CRITICAL ACCLAIM
THE CHAUTAUQUAN DAILY
As Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflote
"Apprentice artist Darlene Bennett certainly had the vocal equipment to do justice to the stratospheric soprano notes and lightning coloratura of the Queen of the Night.”
THE RECORD
As Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflote
“Darlene Bennett’s Queen of the Night was simply fabulous. Her voice was rich, resonant, and gorgeous. It seemed to float up into the coloratura above high C (high F is called for) with ease.”
OPERA NEWS
As Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflote
“...the edge to Darlene Bennett’s soprano matched her mean, dead-on-pitch Queen of the Night.”
THE CHAUTAUQUAN DAILY
As Gilda in Rigoletto
“Darlene Bennett Johnson, a former Chautauqua Opera Company Apprentice, sang a lovely Gilda that well captured the innocence of the inexperienced, love-struck 16-year-old. Her delivery of “Caro nome” was not only vocally superb, but made the coloratura acrobatics seem natural, not contrived.”
MADDALENA HARRIS IN MEMO'S BY MADDALENA:
As Violetta from La Traviata
"Darlene Bennett, soprano, returns to Opera in grand style!! After a few years of raising children, her true love of Opera has her shining once again on the stage. The very ambitious aria "Sempre Libera" by Verdi, is an Opera [aria] that the best of the best could only hope to master. This is truly Darlene's calling, one that she has always had in her heart, and now has the time to share this gift with opera lovers. Brava!"