Aeneas: Dido and Aeneas / Les Surprise at Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier 2026
“…the phenomenal Grace Durham, as moving as she is charismatic.”
Le Figaro
Aeneas: Dido and Aeneas / Ensemble Les Surprises 2026
“Grace Durham was a passionate and very dramatically attuned Aeneas, with exemplary diction.”
Classykeo
“Before hearing Grace Durham, finally, Aeneas had never seemed so moving, so sincere in his heartbreak at having to leave Carthage: we had admired the British mezzo-soprano as an outstanding recitalist, we find her again a few years later on an opera stage, and we urgently want more.”
ConcertClassic
“The English mezzo-soprano Grace Durham delivers a compelling performance as Aeneas; her perfectly controlled and brilliant voice is ideally suited to the role of the fugitive prince. An excellent actor, Grace Durham brings out with incomparable brilliance the conflicting emotions of Aeneas, madly in love with his queen, yet pressured by the gods and the enchantress to follow his destiny, even at the cost of a human life.”
cult.news
“Grace Durham wins over the audience, aided by the acting talents and the generous and elegant voice of the British mezzo-soprano.”
Forum Opéra
“Grace Durham, as Aeneas, who shares with Dido a tempestuous love and the same mezzo-soprano range, is equally committed to her dramatic performance, oscillating between passionate love and loyalty to divine duty. In this character, the inner conflict is palpable in her multifaceted singing, beautifully projected and resonant, and with meticulous diction in both sung and spoken passages.
Olyrix
Ariodante / Royal Ballet & Opera, London, 2026
“Grace Durham’s voice is attractive, warm, flexible, with lovely little subtleties and grace-notes, the fearsome roulades of ‘Dopo notte’ brilliantly dealt with.”
The Critic
Tisbe: Cinderella (La Cenerentola) / English National Opera 2025
“Isabelle Peters and Grace Durham made the most of their opportunities to shine as Cinderella’s stepsisters, Clorinda and Tisbe.”
Bachtrack
“Isabelle Peters and Grace Durham were a deliciously horrid double-act as the stepsisters.
The Guardian
“As the sisters Clorinda and Tisbe, Isabelle Peters and Grace Durham steered a judicious line between opera and pantomime.”
Seen and Heard International
“Isabelle Peters and Grace Durham excelled as the two greedy sisters in their parody frocks.”
The Telegraph
Sadoc: Rex Salomone / cpo CD 2025
“Grace Durham is a pleasingly smooth and steady mezzo.”
Gramophone
Zaida: Il turco in Italia / Glyndebourne 2024
“Grace Durham brought sympathy to Zaida, her plangent mezzo full of colour.”
Bachtrack
“Grace Durham combines an air of melancholy with her exacting, lyrical account of the gypsy fortune teller Zaida…”
Classical Source
“There was sparkling singing from Grace Durham as Zaida, who plays the down-to-earth rival for the affections of the amorous Turk. Her scenes with the crystal ball, for instance, and the “catfight” between Fiorilla and Zaida, were full of wit and very amusing.”
Classique News
“Grace Durham’s Zaida is outstandingly lyrical and has a lot of warmth in her voice.”
Klassik Begeistert
“Grace Durham’s luscious tone made her a more than usually noticeable Zaida.”
Opera
The Presenter: New Year / Birmingham Opera Company 2024
“Grace Durham and Oskar McCarthy seize their moments sharing the role of Tippett’s presenter-cum-narrator.”
The Guardian
Sadoc: Rex Salomon / Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik 2023
“Grace Durham displays a sumptuous timbre. Her voice seems to have taken on even more roundness and radiance. The contest that elected her the big winner of 2019 was not wrong.”
Baroque News
“There are no reservations about Grace Durham’s Sadoc, a technically impeccable mezzo-soprano, absolutely in command of the music and the elaborate decorations in the da capos. Her richly textured voice projects superbly.”
Opera in Casa
Angelina: La cenerentola / Nevill Holt Opera 2023
“Notable especially for her coloratura, by no means easy, Grace Durham, full of character, certainly dazzled. She exuded innocence, honesty and all those qualities which the Prince intuitively and unexpectedly spots in her.”
Classical Music Daily
“Grace Durham brings real heart to the role of Angelina as she reveals a highly distinguished and moving mezzo-soprano.”
Music OMH
“Grace Durham, in the title role, was entirely endearing; her expressive eyes and sad little sighs complemented singing that pulled off the unlikely feat of being both tender and brilliant.”
The Spectator
“Cenerentola herself is sung with warmth, dignity and considerable technical aplomb by Grace Durham.”
