Press Reviews
Top 10 Classical Music Events of the Year
Number 7 on the list of the top 10 classical music events of 2016 in San Francisco. "The Coronation of Poppea (July 15): Opera Theater Unlimited, a scrappy little startup as short on funds as it is long on ambition and ingenuity, mounted Monteverdi's opera in the Tenderloin's tiny Exit Theatre, and showed how much can be done by just a handful of gifted, committed musicians."
--Joshua Kosman (San Francisco Chronicle)
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As Nerone in L'incoronazione di Poppea (Opera Theater Unlimited)
"In the role of Nerone, mezzo-soprano Marissa Simmons was outstanding. Her vocal technique was flawless, as was her diction in Italian. Whether billing and cooing with Poppea or angrily reacting to the sententious nostrums of the stoic philosopher Seneca, Marissa Simmons' portrayal of Nerone was spot-on. Having recently obtained her Master of Music degree from SF Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Catherine Cook, Marissa Simmons seems poised to have a fine career in professional opera"
--James Roy MacBean (The Berkley Daily Planet)
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"Those include the affair between the emperor Nerone, i.e., Nero, (the elegant and full-voiced mezzo-soprano Marissa Simmons) and the scheming Poppea herself (soprano Danielle Cheiken), which form the backbone of the plot and culminates in the improbably gorgeous final love duet "Pur ti miro." Simmons and Cheiken joined forces to give that number a splendor that felt almost unseemly, as Machiavellian machinations won the day."
--Joshua Kosman (San Francisco Chronicle)
See full article
"...Nerone, sung by a superb mezzo-soprano, Marissa Simmons, who was also very convincing at stirring up some boisterous rowdiness in the raucous part scene with his/her valet lucano"
--Steven Winn (San Francisco Classical Voice)
See full article
As Carmen in La Tragédie de Carmen (San Francsico Conservatory of Music)
"The women and the woodwinds carried the night at the opening performance. Mezzo soprano Marissa Simmons, an eerily fateful grin of self-absorption fixed on her face, brought a sultry demeanor and rawly sensual, wry, whiskey-toned voice to the title role. As the heroine’s big numbers came one after another in the re-worked libretto, Simmons moved from seductiveness to sexual tauntin
hey were another erotic plaything, caressed every curve of the “Habanera” and “Flower Song” and delivered her spoken dialogue (in French with English surtitles) with theatrical aplomb."
"Simmons managed to make her disloyalty to both men sound like a point of honor rather than dishonor. This is a singer – and actress – to watch."
"When the Brook Carmen played Lincoln Center in 1983, the stage at the Vivian Beaumont was largely bare. That stripped-down aesthetic placed the focus where it belonged – on the essential love tragedy the piece distills. Simmons, for one, could have made such an empty space her own."
--Steven Winn (San Francisco Classical Voice)
See full article
Also as Carmen (La Tragédie de Carmen):
"Carmen is here sung by mezzo-soprano Marissa Simmons, who possesses a very deep mezzo voice..."
"Simmons possesses...the charismatic stage-presence that is needed to bring off the role of Carmen successfully."
"...the searing intensity of Brook’s streamlined narrative retains its power, especially when sung by the brilliant Mario Rojas and the charismatic Marissa Simmons. "
--James Roy MacBean (The Berkley Daily Planet)
See full article
Miami Summer Music Festival Zarzuela Concert
"Otro momento de gran dramatismo fue el Qué te importa que no venga, de Serrano, a cargo de una formidable Marissa Simmons."
--Daniel Fernández (Especial/El Nuevo Herald)
See full article
As Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia (Frost Opera Theater)
"Marissa Simmons’ deep, evenly produced mezzo and theatrical magnetism dominated the stage as the victimized noblewoman Lucretia."
"Three scenes from The Rape of Lucretia may have been the evening’s high point."
--Lawrence Budmen (South Florida Classical Review)
See full article
As Angelina in La Cenerentola (B.A.S.O.T.I.)
"Marissa Simmons as Cenerentola and Jessica Berns and Chana Crawford as stepsisters Clorina and Thisbe nailed their roles with comic precision."
"This truly 'cindered Ella,' if you will, was hilariously played off against the antics of her outrageously ugly (garish on the outside and vacuous on the inside) stepsisters."
"...the most memorable of the many offerings"
--Stephen Smoliar (The San Francisco Examiner)
See full article
As La Maestra delle Novizie and ensemble in Suor Angelica (Miami Lyric Opera)
"The ensemble cast of a dozen nuns was excellent...with the women singing in church bell-clear tones as they went about the business of the convent."
--David Fleshler (South Florida Classical Review)
See full article
ICCA Quarterfinals 2013
"Marissa Simmons had a really strong, soulful solo that was a great fit with the song."
