press
The Pearl Fishers (Bizet), Nadir
Hawaii Opera Theater
2012-02: "...tenor Vale Rideout (Nadir) had the tonal brilliance and power to steal the girl and the spotlight. Rideout was especially noteworthy."
- Ruth Bingham, Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Elmer Gantry - Recording, (Aldridge) NAXOS, Frank Shallard
Florentine Opera - Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
2011-12: "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" - becomes about doubt and soul-searching in context. Vale Rideout uses his robust, characterful tenor to make this a passage of compelling complexity for his character, Frank Shallard."
- Joshua Rosenblum, Opera News
Rigoletto in concert, The Duke
The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
2011-10: "Rideout was absolutely perfect, exuding all the confidence you’d expect from a shady duke, especially performing “Questa o quella,” and his signature aria “La donna e mobile.”"
- Roger LeLievre, annarbor.com
The Inspector (Musto), Tancredi
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
June, 2011: “With his warm tone and smooth technique, Vale Rideout proved to be quite an elegant phrase-spinner as Tancredi; he revealed a knack for comic acting as well.”
- Tim Smith, Opera News
The Inspector (Musto), Tancredi
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
April, 2011: “Vale Rideout expended tenorial ardor on his delight at the payoffs he was getting from the mayor.”
- Anne Midgette, The Washington Post
The Inspector (Musto), Tancredi
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
April, 2011: “tenor Vale Rideout looks the part of the handsome hero and sings with feeling”
- Mike Silverman, The Associated Press
The Rape of Lucretia, Male Chorus
Castleton Opera/Cal Performances
March, 2011: “Tenor Vale Rideout stole the show, perhaps, in a bravura performance as the Male Chorus (the role written for Britten's partner and muse, Peter Pears).”
- Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
Carmina Burana - Recording, Tenor Soloist
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
Nov. 2010: "The soloists act out their parts splendidly--in the case of Vale Rideout, the tenor in the ultra-high "Roasted Swan" episode, almost too well. He never resorts to falsetto and winds up sounding like he's about to be murdered."
- Robert Levine, classicstoday.com
Die Zauberflöte, Tamino
Opera Phoenix
November, 2010: “As Tamino, tenor Vale Rideout sang with a rich sound that soared over the orchestra. He is a good actor, too, and he energized his text with conviction.”
- Maria Nockin, Opera Today
Rio de sangre (Davis), Igneo
Florentine Opera
October, 2010: “Vale Rideout’s clear, forthright singing, especially in a ringing “speech” near the end of Act 1, exactly described Igneo, the only honest man in the piece.”
- Tom Strini, Third Coast Digest
Rio de sangre (Davis), Igneo
Florentine Opera
October, 2010: “The standouts were Ava Pine and Vale Rideout as Blanca and Igneo, the young lovers; their radiant singing and beguiling characterizations left a deep and lasting impression”
- Gregory Berg, Opera News
Giasone, Egeo
Chicago Opera Theater
April, May, 2010: “The quartet of principal lovers was completed by Doronzio's Isifile and Vale Rideout's mellifluous Egeo.”
- Mark Thomas Ketterson, Opera News
Elmer Gantry - Recording (Aldridge) NAXOS, Frank Shallard
Florentine Opera - Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
August 2011: "Vale Rideout brings warmth to Gantry’s friend Frank, who has one of the work’s most touching arias."
- Ronni Reich, New Jersey Star-Ledger
Elmer Gantry (Aldridge), Frank Shallard
Florentine Opera
March, 2010: “Vale Rideout's honeyed tenor limned Frank Shallard's vocal journey gracefully”
- Mark Thomas Ketterson, Opera News
Elmer Gantry (Aldridge), Frank Shallard
Florentine Opera
March, 2010: “Tenor Vale Rideout, as Gantry’s pal Frank Shallard, got the best number of the night, and he made it count. Rideout plays a mainstream preacher who is losing faith. His big aria expresses the anguish attached to his doubt. I loved the way Rideout phrased and the way Aldridge composed the piece to make the melody advance as through a maze.”
- Tom Strini, ThirdCoast Digest
Don Giovanni, Don Ottavio
Palm Beach Opera
Feb, 2010: “Vale Rideout was a fine Don Ottavio, with a nice, creamy tenor that held up well and was heartfelt where it needed to be, in Dalla sua pace and Il mio tesoro.”
- Greg Stepanich, Palm Beach Post
The Turn of the Screw, Peter Quint
Boston Lyric Opera
Feb, 2010: “Most notable among the cast were soprano Emily Pulley and tenor Vale Rideout… Rideout in the role of the ghost Peter Quint, was equally mesmerizing. Though somewhat stilted in his acting, he made up for it vocally with a seductiveness that was both eerie and forceful, allowing him to make the most of the mono-dimensional yet disturbingly enticing character.”
- Tom Schnauber, Boston Music Intelligencer
The Fall of the House of Usher, Roderick Usher
Nashville Opera
Nov, 2009: “Vale Rideout's lissome tenor limned Roderick's high-lying vocal line very attractively.”
- Mark Thomas Ketterson, Opera News
La Traviata, Alfredo
Pacific Opera Victoria
Oct, 2009: “The tenor Vale Rideout's performance as Alfredo grows palpably in strength and nuance, both vocally and dramatically, from act to act.”
- Kevin Bazzana, Times Colonist
Lucia di Lammermoor, Edgardo
Central City Opera
Sept, 2009: “Looking the Romantic Byronic loner to perfection, he acted ardently and was highly affecting in the final scene. A sensitive musician, he projected the text with superb clarity.”
