Mahler 3rd Symphony Sakari Oramo
PROMS Royal Albert Hall 19.8.2023
"Carlstedt’s voice was like the starlight in Mahler’s orchestral inky black sky. Fresh and clear-“
Andrew Lohmann London Unattached 20/8 2023
"In the darkness of O Mensch, Finnish mezzo
Jenny Carlstedt sang her pleas to mankind with luxuriantly rich warmth, characterising her soft sound first with tender love, followed latterly by imploring passion in the text. -/and Carlstedt brought convincing remorse to her depiction of the stricken St Peter."
Bachtrack.com Royan Shotton 22/8 2023
"Jenny Carlstedt, the Finnish-Swedish mezzo-soprano, seemed to take into herself all that had gone before: hers is not a large voice, but her identification with Nietzsche’s meditation on human suffering was total. As the embodiment of Earth’s sorrow - she became the focal point of the whole symphony, rather as Dame Sarah Connolly did in Sir Simon Rattle’s performance of the Second Symphony in last year’s Proms. In Urlicht, the mezzo’s passionate longing is to ascend to heaven; here, it is to find the joy that lies deeper than pain. Carlstedt seemed not to notice when the movement ended and the next began; she seemed no part of it, frozen in her D minor anguish as the choirs carolled brightly around her in F major. It was most moving; and it made the sensation of balm as the violins stole in to begin the finale all the keener."
-/This was music-making of a high order; and – as a performance of this work ought to be – a great experience. At the end, the mezzo-soprano Jenny Carlstedt had to wipe away tears before taking her bow. I don’t imagine that she was alone in doing so"
Seen and Heard International
23/08/2023 by Chris Kettle
"Elsewhere, Oramo brought out a raw, wild edge in the orchestra’s sound, balanced with sheer beauty, whether that was the mellifluous posthorn solo or mezzo-soprano Jenny Carlstedt’s deeply felt contribution".
The Times
Rebecca Franks
Monday August 21 2023, 12.01am, The Times