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"Speirs makes a big impact with her feisty acting and, when required, her seductive singing."

Seen and Heard International 

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Scottish soprano Rachel Speirs' recent opera credits include the Bird cover in Judith Weir’s Blond Eckbert and Theresa in The Great Stink (English Touring Opera), as well as Titania in The Fairy Queen, Adina in The Implausible Potions of Dr Dulcamara and Musetta cover in La bohème (Longborough Festival Opera). Previous roles include Pamina and Papagena (ROH Create & Sing), Modestina c. in Il viaggio a Reims (English Touring Opera), and Governess in The Turn of the Screw (MusikFermata). This Summer she made her recital debut in the Linbury Foyer at the Royal Opera House, and was soloist in Mozart’s Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall. Rachel is an Artist for the Royal Ballet & Opera Create & Sing programme, and has sung numerous roles in new operas for children, SEND audiences, babies, and people living with dementia for English Touring Opera and the Wigmore Hall. Awards include the Betty Bannerman Award for French Song and the Joyce and Michael Kennedy Award for Singing Strauss. In the 24/25 season, Rachel joins the chorus of Oper Frankfurt on a temporary contract.

 

Coming up...

The Bird (cover) - Blond Eckbert

English Touring Opera

Autumn 2024

Oper Frankfurt 24/25 Season

Rachel will appear in:

Macbeth (Verdi)

Le Postillon de Lonjumeau (Adam)

Guercoeur (Magnard)

Norma (Bellini)

Der Rosenkavalier (R. Strauss)

Parsifal (Wagner)

La Damoiselle élue / Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (Debussy/Honneger)

Reviews:​

"... relish the glossy sensuality of Rachel Speirs' Titania and the feistiness of the soprano's Hippolyta." - Opera Today, August 2023 (The Fairy Queen, Longborough Festival Opera)

"There are a plethora of excellent performances from among the young cast, not least from Rachel Speirs who plays both Titania and Hippolyta. With her highly persuasive soprano, she sings 'Thrice happy lovers' with a sense of drunken sarcasm, which suggests her own marriage to Theseus is far from happy, and feels a far cry from the 'purity' we might expect when it comes from Juno's lips." - Music OMH, August 2023 (The Fairy Queen, Longborough Festival Opera)

"Rachel Speirs as Lotty, meanwhile, has the sweetness of a true soubrette, and in some of the Act 2 ensembles – with all four singers forming a euphonious ensemble and Speirs sparkling up on top – they make an enjoyable case for this unassuming opera as more than the sum of its (pleasant enough) parts." - Gramophone, January 2023 (The Soldier's Legacy, Retrospect Opera)

"Tenor Joseph Doody and Soprano Rachel Speirs are much younger performers than Keeble and Hayes, but are entirely convincing as the two lovers around which much of the plot will revolve." - The Light Music Society, February 2023 (The Soldier's Legacy, Retrospect Opera)

"She has lyric instincts and operatic powers in reserve, and the latter are certainly engaged by 'A sa dame malade'" - MusicWeb International, 2021 (The Fabulous Sir John CD Recording, Divine Art Records)

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