Soprano Lee Bissett, whose roots are in Helensburgh and Inverbeg on Loch Lomondside, was superb in opera’s Der Ring.
Reviewing Longborough Festival Opera’s Der Ring des Nibelungen for Reaction, Gerald Malone writes,
“The cast was superb. I will single out Lee Bissett. The Scottish soprano inhabited Brünnhilde.
From the moment of first appearing in Die Walküre, leaning black-clad defiantly – no horned helmets, deo gratias – into the audience with her sisters, through the touchingly naive scene when she is rescued by Siegfried from her circle of fire, clueless about what the physical act of love implies for humans, to the end when she rides fearlessly into that fire.
Bissett’s voice can carry off the taxing role, but it is her consummate artistry that enthrals the audience.
Brünhillde on her helter-skelter journey. Through her banishment by Wotan, rescue by Siegfried, disillusion when – drugged to the eyeballs – he forgets her in Götterdämmerung and ultimate resolution when she is reunited with him in the ride into his funeral pyre.
I hope during the run there were casting directors in the crowd.
Bissett has poured everything she has into mastering the difficult role of Brünhillde.
It was a privilege to see and hear her at Longborough.
Audiences further afield would thrill to share our experience.
She deserves the opportunity to ride Grane, her trusty steed, across other stages.”