Reviews

Celebrating Strauss | Sydney Youth Orchestra

“The Four Last Songs saw Cheryl Barker’s welcome return to a Sydney stage after too long an absence. Hers was a compelling and moving reading of the composer’s farewell to music …..

Barker has lost nothing of her dazzling technique, excellent diction and radiant timbre. These four settings of poems by Hermann Hesse and Joseph von Eichendorff exploit the singer’s range and control to the full and Barker was more than equal to the task.”

Steve Moffatt
Daily Telegraph
December 10, 2018

Richard Gill Memorial Concert – Music By Strauss | Sydney Youth Orchestra

"Barker has lost nothing of her dazzling technique, excellent diction and radiant timbre.  The Four Last Songs saw Cheryl Barker’s welcome return to a Sydney stage after too long an absence. Hers was a compelling and moving reading ….. Barker has lost nothing of her dazzling technique, excellent diction and radiant timbre. These four settings of poems by Hermann Hesse and Joseph von Eichendorff exploit the singer’s range and control to the full and Barker was more than equal to the task”

Steve Moffatt
Wentworth Courier
December 10, 2018

Hamlet (Brett Dean) | Adelaide Festival

“… while Cheryl Barker creates a deeply conflicted Gertrude of warmth and feeling.”

Peter McCallum 
The Canberra Times
March 4, 2018

" …. Cheryl Barker gave a strong interpretation of Gertrude and the bedroom scene with Hamlet was especially well played.”

Fran Edwards
Claim Adelaide
March 3, 2018

Madama Butterfly | Welsh National Opera

“… the graceful flow of her movements, even in her greatest despair, was an elegant reflection of Butterfly's name and the fragility it embodies.”

Rian Evans
The Guardian
February 18, 2013


“In this latest revival of Joachim Herz’s production of Madam Butterfly the leading role, Cio-Cio-San, is taken by Cheryl Barker who gives us a strong, passionate performance that relies on her ability to take Puccini’s music and squeeze out every ounce of emotion.”

Mike Smith
WalesOnline
February 18, 2013

Die Tote Stadt | Opera Australia

“As Mariette, Cheryl Barker had the combination of strength and warmth that has become her hallmark.”

Peter McCallum
Sydney Morning Herald
July 2, 2012


“Her richly coloured timbre and energetic portrayal capture the latter’s beguiling nature while her pure-toned intensity make a haunting impact as Marie.”

Murray Black
The Australian
July 2, 2012

Capriccio | Opera Australia

“Cheryl Barker, a gracious Marschallin last year, is reserved and discreet throughout, until her last 20-minute soliloquy, when she opened out with her customary rewarding vocal fluidity and warmth.”

July 2011

Der Rosenkavalier | Opera Australia

“…Cheryl Barker, in her role debut, brought to the Marschallin all her gifts as a compelling singing actress, ….mature, intelligent and insightful;”

Deborah Jones
Opera
January 2011


“… it is Cheryl Barker who supplies the tears. Her Marschallin is this show’s heartbeat, her palpable fragility framed in a portrayal both dignified and devastatingly human. This is no aloof grande dame; Marie Therese is only thirty-two, and Barker accordingly plays her as a woman still on the cusp of middle age, in whom the spark of youth is locked in a visible struggle against time’s steady march. Her achingly direct delivery is underpinned by a dark, shimmering timbre which does justice to Strauss’s swooning vocal lines but gives short shrift to self-indulgence – not a Marschallin to luxuriate in, but a searingly beautiful one.”

Sarah Noble
The Opera Critic
October 2011


“… her creamy, luscious timbre is ideal for the role. Barker’s full-bodied tone and shapely phrasing conveyed her character’s warmth while her superb sotto voce singing made a compelling impact in introspective passages....”

Murray Black
The Australian
October 7, 2011


“… Cheryl Barker was magnificently in her prime,...... Singing with full and thrilling richness, she was elegant, magisterial and deeply human in both theatrical and musical persona, full of tart and mellow fruitfulness.”

Peter McCallum
Sydney Morning Herald
October 4, 2011

Francesca da Rimini | Holland Park, London

“.... Cheryl Barker are fabulous as the lovers, singing with palpable sensuality and really convincing you that their feeling for each other are escalating beyond reason or control.”

Tim Ashley
The Guardian
August 4, 2010


“All praise to Cheryl Barker’s Francesca, an incredibly assured rendition of a near impossible role. …the vocal performance here reminds us once again of her underlying stamina.”

Musical Criticism Online
August 2, 2010


“In a huge role that makes Tosca seem like a walk in the park, Barker gave everthing and still sounded fresh at the end.”

Richard Fairman
August 3, 2010


“… Cheryl Barker tireless in the formidably challenging title role.”

Fiona Maddocks
The Observer
Sunday 8 August, 2010


“…above all the Francesca of Cheryl Barker would be luxury casting anywhere in the world. Nothing was too much of a challenge for Barker, radiant in appearance and voice throughout.”

The Spectator


“With focused, lustrous voice, Barker - looking as gallingly beautiful as any Giotto fresco - made a magnetic and forthright Francesca, rising to the role's formidable challenges of both tessitura and sheer stamina while carving out a compelling characterisation... a potent and thrilling combination.”

Sarah Noble
The Opera Critic
August 2010