PRESS

TIME OUT NEW YORK
by David Shengold

"One of America's best young singers, Kentucky's underheralded Daniel Mobbs deploys his smooth bass-baritone voice with musical refinement and linguistic precision, and weds it to a fine dramatic presence. At the Met, Mobbs has looked dapper in a Merry Widow cameo and sung seductively as Yamadori, Madama Butterfly's rejected suitor. His City Opera turn as the Byronic Lord Sidney in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims showcased sensational coloratura runs and flourishes; he returns to the company next March in Rossini's La donna del lago. For Eve Queler's Opera Orchestra of New York, Mobbs has proved outstanding in Weber, Delibes and Puccini; he'll take on more Rossini (Otello) with that company in January.

"But before then, Mobbs anchors Will Crutchfield's "Bel Canto at Caramoor" series, wafting sparkling roulades and finely drawn legato lines across the verdant Westchester estate's lawns. Crutchfield has previously presented Mobbs in works by Handel, Gluck and Verdi. On Saturday 8, Sumi Jo and Barry Banks will trade stratospheric vocal fireworks in Bellini's I puritani, but Mobbs's flowing "Cinta di fiori" may just steal the show. On July 16, Mobbs, Jo and the splendid Maria Zifchak offer Mozart arias and ensembles. And on July 22, Mobbs joins earth-shaking contralto Ewa Podles and soprano Georgia Jarman for more phenomenal Rossinian high-wire dazzle: Tancredi, the composer's first hit. Podles and Crutchfield rang the rafters with this one in Toronto last year; with Mobbs aboard, they'll be aiming for the stars."