Acclaim

“Deaton declaimed the text with dramatic fervor and he painted Giraud’s word pictures with vivid emotional coloration.”

“Cortese’s work is an excursion into a dream world. Singing with a robust sound, Deaton conducted his listeners through darkness and loneliness into the rich light of an engulfing vision …”

“American Marc Deaton really made the show as the clever Loge who devises the scheme to defeat Alberich and later warns that the destruction of the gods is soon to come. The tenor skillfully navigated the libretto as his charismatic acting enlivened the stage. While the others in the kingdom of the gods were dressed like ancient Hindu gods, Loge showed up in contemporary clothes, looking like one of Thailand’s many Hawaiian-shirt clad tourists.”

“With the nonchalant gait of a surfer dude, Marc Deaton portrayed Loge — a combination of two Norse deities: Logi, god of fire, and Loki, trickster and enemy of the gods, most of the time — with appealing slyness and wryness. Decked out in typical surfer gear (complete with a loud Hawaiian shirt), Deaton was most successful in living up to his costume.”

“… the half-god Loge made this his opera. All negotiations take place through him and he has the ability to persuade you of his point or to force it through. Marc Deaton made the character alive with all the humor and conniving of a Loge and delivered it back with real aplomb.”

“In many ways, Rheingold is Loge’s opera, and American tenor Marc Deaton proved a reliable exponent of the role’s tricky rhythms and other vocal demands.”

“Marc Deaton takes the killer heldentenor role of Tristan and creates a musical and dramatic presence here, emphasizing the lyrical but doomed quality of this adulterous knight.”

“Marc Deaton as Tristan has a beautiful lyrical quality and brings great meaning to the text. His upper tones remind one of Konya in their ringing sweetness.”

“…soon you realize that there is a brilliant mind behind this voice. Here is a singer who has thought himself into the part he is creating. He has a fine legato, he can produce the thinnest of pianissimos without crooning and he has lots of power. There is real Heldentenor-ring in this voice and when the two lovers build up the ecstasy at the end of act one, and even more in the love-duet of act two, we feel that we can almost touch their lust, remembering Ingmar Bergman’s describing this music drama as ‘a five-hour-long sexual intercourse’. What is impressive is to hear the two main protagonists singing their demanding parts without tiring, without having to resort to barking, which can be the case in many live performances.”

“Marc Deaton is Tristan, and if my ears do not deceive me, he is a dramatic tenor who should be cultivated and cherished by the opera world. The voice is sizable and has a beautiful timbre and the ability to sing the full dynamic range, pianissimo to fortissimo, that Wagner composes. His ability to sing the alternately lyric and hysterical passages of Act III with a fully supported, seemingly tireless legato tone is really remarkable. There is no barking, no resort to sprechgesang to cover for a tiring voice; it’s all fully sung, and without any trace of wobble. I would be remiss if I did not also say that Deaton’s dramatic understanding of this, the most psychologically complex part in the opera, is full and detailed and shows great sensitivity to word meanings and tonal coloration, with first-rate German. Again: an excellent portrayal, both vocally and dramatically.”

“Marc Deaton sings the part of Tristan with a robust sound and gives an intense portrayal of the doomed hero. He has a large voice and he uses its varied colors to create his character. In Act II, he and Pierson together compel the listener to drop any other pursuit and pay complete attention to the engrossing love story. Their appealing dramatic voices blend with romantic fervor in the exquisite duet “O sink hernieder.” Later, they express their desire to die rather than live without each other in a splendid rendition of “So stürben wir um ungetrennt”. This recording is sensitively engineered and it exudes the energy that can only be gathered at a live performance. Many of the older versions have quieter backgrounds but they do not give you the feeling of being present in the theater the way these CDs do. As you listen to this rendition you feel you are sitting in the tenth row center, absorbing a complete performance of Wagner’s glorious music.”

“The quality of the concert was world-caliber. Tenor Marc Deaton and soprano Susan Marie Pierson were ideally suited for their roles both vocally and visually. Deaton brought heroic power and great lyricism to Tristan, capturing the character’s tragic consequences with great strength and vocal beauty. He never seemed to tire, even in the long passages of Act III.”

“Deaton, who is known in Europe and parts of Asia for heavy roles including Otello, is a worthy Tristan with a sonorous dramatic sound; the CDs of this live performance should be a welcome addition to any Wagner collection.”

