reviews
"[...]Valdis Jansons’ perfectly played and sung role of the Count [from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro] had an evilness that was still grounded in reality. Not a campy over-the-top villainy, nor a puny and wimpy one, but a character that was realistic in their anger and frustrations with others."
"The Count di Luna is entrusted to Valdis Jansons , an authentic Verdian baritone, as convincing in his burning jealousy as in his implacable vengeful coldness. The voice is solid, warm and flexible. “Il balen del suo sorriso” is sung with confidence, charged with the right emotion."
"...the archetypal Verdi baritone, is performed by Valdis Jansons who leaves the memory, in this same theater, of a convincing Macbeth. His Count di Luna preserves the humanity specific to many of these baritones. The voice is rounded and nuanced, it is put at the service of the intelligence and articulation of the text. This is of course the case in his arias, with a fleeting “Il balen del suo sorriso…”, but it is also notable in his equally important although less catchy arioso passages."
"Valdis Jansons – particularly convincing Macbeth here last June – embodies a solid Count di Luna: at the same time cold, ruthless, even cruel when jealousy overcomes him, he knows how to soften to make room for the man in love, to the wounded spurn, devoured by love, jealousy, the desire to possess Leonora. The rounded voice is full of contrasting colors, never to the detriment of playing, accuracy, and even projection. The vocal line goes straight to the point, without ever ignoring the nuances that color it and make it shimmer."
"As Luna, the Latvian Valdis Jansons (recent Macbeth in loco) is as accurate in his manner of portraying a cold and merciless character as he is in singing with the devouring fire of jealousy, in a warm and roundly projecting baritone voice. The line is just as neat, with undulating shades of great effect."
"Baritone Valdis Jansons plays Count Luna who is both bitter and passionate."
"Rigoletto sings most throughout the opera, and the duets with his daughter Gilda are so musically expressive with nice balance and contact between them. Rigoletto's aria in Act 2, where he reveals his love for his daughter - "Miei signori perdono, pietade" - Valdis Jansons sings with great empathy and feeling."
"We hear very little in France Valdis Jansons , and that's a shame. The voice is particularly fruity and improves even more in the second part. He offers an original Macbeth, to which he infuses an impressive theatricality. We see him particularly consistent and constant, falling into madness and letting himself go with naturalness and love at the advice of his wife."
"Valdis Jansons is the ideal Verdi baritone, with a timbre neither too light nor too dark, homogeneous over the entire range. The articulation is perfect, and the adherence to the text is omnipresent. The balance is remarkable between beautiful singing and dramatic acting. Each of his interventions is a model. The symbiosis with the orchestra is sometimes total. The confrontation with his partner is very convincing."
"Valdis Jansons, a Latvian baritone who rarely performs in France, gives a convincing interpretation of the title role. The vocality surprises a little because of the very clear tone. Still, the singing line is well-executed, the high notes are easy, and his incarnation of a spineless character manipulated by his wife is very successful."
"In the title role, the Latvian baritone Valdis Jansons makes a strong impression. Unfortunately not very present in France (he was Scarpia in Tosca at the Opéra de Tours in 2017), Valdis Jansons deploys a voice that is quite clear overall in terms of texture, vigorous, and with easy high notes, with excellent breath control, while conveying a robust character to the figure of Macbeth. [...] He gives the character a real and powerful consistency, in total agreement with Lady Macbeth..."
"There remains the title role and the discovery of an interpreter, Valdis Jansons. Ignored from the French stages apart from a well-sung Scarpia in Tours six years ago, this Latvian baritone who has just reached maturity nevertheless has many assets: first of all, the voice of the role, whose range clearly poses no problem for him, impeccable projection and articulation, sense of nuance, satisfying acting skills and a physical presence that suits the character."
“Special notice goes to the vocal soloist finery of [...] baritone Valdis Jansons, [...]"
“Vocal soloists for Carmina Burana, [...] and baritone Valdis Jansons, made much of their often-perilous musical roles. Orff’s writing [...] is mercilessly virtuosic. Vocal resilience, fortitude, and high skill marked the performance [...]"
“The scorned Anckarström is played by baritone Valdis Jansons poignantly and believably. His powerful and expressive voice conveys the pain and anger his character is experiencing.”
“Probably you will not find a nobler Anckarström than Valdis Jansons from Latvia...”
“Excellence of the same calibre was shown by Latvian baritone Valdis Jansons as Anckarström. He has been seen and heard at Opera på Skäret before. In 2015 he was Germont in La traviata and two years later he sang Rodrigo in Don Carlo, but unfortunately I saw the other cast on both occasions. Now, in his third Verdi role, I was deeply impressed with his dramatic acting and magnificent singing. His big set piece, ‘Eri tu’, was formidable but skilfully nuanced and made Anckarström stand out as a three-dimensional character, not just a cardboard villain.”
