Press

“Claire Meghnagi creates a dazzling, lovely Aci”
Yossi Shiffmann, Israeli Public Braodcasting Corporation

“A great drama… deeply moving. The experienced soprano Claire Meghnagi mastered the role, as expected, with overwhelming coloraturas”
Hagai Hitron, Ha’aretz

“Handel’s ravishing, ebullient score calls for three superior singers. In the trouser role of Aci (it is presumed that Handel cast Aci as a high soprano castrato) soprano Claire Meghnagi’s supple voice, her wide, easeful and accessible range and empathy with the role made for a convincing performance. One of the work’s most delightful moments was “Qui l’augel da pianta in pianta” (Here the bird flies from tree to tree), in which violin (Noam Schuss), oboe (Shai Kribus) and Meghnagi imitate and ornament to present birdsong effects…”
Pamela Hickman, concertcritic.com

Singing since age two, soprano Claire Meghnagi looks back on her childhood as the daughter of an Italian-Israeli cantor.

Opera singer Claire Meghnagi recalls growing up in 1970s Israel in a musical family. Her cantor father stood her on a tabletop to sing for guests, and on Shabbat took her and her sister to the shore, where they relished eating sandwiches made of challah and cheese — with a big sprinkling of sand.

“Soprano Claire Meghnagi is extraordinary… the emotional peak was Ravel’s “Deux Melodies Hébraïques” (Kaddish from the prayer and L’énigme Eternelle in Yiddish) in Meghnagi’s crystal clear singing” Ha’aretz

“Virtuoso opening – “Da Tempesta” from Giulio Cesarea. Claire Meghnagi possesses a beautiful, crystal clear powerful voice, and delightful contemporary baroque style: beautiful ornaments and vibrato control all in the exact right amount… gorgeous sound. I especially loved the two arias sequence: first lyric – “Wil the sun forget to streak” from Solomon, and immediately after the virtuoso coloratura aria “Che non puo la Gelosia” from Aci, Galatea e Polifemo… floated in Meghnagi’s performance in spectacular ease and lightness. The audience demanded an anchor… Claire Meghnagi sang with much gleam and grace, and Barrocade’s period instruments polished playing, full of rhythm and energy, showed how beautifully music crosses the limits of time. ” Ha’aretz

“Outstanding in particular is Aci’s aria Qui l’Augel da Pianta in Pianta (Aci, Galatea e Polifemo)… this stunning yet highly demanding aria, very high in tessitura, is performed by Meghnagi with remarkable sensitivity and extraordinary technique. Overall, Meghnagi’s singing demonstrates how even intimate, quiet sentimental moments can be full of drama, like the Queen of Sheba’s aria Will the Sun forget to Streak from Solomon, as the queen departs from Solomon” Yediot Achronot

“Zehavi’s writing is tonal or tonally based, straightforward, and easy to follow… Meghnagi has a clear, expressive voice… The writing is unusual but effective; there are some fine songs here” (American Record Guide)

“All the songs in this CD benefit from Meghnagi’s radiant voice and exquisite singing” Ha’aretz

“Claire Meghnagi accurately leads this short piece, giving it additional meaning with her very expressive soprano” Der Tagesspiegel

“Claire Meghnagi’s wonderful Cleopatra, who most of all dazzled… with her humor, charisma, sex appeal and outstanding musicality and vocal production.” Music4awhile

“Extraordinary Israeli soloists Claire Meghnagi and Yaniv d’Or… demonstrated refined baroque style ” Ha’aretz

“In the title role of Thérèse/Tirésias, perfect opera artist Claire Meghnagi… exceptionally prominent as a top singer belonging to highest level” Ha’aretz

“The Gloria was truly dazzling – a remarkable technical display by Claire Meghnagi, demonstrating an astonishing vocal agility and powerful penetrating voice” Ha’aretz

“Claire Meghnagi was most prominent with her dramatic and impressive sound…” Yossi Schiffman, Israeli Radio Kol Israel

“It is a great pleasure to listen to Meghnagi, who in recent years gained experience at the world’s most important venues – and brought it here with her poised technique, expressive singing, superb acting skills and lots of humor.” Ha’aretz