--Mike Chin (A Cappella Blog)
See full article
Number 7 on the list of the top 10 classical music events of 2016 in San Francisco. "The Coronation of Poppea (July 15): Opera Theater Unlimited, a scrappy little startup as short on funds as it is long on ambition and ingenuity, mounted Monteverdi's opera in the Tenderloin's tiny Exit Theatre, and showed how much can be done by just a handful of gifted, committed musicians."
--Joshua Kosman (San Francisco Chronicle)
See full article
As Nerone in L'incoronazione di Poppea (Opera Theater Unlimited)
"In the role of Nerone, mezzo-soprano Marissa Simmons was outstanding. Her vocal technique was flawless, as was her diction in Italian. Whether billing and cooing with Poppea or angrily reacting to the sententious nostrums of the stoic philosopher Seneca, Marissa Simmons' portrayal of Nerone was spot-on. Having recently obtained her Master of Music degree from SF Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Catherine Cook, Marissa Simmons seems poised to have a fine career in professional opera"
--James Roy MacBean (The Berkley Daily Planet)
See full article
"Those include the affair between the emperor Nerone, i.e., Nero, (the elegant and full-voiced mezzo-soprano Marissa Simmons) and the scheming Poppea herself (soprano Danielle Cheiken), which form the backbone of the plot and culminates in the improbably gorgeous final love duet "Pur ti miro." Simmons and Cheiken joined forces to give that number a splendor that felt almost unseemly, as Machiavellian machinations won the day."
--Joshua Kosman (San Francisco Chronicle)
See full article
"...Nerone, sung by a superb mezzo-soprano, Marissa Simmons, who was also very convincing at stirring up some boisterous rowdiness in the raucous part scene with his/her valet lucano"
--Steven Winn (San Francisco Classical Voice)
See full article
As Carmen in La Tragédie de Carmen (San Francsico Conservatory of Music)
"The women and the woodwinds carried the night at the opening performance. Mezzo soprano Marissa Simmons, an eerily fateful grin of self-absorption fixed on her face, brought a sultry demeanor and rawly sensual, wry, whiskey-toned voice to the title role. As the heroine’s big numbers came one after another in the re-worked libretto, Simmons moved from seductiveness to sexual tauntin
hey were another erotic plaything, caressed every curve of the “Habanera” and “Flower Song” and delivered her spoken dialogue (in French with English surtitles) with theatrical aplomb."
"Simmons managed to make her disloyalty to both men sound like a point of honor rather than dishonor. This is a singer – and actress – to watch."
"When the Brook Carmen played Lincoln Center in 1983, the stage at the Vivian Beaumont was largely bare. That stripped-down aesthetic placed the focus where it belonged – on the essential love tragedy the piece distills. Simmons, for one, could have made such an empty space her own."
--Steven Winn (San Francisco Classical Voice)
See full article
Also as Carmen (La Tragédie de Carmen):
"Carmen is here sung by mezzo-soprano Marissa Simmons, who possesses a very deep mezzo voice..."
"Simmons possesses...the charismatic stage-presence that is needed to bring off the role of Carmen successfully."
"...the searing intensity of Brook’s streamlined narrative retains its power, especially when sung by the brilliant Mario Rojas and the charismatic Marissa Simmons. "
--James Roy MacBean (The Berkley Daily Planet)
See full article
Miami Summer Music Festival Zarzuela Concert
"Otro momento de gran dramatismo fue el Qué te importa que no venga, de Serrano, a cargo de una formidable Marissa Simmons."
--Daniel Fernández (Especial/El Nuevo Herald)
See full article
As Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia (Frost Opera Theater)
"Marissa Simmons’ deep, evenly produced mezzo and theatrical magnetism dominated the stage as the victimized noblewoman Lucretia."
"Three scenes from The Rape of Lucretia may have been the evening’s high point."
--Lawrence Budmen (South Florida Classical Review)
See full article
As Angelina in La Cenerentola (B.A.S.O.T.I.)
"Marissa Simmons as Cenerentola and Jessica Berns and Chana Crawford as stepsisters Clorina and Thisbe nailed their roles with comic precision."
"This truly 'cindered Ella,' if you will, was hilariously played off against the antics of her outrageously ugly (garish on the outside and vacuous on the inside) stepsisters."
"...the most memorable of the many offerings"
--Stephen Smoliar (The San Francisco Examiner)
See full article
As La Maestra delle Novizie and ensemble in Suor Angelica (Miami Lyric Opera)
"The ensemble cast of a dozen nuns was excellent...with the women singing in church bell-clear tones as they went about the business of the convent."
--David Fleshler (South Florida Classical Review)
See full article
ICCA Quarterfinals 2013
"Marissa Simmons had a really strong, soulful solo that was a great fit with the song."
--Mike Chin (A Cappella Blog)
See full article
