Sam McElroy - Baritone

Reviews

Stanley - A Streetcar Named Desire - André Previn Opera Ireland
CULTUREVULTURE.NET   Baritone Sam McElroy is an imposing Stanley, physically believable and intoning his lines with conviction throughout.    
IRISH INDEPENDENT   Sam McElroy's Kowalski is physically penetrating. Violent in his relationships, McElroy captures the tyrannical nature of his role with both devious subtlety and brute force.    
SUNDAY BUSINESS POST   The [Orla]Boylan-[Sam]McElroy friction provided enough voltage to feed into the national grid. Their acting and singing were both startling and breathtaking.    

Yeletsky - Queen of Spades Opera Ireland
Opera   Sam McElroy sang Prince Yeletsky excellently.    
Opera Now   Sam McElroy revelled in his baritonal glory of his aria of rejected devotion to Lisa    
CultureVulture.net   Irish baritone Sam McElroy makes a strong, brooding Prince Yeletsky, and the final confrontation between he and Svensson is powerful both vocally and dramatically.    

Don Giovanni - Don Giovanni Opera Ireland
Opera   Sam McElroy was a suave Giovanni.    

Danilo - Die Lustige Witwe Columbia Artists Tour , USA
The Beacon Journal   Sparks flew between Hanna and her love interest, Count Danilo Danilowitsch, played with a suitable veneer of ennui by Sam McElroy.    

Harry Heegan - The Silver Tassie (Mark Anthony Turnage)
Winner of Irish Times ESB Award for Opera		 Opera Ireland
Opera (Rodney Milnes)   As Harry Heegan, Sam McElroy managed the most difficult of all tasks for opera singers, to suggest simple wholesomeness without being bland or goodie-goodie, and he avoided any suggestion of the operatic in his strong, unaffected singing.    
The Times (Rodney Milnes)   Gerald Finley, who created Harry Heegan last year, is a hard act to follow, but McElroy's wholesome impersonation was just as moving in its total lack of "operatic" affectation.    
Sunday Tribune   Sam McElroy's portrayal was splendid, both deeply moving and beautifully sung. It places him among the best young baritones around today, a singer with real world potential.    
Sunday Independent   I liked Sam McElroy's portrayal of Harry Heegan and his strong and well-focused baritone met the demands of the music with no difficulty.    
Irish Times   Sam McElroy's Harry, the sporting hero crippled in battle, grows in depth as his situation darkens. The role sounds both comfortable and hefty, a combination that surely makes it rewarding to sing.    

Sharpless - Madame Butterfly Opera Ireland
Opera   Sam McElroy gave a Sharpless of great humanity.    
RTE Guide   Baritone Sam McElroy (so good as the Barber of Seville last year) further enhances a growing reputation.    
The Irish Independent   Sam McElroy adds stature to the consul Sharpless with deft vocal understatement    
The Irish Times   Sam McElroy was a good humoured yet authoritative Sharpless.    

Lescaut - Manon Opera Monte-Carlo
Opera   Sam McElroy's straightforward Lescaut had no linguistic problems and caught the ambivalence of his role.    

Malatesta - Don Pasquale Scottish Opera Go-Round
Opera Now   The Irish baritone Sam McElroy, whose fine voice impressed the Cardiff Singer of the world competition, sang Malatesta. He was perhaps a little young for the role but made a great impression, acting and singing well.    

Figaro - Barber of Seville Opera Ireland
Opera   Cork baritone Sam McElroy was most impressive in his debut appearance as Figaro, combining a fluent vocal line with a real command of the stage and a clear sense of fun.    
The Sunday Tribune   Sam McElroy was most impressive in his debut appearance as Figaro, combining a fluent vocal line with a real command of the stage and a sense of fun.    
The Sunday Times (Hugh Canning)   The local hero, Sam McElroy - Ireland's entrant for this year's Cardiff Singer of the World - is a real live wire on stage!    
The Evening Herald   Cork baritone Sam McElroy was relaxed and engaging in the central role of the Barber, with a fine comic presence well matching his warm, clear voice.    
Sunday Independent   Cork-born Sam McElroy, a young baritone who moves extremely well on stage and is undoubtedly musical, made a descent shot at this marvellous part of Figaro.    

Blazes - The Lighthouse Opera Theatre Company
Sunday Independent   Although this is a modern work there are three tuneful arias reminiscent of Irish ballad opera at its best. I liked Sam McElroy's expressive singing of the evocative When I was a kid .    
The Examiner   Tenor, Eugene Ginty, Baritone, Sam McElroy and bass John Milne are not just good singers. They are actors who made me believe in every situation they created.    
Opera   The three singers - Eugene Ginty, John Milne and Sam McElroy - not only created believable characters but handled the tricky vocal lines with complete assurance.    

Dandini - Las Cenerentola English touring Opera
The Daily Echo   Perhaps the plum performance is that of baritone Sam McElroy, who cuts a real dash as Dandini.    
Fosse Way Magazine   Sam McElroy was a splendid Dandini, outshining the rather under-powered prince.    
Opera Magazine   Sam McElroy made a personable Dandini, relished his words and seized his vocal and dramatic opportunities.    

Dandini - La Cenerentola Opera Northern Ireland
News Letter   Sam McElroy made so much, dramatically and vocally, of the big changeling role.

Sam McElroy as Dandini relishes every moment in his new clothes as the Prince?His characterisation as the not so daft valet caught and held attention throughout the pie		    

Miscellaneous Concert with Pontnewydd Male Choir
South Wales Argus   Sam McElroy possesses a rich, expressive voice which is equally at ease in the bottom register and when delivering the lighter tones.    

CARDIFF SINGER OF THE WORLD, 1999
Ian Burnside's TV review:   On 'Billy Budd in the Darbies' :
What you have to do in this piece is create an atmosphere, a sense of the vulnerability of this boy looking into the abyss, and Sam did that very well. He is a natural communicator, very at ease in the performance space		    
Brigitte Fassbaender's TV review:   'You have to draw the audience into your world, and for me two singers achieved this, Anja Harteros (the CSOTW winner), and the Irish baritone, Sam McElroy.'