“There are two singers who stand out in an ensemble at a good international level […] And experienced Valdis Jansons who made memorable role performances of Germont and Rodrigo at Skäret also shine in The Masked Ball.”
“Latvian baritone Valdis Jansons imposes his presence in the pit. He develops a round and velvety voice that caresses the ears of the public, with a delicate and elegant phrasing, particularly seductive with its warm timbre.”
"...Zurga was Valdis Jansons, a voice still almost undiscovered in Spanish theaters. The Latvian baritone delivered a very solid performance in the evolution of his character, from jealousy to acceptance and forgiveness towards the couple, with a moving ending. It is enough to remember the beginning of the third act, with a generous and expressive phrasing, while the friend's repentance appeared..."
"With the baritone we return to surprises. Impeccable recreation of Zurga, the chief of the pearl fishers. Forceful sound projection, correct tuning, good filling of the duos, looking sideways at their companions, adequate stage presence, fundamental in the most dramatic role of the work, and expressiveness in singing. The third act, the most demanding for the role of Zurga, was the impeccable cover letter of a baritone with a future."
"Latvian baritone Valdis Jansons (Ramiro), who combines a solid and conscious stage presence with a sonorous, homogeneous and expressive vocality..."
“Latvian baritone Valdis Jansons in his mid-40s is a peculiar stage phenomenon. With his faceless face and awkward movement, he gives the impression of being completely civil, and yet it is this civilization, this inward attention, that gives the King the power. As if he didn’t want to believe how it could happen to him, the pious ruler. How can they leave, how can their deep-seated desires drive them on a journey, how you may encounter any temptation at all. In the end, in the very strong closing monologue, he dares to face himself, creating a great stage moment with it.”
“A notable Belcore is that of Valdis Jansons, a performer of the first cast [...]. Thanks also to an easy acting (with a perfectly successful somersault during the aria of the first act), the voice of this village miles gloriosus is energetic and precise. The baritone manages to build a well-rounded character with a certain impact, going well beyond the fictional dimension that the libretto reveals.”
“Latvian lyric baritone Valdis Jansons brought vocal beauty to the conflicted character of Nello. (In Cigni’s production, Nello is a leader of the Italian Fascist party.) Jansons employed his attractive lyric baritone and acting skills in a difficult task, making the character of Nello credible to 21st century audiences.”
“Baritone Valdis Jansons copes with honor, his voice is fairly uniform and the phrasing is imaginative, so that Pia’s husband Nello della Pietra is well characterized.”
“[...] We find the baritone Valdis Jansons in the role of Nello della Pietra, Pia's husband; an interpreter who has put into play a well-rounded vocality and is very prone to soft phrasing without neglecting at the same time the necessary impetuosity when he is solicited by Ghino who insinuates the seed of jealousy into him (the duet between the two is beautiful even if on a musical compositional level it never seems to be able to vent... almost unresolved I would say); Jansons' accents are excellent in the high notes as well as in the lower notes where he was able to assert himself with confident diction and syllabification.”
“Valdis Jansons as a notable Valentin, singing with an impressive and flexibility. Valentin can often seem rather pompous, but the intelligence of Jansons singing won the day here and I wished there had been more for him to do. Jansons is definitely a baritone to watch.”
“Valdis Jansons sang a powerful Rigoletto, with all the pain and humiliation of the jester conveyed without the usual hump-backed padding.”
"However, the biggest applause goes, quite rightly, to the baritone Valdis Jansons after Di Provenza il mar . Jansons does some beautiful things when he lengthens phrases without taking a breath..."
“Starting with the role of David, sung by Valdis Jansons, this young baritone has a clear diction, the colour that fits to the character: his singing is intense and warm...”
“The cast appeared to be at an excellent level, absolutely balanced; however, it undoubtedly shone in the figure of Valdis Jansons, intense both scenically and vocally...”
“Both the two deeper voices in the solo cast were excellent. The Belcore of Valdis Jansons handled the situation in an all-round manner, dashing, cynical, arrogant and false, suffering not at all when Adina opts for Nemorino...”
"The brightest ornament of the group was baritone Valdis Jansons, whose Henry was both elegant and memorable. Precisely this artist was the highlight of the performance and turned out to be the best amongst all others who came to Moscow this time around."
"[...] the statuesque skill of the Latvian baritone Valdis Jansons, magnificent Ford in every nuance from dreamy to tender to sanguine fury, accompanied by perfect diction."
"…Beautiful voice, great vocal line, stylistically focused already since the beginning of a "role-monster" for basses and baritones, considerable interpretation intentions in his varied and nuanced phrasing, as well as in the word articulation of a perfect and well-marked Italian. All this added to his tallness and elegant gait, envisages him as an element that, after having successfully metabolized and having run in the role, will give a hard time to many 'prominent rivals.'… "