“Marc Deaton has a glorious tenor voice which he really showed to its full range in the poignancy of the famous aria, “La fleur que tu m’avais jetée” and then in the powerful duet with Carmen, “C’est toi! C’est moi,” in the final act, when it was easy to see why he has built such a great reputation in the world of opera, especially for his interpretation of Wagner’s Tristan, indeed an accolade. The famous Seguedille duet with Carmen also brought rounds of applause. “

“Headstrong but innocent, Calaf was masterfully fleshed out by golden-voiced tenor Marc Deaton, who displayed a wonderfully flexible vibrato while effortlessly scaling the requisite top notes in such showstoppers as “Nessun dorma!”

“Marc Deaton sang Calaf with every moment pointing toward his showstopping “Nessun dorma.”

“Deaton’s voice is well-suited for this piece: expressive and well supported by the orchestra. Deaton’s diction and phrasing were satisfying and clear throughout. Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Nocturne” features calls back and forth between voice and horn that did seem to “roll from soul to soul” of the soloists. William Blake’s “Elegy” brings in the sinister sense of night with the “invisible worm” sickening the rose from within. The rhythmic precision in the orchestra supported the haunting line of the horn and the impassioned tenor melody.

The “Dirge,” an anonymous 15th century poem, begins with the solo tenor repeating the horn’s closing notes from “Elegy” in prayer for the dead. The vocal part is strophic, and its text’s increasingly urgent petitions and warnings for the soul are mirrored in the increasingly complex orchestral accompaniment, which then melts away to leave the voice exposed and alone. The intensity of voice, horn and orchestra were well matched and in complete accord in this march following the soul to its ultimate rest.

Ben Jonson’s “Hymn” returns to the nocturnal earth with an elegant plea to queen Elizabeth I as Diane, the chaste goddess of the hunt. The airy lightness of the piece is welcome, and the performers brought out the almost playful detail and texture with precision.

John Keats’ “Sonnet” is an apostrophe to Sleep, asking for the soul’s calmness from “curious conscience” after the day’s woes. In this context, Kruse’s solo epilogue from off stage drew the audience to the hope of the soul’s peace and rest in the moving conclusion.”

“Clarity of diction was occasionally a problem for the adult characters, the exception being Marc Deaton playing the ghost of Peter Quint/Prologue, the household’s former valet and the root of the evil. Actually, he wasn’t presented so much as a tormenting ghost as an unredeemable devil and he very wisely took his vocal and dramatic characterization one demonic step further than is usual to keep in sync with the body paint and costume. This was a first rate portrayal from beginning to end.”

“Tenor Marc Deaton brought to bear a powerful vocal instrument well suited to the work.”

“TMarc Deaton weighed in with a burnished tenor of exceptional quality.”

“American tenor made his debut as Samson with great impression. He sings with power and conviction and with much lyricism. We are not accustomed to the piano high notes that he chose to include, but which are marked in the score at the end of the Act II duet. These tones were sung easily and with beauty. He is also very attractive on stage.”

“The highlight of the evening was the unbelievable singing of Manrico. The American tenor Marc Deaton possesses a truly shimmering voice, with inexhaustible highnotes, a full dramatic lower register and the gifts of mezza di voce and a true piano. This young tenor is also graceful, handsome, and has already developed his natural gifts as an actor. The pathos in addition to beauty of tone for Ah! Si ben mio coll’essere…is still ringing in my ears.”

“Marc Deaton was Student Arkenholz in a riveting performance. He portrayed his character on many emotional levels with his body and his voice. Within this very demanding role he gave tireless high notes, many above high C and always with security.”

“Student Arkenholz was sung by Marc Deaton with great force and emotion. His voice is quite unusual: dark and rather baritonal in timbre in the middle and lower, but then has an astounding ability to sing in what seemed full-voice beyond high C and even E-flat. Although a freakish and technically demanding role, he seemed to be able to almost throw off these extremely high tones as if playing a game and in the same instant fire them at the public like a gun.”

“Marc Deaton was the tenor complement to the solo quartet. Although a voice mainly designed for Wagner, he put forth a lovely sense of Mozartian style.”

“Marc Deaton as the Duke sang with grace and appeared quite the elegant dandy that the part required. Although American, he played his dialogue quite respectably, without the accent usually accompanying an American.”

“Marc Deaton sang with a warm tenor that was also far-reaching. The American plays well and sings with great style including several piano tones which today are so unexpected.”