The Stage
Kuchtík: Rusalka / Garsington Opera at Wormsley 2022
“…a lush mezzo, Grace Durham, a name to watch…”
Opera
“John Findon and Grace Durham are a characterful duo in the kitchen…”
The Telegraph
“…there is a fine double act between Grace Durham’s cheeky cook and Dominick Felix’s put-upon gamekeeper, both giving characterful cameos.”
Wales Arts Reviews
Giovanna: Rigoletto / Zurich Opera 2022
“Grace Durham was a spirited, strong-voiced Giovanna.”
I Hear Voices
Recital with Edward Liddall / La Bibliothèque La Grange-Fleuret 2022
“Is it impossible, then, to sing French as it is spoken? Of course not – and it is a British artist who proves it, alining herself with a long tradition of French singer-speakers in a way that many native Francopohones would envy.”
Première Loge
Recital with Edward Liddall / Musée d’Orsay 2022
“One of the great joys of a music lover’s life is to discover at the start of a career, new talent. In addition to her opulent and supple voice, perfectly projected and controlled, she also displays other major qualities such as charisma and intelligent use of text…this recital is a peak of the season and the revelation of a radiant artistic personality.”
ODB – Opéra
“Haydn’s cantata Arianna a Naxos allowed Grace Durham’s talent as a true actress to bloom…but it was in La dame de Monte-Carl, another opera in miniature, that all her qualities truly came together: French that the French themselves would envy, a natural theatricality that brought every line of Cocteau’s text to life, and a superbly rich vocal timbre.”
Première Loge
Mercédès: Carmen / Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse 2022
“As Mercédès, Grace Durham with her tangy, well-projected mezzo has an ease on igh that enables her fully to take her party in the ensembles and finales.”
Olyrix
International Cesti Competition for Baroque Opera 2019
“In fact, nothing seems beyond her: she has a secure grasp of breath control, vocal flexibility, clarity of attack, quality of projection, energy and expressivity. Her vocal timbre is very attractive and her stage presence entirely convincing…the icing on the cake was the accompanied recitative preceding the aria – it was absolutely perfect, showing her to be a true actress…There is little doubt that one day Durham will be dazzling us with vocal fireworks in the manner of Hallenberg or Genaux.”
Baroquiades
“The jury’s winner was mezzo-soprano Grace Durham from Great Britain, who was the final performer of the main concert, and sang again after the prizes were awarded. She chose not Handel but Johann Adolph Hasse’s Cleofide and from this opera presented the title character’s aria ‘Son qual misera colomba.’ She began with an extended recitative before putting the great flexibility of her warmly flowing mezzo-soprano to the test in breakneck runs. The variations and ornaments she added further allow us to imageine that this singer has a great career ahead of her.”
Online Musik Magazine
“we agree wholeheartedly with the jury’s verdict. The winner was the British mezzo-soprano Grace Durham, whose voice is rich and technically secure. More than with the Melani aria – in this case Acrimante’s ’Se d’amor la cruda sfinge’ – her extremely well deserved victory came with her second aria, ‘Son qual misera colomba’ from Hasse’s Cleofide, a score replete with obstacles not only in terms of coloratura but also, and especially, for the variety of colours it requires. All this goes to show that in competitions – at least in those as unarguably serious as the Cesti – the winners are those who dare to put themselves completely on the line.”
Le Salon Musical
Cherubino: Le nozze di Figaro / Semperoper Dresden
“Grace Durham’s Cherubino came up trumps.”
Seen and Heard International
From Purcell with Love / Les Talens Lyriques at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik
“Traditionally sung by light voices, Grace Durham surprises us with her full-voiced performance, with a rich, round and supple mezzo that gives weight to every note and every word. The text comes across clearly, as if spoken, and we rediscover this music in a new light.”
Baroque News
“Purcell’s dramatic and emotional genius, conveying pain through the vowel sounds, the nuances, the emphasis of the consonants and the precision of the coloratura – his ability to convey the varieties of love through his musical expression.”
Tiroler Tageszeitung
Rosina: Il barbiere di Siviglia / Lyric Opera, Dublin
“Grace Durham was a pert Rosina.”
Opera
Clare: 4.48 Psychosis / Semperoper Dresden
“Grace Durham provides one of the most strongly emotional moments of the evening with a song in the style of Purcell.”
Concerti.de
“The six excellent singers act and sing their challenging roles within the complex, multi-layered structure of the piece with intense passion and high-class vocalism.”
Deutschlandfunk
Songs of Richard Strauss / Semper Matinée, Semperoper Dresden
“The young mezzo-soprano Grace Durham performed her songs with dramatic commitment and a powerful voice.”
OnlineMerker