“The greatest moment of perfect combination between music and drama was in Vivaldi’s Aria “Sposa son Disprezzata” where Claire Meghnagi portrayed the murderer’s young mother, and succeeded to illustrate in a heart-breaking way his need of mother’s love. This was a truly moving moment, in which Meghnagi proved us once again what a fantastic singer and actress she is…” Globes

“Ravishing musical performance… Israeli Claire Meghnagi singing the ultimate operatic virtuosity”  Ha’aretz

“Perfect beyond doubt was soprano Claire Meghnagi who mastered her songs with an outstanding stunning resonant voice” Bremer Nachrichten

“Her Musical expression and delivery were genuinely touching, her singing personal, warm and heart-rending. We were lucky to receive a bonus: Mendelssohn’s version gave the beautiful “Erbarme Dich” to his soprano, and so we received Meghnagi in a magnificent performance that received enthusiastic applause in the middle of the concert. This is perhaps not very customary, but felt completely right. Another highlight was the heart breaking aria “Aus Liebe”, which was in my opinion, this concert emotional peak.” Globes

“Loud, enthusiastic applause and ovations to the singer, soprano Claire Meghnagi, filled the hall. The Israeli singer, much in demand in Israel and abroad, was at her best. Beautiful clean voice full of emotion and nuance, poised while expressing the words through music…” Yediot Achronot

“Claire Meghnagi as Euridice, has a beautiful soprano that sounded especially rich and expressive in her duet with Orfeo” Opera News

“Meghnagi sets a league of her own. It is difficult to describe in words the beauty and quality of her voice, enough to say that even her most simple recitative gets volume and presence without comprehension” Tav-et.com

“Wonderful Euridice… Claire Meghnagi makes a strong character, demanding Orfeo’s love and attention – thus emphasizing even more his fear and hesitancy… Meghnagi is genuine and true moving singer” Ha’aretz

“Superb… the concluding duet was as perfect as anything that had been heard earlier… a beautiful voice, with enough power to carry even in a rather large hall, and her coloratura technique is fabulous…Israeli soprano Claire Meghnagi, is a marvelous actress as well.” Seen and Heard International

“Claire Meghanagi dazzled and cunning, sexually self-assured of Cleopatra… spontaneity, expressiveness, and relaxation combined with an ideal flexible voice and polished, heartbreaking interpretation…”Amfiom Finland

“Claire Meghnagi as Cleopatra was suave, seductive, vampish and genuinely sentimental. Her bright soprano scintillated and sparkled.”Uutispäivä Demari

“Magnificent… Claire Meghnagi is a colourful Cleopatra, a mixture of classical beauty and Noomi Rapace. Her vocal performance lovely, lyrical and free as required.” Hufvudstadsbladet

“Claire Meghnagi’s soprano shone brightly and fashioned beautiful phrases in her slow aria Se Pieta” Kirkko&Kaupunki Finland

“Israeli soprano Claire Meghnagi has a lovely, scintillating and sensual voice and a playfully feminine presence” Helsingin Sanomat

“Italian-Israeli Claire Meghnagi made ​​top performance in the role of Cleopatra” Hienostelua Finland

“Claire Meghnagi superbly conveyed the transition of Cleopatra from sex bombshell to mistress. She sang with flirty brilliance but also had her melancholic moments.” Etelä-Suomen Sanomat

“The most entrancing vision ever seen on the FNO stage… A large part of the enchantment is of course due to Claire Meghnagi, who was stunningly wonderful as Cleopatra” Länsi-Savo

“Claire Meghnagi has a crystal-clear soprano that effortlessly traced the ornamentation in her slow and fast arias” Salon Seudun Sanomat

“Ihr Reizender Gesang… Claire Meghnagi was way ahead of her peers – a fine example of absolute professionalism… there are not enough words to describe her performance. In short: Complete Perfection! If heaven exists, this is how the angels would sound like – pure gleaming voice, crystal clear, glowing as a diamond, supported by remarkable singing technique. I mean not only her excellent designed coloraturas, but also – and mostly – her focused vocal production. Her voice penetrates the space as a laser beam, without changing its beautiful color even in the highest register. On the contrary, her voice remains soft and round in all register ranges… the sky is the limit” tav-et.com