- David Shengold, Opera News
Lucia di Lammermoor, Edgardo
Central City Opera
July, 2009: “Deserving particular kudos is tenor Vale Rideout, a former Central City apprentice who is back for his third summer with the company as a professional. He is making his debut in the role of Edgardo, Lucia's lover from a rival clan, and he could hardly be better suited to the role. He has the dashing looks and fiery intensity this character demands, as well as the appropriate vocal weight and agility. Expect other companies to be eager to engage Rideout for this part.”
- Kyle MacMillan, The Denver Post
The War Requiem
The New York Philharmonic
June, 2009: “The relatively modest episodes were the most successful here, largely because of the fine and moving work of the baritone, Ian Greenlaw, and especially the tenor, Vale Rideout. Although Mr. Greenlaw did not always project as well as Mr. Rideout, they were superbly expressive and balanced in the duet “So Abram rose,” backed by equally fine instrumental work.”
- James R. Oestreich, The New York Times
L’isola disabitata, Gernando
Gotham Chamber Opera
Feb, 2009: “Tenor Vale Rideout was a passionate Gernando, singing with bright, forward thrust and a fine messa di voce”
- Joanne Sydney Lessner, Opera News
L'isola disabitata, Gernando
Gotham Chamber Opera
Feb, 2009: “As Gernando, Vale Rideout shapes the tenor arias with charm and grace.”
- Peter G. Davis, Musical America
Susannah, Sam Polk
Central City Opera
Jul, 2008: “Rounding out the principals is tenor Vale Rideout, who captures — both in his acting and singing — the homespun nature and elusive complexity of Sam Polk, Susannah's loving yet often drunken brother. Rideout brings an aptly folksy, understated vocal approach to the character."
- Kyle MacMillan, Denver Post
Susannah, Sam Polk
Central City Opera
Jul, 2008: “The three men in Susannah's life were sung by tenor Vale Rideout, superb vocally and sweetly sympathetic as her loving brother Sam . . .”
- Marc Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News
The Rape of Lucretia, Male Chorus
Central City Opera
June, 2008: “Special praise is reserved for the two remarkable chorus singers: up-and-coming tenor Vale Rideout and soprano Melina Pyron, who was so stunning in last summer's Saint of Bleecker Street in Central City. Vocally and dramatically, their contributions cannot be properly measured.”
- Marc Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News
The Rape of Lucretia, Male Chorus
Central City Opera
June, 2008: “Vale Rideout and Melina Pyron, as the Male and Female Chorus, were invariably communicative and flexible in their rich mix of song, speech and everything between.”
- James R. Oestreich, The New York Times
The Fortunes of King Croesus, Prince Atis
Minnesota Opera
Apr, 2008: “As her lover, Atis — the mute prince whose acquisition of speech in mid-opera becomes one of the plot's chief engines — Vale Rideout sang with ardor and focus.”
- Larry Fuchsbert, Opera News
Die Zauberflöte, Tamino
Tulsa Opera
Apr, 2008: “Vale Rideout, making his company debut in this production, is superb as the prince Tamino. His voice is strong and supple, full of heroic confidence and yet capable of great delicacy -- his performance of Tamino's aria, "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schon," as his character falls in love at first sight of a picture of Pamina, was perfectly shaded with all the passion and wonder of first love.”
- James D. Watts, Tulsa World
Cendrillon, Le prince charmant
Central City Opera
Jul, 2007: “Vale Rideout was handsome and unexpectedly human as Prince Charming, singing with assurance. A highlight was his masterfully handled love duet in red with [Leah] Wool, sung under the approving gaze of [Heather] Buck.”
- Marc Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News
Die Fledermaus, Alfred
San Francisco Opera
Oct, 2007: “Tenor Vale Rideout, also in a company debut, was an exuberant, clear-voiced Alfred.”
- Georgia Rowe, Opera News
Così fan tutte, Ferrando
Boston Baroque
Oct, 2007: "Vale Rideout as Ferrando showed off a solid, well-proportioned tenor…"
- Jeremy Eichler, Boston Globe
Roméo et Juliette, Roméo
Opera Tampa
Dec, 2006: “Rideout was at his best in Romeo's glorious aria beneath Juliet's balcony. He has an attractive, ringing tone ideal for the ardent, eager-to-please swain…”
- John Fleming, Tampa Times
Roméo et Juliette, Roméo
Opera Tampa
Dec, 2006: “Vale Rideout as Romeo delivered his rich and comforting tenor from the onset with a radiant "Ah! Leve-toi, soleil" ("Arise, o sun") aria, and kept vocally solid through his somber ode to death, "Salut, tombeau" ("Hail, gloomy tomb"), nearly three hours later.”
- Kurt Loft, Tampa Tribune
Messiah
Seattle Symphony
Dec, 2006: “Vale Rideout's lyrical sound and strong high notes were balanced by the drama and authority of Richard Zeller's powerful baritone.”
- Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times
Our Town, George
Lake George Opera
July, 2006: “Sarah Paige Hagstrom and Vale Rideout made a handsome, credible pair as young Emily and George . . . Rideout's clean sound and clear diction proved impressive.”
- David Shengold, Opera News
Shir Shel Moshe
Milken Archive
Sept, 2004: “…the results, performed here with an infectious passion by the vibrant tenor Vale Rideout, the spirited BBC Singers and an excellent but uncredited organist under conductor Kenneth Kiesler, bespeak authenticity of the first order.”
- Joshua Rosenblum, Opera News
