Jennifer France received outstanding critical acclaim for her debut performances as The Princess in Philip Glass’ Orphée with English National Opera.
“First in Chanel black, then in Schiaparelli pink to show her perilous new fondness for the sunlit upper world, Jennifer France as the Princess made a truly auspicious Coliseum debut. Her duets with (Nicholas) Lester, as she entices the poet into her realm of shadows only to despatch him back andjeopardiseher own status as an immortal, had a show-stealing Gothic glamour and shimmer, the voice angelic and fleshly at once.”
Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk
“Jennifer France (ENO debut) as a high soprano Princess (her love aria and duet with Orphée piercingly dramatic) is a couturier’s dream (costumes black and white and then negative reverse). Her surprise magenta gown brings gasps from the auditorium.”
Vera Liber, British Theatre Guide
“…Jennifer France’s electrifying Princess, weaving her spells at the top of the voice, of hint of violence in its razor edge. This is another exciting ENO debut.”
Claudia Pritchard, Culture Whisper
“The best of the singers hail from the underworld, Jennifer France being icily brilliant as the Princess, bringer of death…”
Richard Fairman, The Financial Times
“The excellent cast is dominated by France, by turns glacial, gloriously imperious and exquisite as the Princess.”
Tim Ashley, The Guardian
“Jennifer France, making her ENO debut as the Princess, cut an icy path through the show with sharp costume and clean, precise sound.”
Benjamin Poore, Music OMH
“Jennifer France’s Princess manages to be enigmatic and imperious, embracing everything the dour Eurydice is not. There is an elegance to France’s Princess of Death, a rhythmic power to her characterisation of the role which is faultless. It isn’t just the crystal-like purity, the diamond-cut precision of her singing which is so striking but the way she acts which also gives this assumption such presence. Standing centre stage, swatched in black. She can sometimes seem larger than life; walking in the shadow scene there is a rhythm to her steps which moves in complete harmony with the music. She seems a source of mystery, no more she than when she disappears through the mirrors and fades into the darkness. The voice is tenebrous, yet completely resolute. There is a haunting, but formidable projection to what she sings. And yet she is fundamentally human, capable of seeming completely tragic as she resolves to forego her own love.”
Marc Bridle, Opera Today
“…the night’s most striking performance was Jennifer France as the Princess. Alluring in vocal artistry as well as adept as an actor, France’s performance of the Princess was effortless. Stalking across the stage in patent stilettos, this femme fatale was acutely attentive to performance direction. Dynamic and tonal demands were met hand-in-glove, with France’s pianissimi notably her defining skill.”
Shadi Seifouri, Plays To See
“France has a clarion soprano of great beauty and flexibility all elements of which were on display. Not only a vocal triumph, France encapsulated the dangerous, enigmatic beauty of the Princess.”
Colin Clarke, Seen and Heard International
“…above all it’s down to Jennifer France as the Princess: sensuous and regal in her movements, elegant in her gestures and in absolute, thrilling command of a voice that expanded, through the drama, from diamond-cut poise to tremulous, neon-lit passion. And yet there’s no sense of France upstaging anyone. She’s the dark star around which this whole wondrous spectacle orbits: ravishing, poignant and leaving an oddly uplifting sense that some mysteries are beyond the reach even of art. When in Act One the Princess glided around the sleeping Orphée to a yearning flute melody, a vast image of her unblinking, stricken face flickering behind her, I found myself willing it to continue — and actually resenting the approaching interval. I think the word for that is a triumph.”
Richard Bratby, The Spectator
“…Death, a demandingly high coloratura role that would have taxed Joan Sutherland, heroically taken here by Jennifer France…”
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph
“A strong cast is rightly dominated by Jennifer France, sustaining preposterously stratospheric lines as the Princess…”
Richard Morrison, The Times