Reviews
Glass Hammer - Long Leaf Opera Festival
The singer is crucial here, not merely for beauty of voice and clarity of text, but for the individualization of the characters. Here, the experienced opera singer Jonathan Hays confidently supplied everything that was necessary for success. His full, mellow baritone ranged from the softest half voice to the grandest thundering outburst, while his acting of the bellowing father, the admonishing mother, the elderly grandmother, and the innocent kid brother was detailed and nuanced.
Roy C. Dicks, Classical Voice of North Carolina
From Broadway to Gorky Street - Bard Music Festival
Baritone Jonathan Hays showed the very best of the classically trained singer with an intuitive grasp of Broadway style.
Michael Miller, Berkshire Review for the Arts
Die Zauberflöte - Portland Opera
"Our favorite was Papageno the bird catcher in a coat that appeared to be molting. Jonathan Hays performed the part like a fumbling Hugh Grant --- endearing and adorable -- so that when he turned his spy glass on the audience in search of girl friend material, women were actually primping.
Vivian McInerny, The Oregonian
La Gazza Ladra - The Caramoor Festival
"The nobility of his voice matched the nobility of his bearing and his singing was consistently strong, lucid, direct and bang on the note. His was a magnificent performance"
Paul Griffiths, The New York Times
"Jonathan Hays' clear unforced and handsome lyric baritone fell like manna on the ears as Fernando, Nineta's father who bravely faces trials of his own. The immediate comparison would be to Theodore Uppman. This is a beautiful voice with agility, color and effortless production as well as taste and style. There is good news in that Mr. Hays lists a repertory heavy with Mozart and bel canto in his bio as well as a role in Britten's Albert Herring. With his good looks and easy stage deportment, it would seem that another Britten role -- the one created by Mr. Uppman whom he seems to so closely descend from -- is one Mr. Hays is destined to sing. This is a very fine young performer."
Opera L
Le Nozze di Figaro - Cape Town Opera
"The two male leads, Robert Gierlach (Figaro) from Warsaw and Jonathan Hays (Count Almaviva) from America, were the undoubted stars of the evening. Commanding authority, sheer vocal excellence and good looks sum up both their contributions nicely.
Opera Magazine
“Jonathan Hays was a suitably self-absorbed creature, a youngish aristocrat not yet outgrown a pampered background. He has a lovely baritone, nicely placed and warmly resonant but capable of taut edginess, as in the declamatory third act Vedro Mentre.”
Cape Times
“American Jonathan Hays as Count Almaviva gave a strong and many-faceted performance. His singing and acting grew more imposing as the opera progressed. His beautiful voice is well-honed and his singing reflects intelligence and musicality.”
Die Burger
Don Giovanni - Cape Town Opera
"A young cast for Don Giovanni, headed by the dashing 28-year-old American baritone Jonathan Hays as the lecherous Don … brought a fresh vitality to a revival of the 10-year old production…Hays, with his steely jaw and glinting eye was a real ladies' man, a charmer who could also be brutally callous."
Opera Now
Carmina Burana - Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
“Baritone Jonathan Hays sang of the revitalized earth in a gentle, warm voice that echoed the text about a warming sun. In the 'Tavern' section, he executed with calm assurance passages that challenged his full range… Singing unaccompanied as 'I am the abbot,' his voice was full and confident.”
The Times-Picayune
Béatrice et Bénédict - Yale Opera
"Energetically played by Jonathan Hays, Somarone was the hightlight of Wednesday's performance, barging thorugh the orchestra and harrassing the conductor."
Alex Ross, The New York Times
Albert Herring - Yale Opera
“Commendable diction from a fine voice also distinguished baritone Jonathan Hays’ strong performance as the reticent but complaisant vicar, another well-studied and complete realization of a difficult role and in marked contrast to Hays’ previous bravura performances at Yale.”
New Haven Register