“Soprano Claire Meghnagi… beautiful steady voice, effortless sound, clear diction and deep spiritual interpretation. What else can we ask for?” Yediot Acharonot

“Claire Meghnagi shone brilliantly numerous times on stage” NÖN – Niederösterreichische Nachrichten

“Best of all, the Jewish festival of Purim was marked by an unusual celebration – a Venetian masque. A loose yet lovely narrative structure based around different kinds of love traversed traditional Venetian songs and works… a spirit of off-kilter fun pervaded the show, with humor… soprano Claire Meghnagi (dark, focused tone) found repose, languor, and reflection aplenty… top honours… to Avi Avital’s supple, thrusting mandolin-playing…” Gramophone UK

“Claire Meghnagi is an Excellent Soprano” Heinz Sichrovsky, News, Austria

“Claire Meghnagi as Galatea and James Oxley as Acis seem pleasantly in command – both are musically flawless, stylistically confident and at the same time brilliant as actors.” Kronen Zeitung, Austria

“The orchestra is fine-tuned and the ensemble is grandiose, first and foremost Claire Meghnagi as an enchanting Galatea” NÖN – Niederösterreichische Nachrichten

“Claire Meghnagi, blessed with the gorgeous dawn aria, sounded especially bright and sure” Music OMH, UK

“…last night’s star, the enchanting soprano Claire Meghnagi… brilliant cast in every way – one of Israel’s best baroque singers; she performes quite a lot abroad in recent years as well. Among others, she collaborated with the legendary William Christie, and the experience and ripeness she gained were well shown last night. Her singing was pure, refined, and full of elegance and expression, leading her audience into tears in several points. After her arias I was really upset that the frozen format of modern concert prevented us from bursting in applause and demand she sings them again. Such applause were totally in place” Globes

“A delightful experience – as expected, to a large extent thanks to the radiant performance of soprano Claire Meghnagi…” Haaretz

“Soprano Claire Meghnagi’s performance was outstanding. Her gorgeous, pearly voice is consistent in all registers, she weaves emotional meaning into melodic lines, gliding easily and leaning comfortably into ornaments. The audience was moved by the brilliance, the beauty and the poignancy of her performance” concertcritique.com

“Soprano Claire Meghnagi, who poured much vigor into the concert hall; her lucid voice and the operatic drama in her character brought much joy to the concert” Haaretz

“Israeli soprano Claire Meghnagi, in works by Monteverdi, Vivaldi and more, gave a sublime performance, transcending to refined standards of international baroque specialists” Haaretz

“Claire Meghnagi had the most   strikingly operatic sound, in terms of projection, power and suppleness, qualities she put to superb use in the Prologue from Monteverdi’s ‘Orfeo’…” The New York Times

“Israeli-Italian soprano Claire Meghnagi whose voice is… big and radiant in La Musica’s introduction to the opera. All the others were onstage to listen to her… perhaps it was because they didn’t want to miss the most promising singing of the evening”  The Guardian, UK

“Claire Meghnagi…  gave one of the most beautiful moments of the night with her voice of beautiful color, almost white in the pianissimi and her attractive embellishments”  Diario de Sevilla, Spain

“The young Israeli-Italian soprano Claire Meghnagi showed the spirit and vocal character that could bring Monteverdi and Handel solos vividly to life” The Financial Times, UK

“Claire Meghnagi charmed with her silvery gleam…” The London Times, UK

“The aria from L’Orfeo brought a performance from the stronger-voiced Claire Meghnagi which was full of feeling…” The Classical Source, UK

“Claire Meghnagi wakes the Prologue from L’Orfeo to new life…” Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany

“Claire Meghnagi gave inspired, luminous and carnal interpretation of La Musica” Altamusica, France, March14, 2007

“Beautiful voice with a unique colored vibrao that touched me deeply… she seemed to be able to sing anything on one breath, and her piano notes carried consistently… in contrast to the other singers she needs no work for her perfect dramatic skills and her expressive voice… Claire Meghnagi – a name to remember” Il grand Inquisitor, Belgium