Critical Acclaim
Julia Sporsen as inmate Katya nearly steals the show with a moving Russian folksong.
Ben Hogwood, Metro
| Katya (The Passenger) English National Opera
She (Julia Sporsén) sang with considerable panache. Her 'Caro nome' could hardly have been more dolcissimo, laced with delightful rubato. But she also had power to spare. The contrast between her graceful figure in a ballgown and her little-girl-lost in the penultimate scene was stark in the extreme.
Martin Dreyer, Opera Magazine
| Gilda (Rigoletto) Opera Holland Park
Julia Sporsen's rendering of Katya's Russian folk song is especially touching.
Christian Hoskins, Whatsonstage
| Katya (The Passenger) English National Opera
Julia Sporsen, who plays the Russian prisoner Katya, sang an enchanting and, ironically, captivating unaccompanied Russian folk song, during which she held the silent attention of the Coliseum in a moment of unparalleled beauty.
Paul Guest, Ceasefire
| Katya (The Passenger) English National Opera
“Gilda is sung by the terrific Julia Sporsen whose singing and acting really tug at the heartstrings”
Warwick Thompson, Metro
| Gilda (Rigoletto) Opera Holland Park
“Julia Sporsen’s Gilda [is] outstandingly sung; the father-daughter duets, in their shanty-town shack, wring the heart. ”
Michael Church, The Independent
| Gilda (Rigoletto) Opera Holland Park
“As Gilda, Julia Sporsén’s agile attack and dramatic power regularly carry her to victory”
Geoff Brown, The Times
| Gilda (Rigoletto) Opera Holland Park
“Posner’s focus is on the intensity of the relationship between Robert Poulton’s Rigoletto and Julia Sporsén’s Gilda, whose innocence is matched by the furious sexual energy of adolescence. Though the shivering flute obbligato is still wan with purity, her “Caro nome” is hot with desire.”
Anna Picard, The Independent on Sunday
| Gilda (Rigoletto) Opera Holland Park
“As the innocent Gilda Julia Sporsén’s fleshy soprano maintains intensity with its expressive power.”
George Hall, The Stage
| Gilda (Rigoletto) Opera Holland Park
"Julia Sporsén, as Gilda, was a real revelation, displaying superb clarity and projection, her tone pure and effortlessly pleasing; she revelled in the bright coloratura and the simple childlike lyricism with equal aplomb"
Claire Seymour, Opera Today
| Gilda (Rigoletto) Opera Holland Park
Mr. Poulton was joined in his duets by the phenomenal voice of his Gilda, sung by Julia Sporsen. Ms. Sporsen impressed from the first with her piercingly bright timbre and lyric vocal line. ‘Caro nome’, delicately accompanied by soft wisps of orchestration from the City of London Sinfonia, was delivered exquisitely and with surprising power, even at the uppermost limits of the high register required by the role. No matter how high the note, it was beautifully pitched by Ms. Sporsen, her trills flawless and her vocal colouring bright. She brought to life all Gilda’s discomfort upon discovering the Duke stolen into her room, convincingly transitioning from reluctance to gradual bliss as all reservation fades. When she next appears, now in the Duke’s palace and clad in the same flashy red dress as all the other women of society, her look of dejected shame says it all.
John E. de Wald, Opera Britannia
| Gilda (Rigoletto) Opera Holland Park
“Julia Sporsen is a terrific Gilda. She sings well, and conveys a fascinating half-scared, half-loving relationship with her father.”
Bloomberg
| Gilda (Rigoletto) Opera Holland Park
…Julia Sporsén’s fearless, ardent Michaela…
Anna Picard, The Independent
| Micaela (Carmen) Opera Holland Park
Julia Sporsén’s Micaela is more conventional in her village girl virtuousness, but her singing has an impressively charged lyricism that blossoms in her third act aria.
George Hall, The Guardian
| Micaela (Carmen) Opera Holland Park
there’s sex appeal in a single flash of Julia Sporsén’s smoky eyes
Anna Picard, The Independent
| Gianetta (The Elixir of Love) English National Opera
Julia Sporsén made a great impression in the small role of Gianetta, singing with confidence and charm.
Musical Criticism
| Gianetta (The Elixir of Love) English National Opera
Julia Sporsén’s Gianetta was sparkling and full of life.
Opera Today
| Gianetta (The Elixir of Love) English National Opera