NEWS
2019/20 SEASON ANNOUNCED
July 1, 2019
John's 2019/2020 season brings major role and house debuts for the rising young tenor. Season highlights include a return to John's home city for his debut with Michigan Opera Theater as Adolfo Pirelli in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeny Todd, along with debuts with the New York Oratorio Society in Rachmaninoff's Vespers and with the Berkshire Opera Festival in An Evening of American Opera. This season also features returns to some of John's most acclaimed roles - Younger Thompson in Cippulo's Glory Denied with both Atlanta Opera and Urban Arias as well as Prince Charming in Cendrillon in his return to Opera Birmingham.
PRESS
January 25, 2020
Glory Denied, a heartbreaking story of the Vietnam War and its aftermath
"John Riesen as the Younger Jim went the distance to portray the fear, humiliation, and pain of the soldier’s harrowing nine-year ordeal. Opera is a great medium for showing people in emotional extremis, and Riesen knows how to deliver vocally that kind of tenor heartbreak."
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- DC Theatre Scene
January 17, 2020
BWW Review: GLORY DENIED at Urban Arias
"Tenor John Riesen as the younger Jim Thompson, easily goes from the lyricism of a father who hung onto the mail from his family in his pocket when he was captured, including a misshapen paper star cut out by one of his children, to the dark tonelessness of a man kept in a tiger cage who creates the blueprint of a house in his mind to try to stay sane"
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- Broadway World
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January 18, 2020
Songs of love and war in UrbanArias’ brilliant ‘Glory Denied’
"John Riesen’s substantial tenor remains strong through all the scenes in which he appears as Younger Thompson: from being kicked on the ground by his jailer to seeing the jungle for the first time at the end of the war with wonder and joy. . . "
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- DC Metro Theater Arts
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PRESS
November 16, 2019
OPERA NEWS: Sweeney Todd at MOT
" Tenor John Riesen’s short, colorful appearance as Pirelli was both musically and dramatically satisfying.."
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- Opera News
November 19, 2019
MOT’s ‘Sweeney Todd’ breaks ground on beloved classic
"Other characters are utterly remarkable here, such as John Riesen’s Pirelli, at turns bright and funny and downright sinister, with a stunning tenor"
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- Encore Michigan
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PRESS
June 2, 2019
"Cendrillon" enjoys great laughs, glorious singing.
"As the pensive Prince Charming, John Riesen scored his finest impressions in his sensitive soft singing... In their Big Duet Ohse and Riesen gave the grateful audience the Big Operatic Gift of thrilling allÂoutclimaxes. It was the stuff of fairy tales."
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-Addison County Independant
PRESS
April 3, 2019
Gulfshore Opera's 'Traviata' solid musically and dramatically
"John Riesen has opera's Emotional Boy, Alfredo, firmly in hand. He is desperately in love and his heart is on his sleeve for the entire opera. Riesen and Valdes partner beautifully, and Riesen is note-perfect and powerful in his solos, an impressive tenor with dramatics to match. He gains power as the performance continues until his icy public confrontation with his lost love at her friend's soirée."
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-Naples Daily News
PRESS
November 28, 2018
Des Moines: Glory, Glory Hallelujah
"John Riesen’s 'Younger Thompson' held the stage with a vibrant, focused tenor, and an impassioned performance of complete commitment and coltish deportment. Mr. Riesen bolted about the stage, flailed at his captors’ abuse, repeatedly flung himself on the floor, and managed to do all of this while singing with secure abandon."
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- Opera Today
November 28, 2018
True Impact: DMMO's Glory Denied
"Younger Thompson, the prisoner of war, was a physically grueling role, and John Riesen portrayed the character with heartfelt sincerity. . ."
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- Schmopera
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