“The start of a brilliant career as a soloist…she mastered the role in English, everyone else sang in Italian. What to do? The solution was simple, if a bit bizarre: while an actress silently mimed Asteria on stage, Caroline Taylor sang her role at the edge of the stage in her evening dress, and she, who had rehearsed the role in English, sang the Italian text line for line of sheet. Not only did she save this evening – a cancellation of the performance would have been inevitable: she was simply fantastic. Her crystal-clear, highly melodic soprano filled the shabby chic auditorium and stage […] The extremely attractive Caroline Taylor thus became the focus of this extremely aesthetic, consistently excellent vocal performance of Handel’s “Tamerlano” – and if I am not greatly mistaken, this last-minute step-in not only saved this first-class performance, but the starting signal for one brilliant career as a singer. The well-known aria ‘Se potessi un dì placare’, interpreted in a highly musical way, became the undisputed highlight of the evening […] The great Caroline Taylor was of a different caliber: during the final applause, she unmistakably earned the strongest cheers.” (KLASSIK BEGEISTERT, Dr Charles E. Ritterband)
Read the full review (originally in German)
“Illness prevented Sophie Bevan from taking that part…sung instead by Caroline Taylor from the side as Louise Bakker silently acted…Taylor, who sang the role in Cambridge earlier this year, creates as vigorous and determined account as then, whilst holding back tenderness for when she is finally reconciled with Andronico, her true lover […] Standing alongside this Festival’s memorable productions of Agrippina and Belshazzar in recent years, and at a time when Handel’s operas are being increasingly staged again, this current run should serve as a revelation to those who doubt or are unacquainted with them as a viable art form.” (COLIN’S COLUMN, Curtis Rogers)
Caroline Taylor 