical Source – The Cunning Little Vixen
Classical Source – The Cunning Little Vixen
“Harriet Eyley is a triumph as the Vixen, captivating vocally and dramatically and conveying a lovely innocence and ferocity.”
“Harriet Eyley gave a sparky performance as Vixen, subversive in the farmyard and touching as she discovered first love. She was generous with her higher register and there’s clear technique behind her singing.”
‘It also needs a sterling Thérèse to initiate the absurdities and sustain the (in)credibility of the ensuing preposterousness, and in Harriet Eyley, the RCM were blessed with a fine singing actress who projected imposingly but with a vocal warmth which assuaged some of Thérèse’s feisty unreasonableness. The challenging coloratura was sung with penetrating precision and a sparkle of panache.’
The Critic’s Circle – Faramondo – The London Handel Festival 2017
“Soprano Harriet Eyley as Clotilde sang with volume which belied her diminutive stature, and summed up the confusions all around as she delivered a despairing monologue aria while swigging from a gin bottle.”
Classical Source – Faramondo – The London Handel Festival 2017
“Harriet Eyley appeared as a demure Clotilde, Faramondo’s sister, but her solid singing suggested otherwise, and she emerged with triumphant vigour in the memorable and virtuosic aria ‘Combatutta da due venti’ (the opera’s hit number) which she enacted slickly and amusingly.”
Planet Hugill – Faramondo – The London Handel Festival 2017
“Harriet Eyley really grasped the opportunities offered to her, and faced with a performance of such engaging charm and vivid vitality, had the gift of not just being able to sing the arias, but to make us believe in them, her gamine charm coming over and winning our hearts.”
