Press
Press Quotes
Richard Strauss’s Salome, with Heartbeat Opera, February 2025
As Jokanaan in Richard Strauss’s Salome (photo credit: Andrew Boyle)
“John the Baptist (the baritone Nathaniel Sullivan, somber and appropriately a bit deranged) is being kept not out of sight, down in the libretto’s cistern, but in a clear-walled cell onstage.”
—Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times
“The splendid cast displayed absolute theatrical commitment….Mr. Sullivan’s lyrical baritone underscored Jokanaan’s vulnerability, as did his near-nakedness and poignant gaze.”
—Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal
“Nathaniel Sullivan’s eloquent lyric baritone is lighter than we are accustomed, but it pays off – his Jochanaan possesses both the vocal gravitas for his biblical prophecies as well as a tender vulnerability that makes the character human. He’s a magnificent actor, fanatical and heartbreaking in turn, and his death (in full view of the audience) is a gripping piece of theatre.”
—Kevin W. Ng, Bachtrack
“A glass box on stage holds Jokanaan, performed by an achingly tender and soulful Nathaniel Sullivan. Wearing only stained tighty whities, his heartbreaking voice carries the leaden gravitas at the center of the opera around which the crude and corrupted sinners of Herod’s palace dance.”
—Annie Levin, Parterre Box
“The mellifluous baritone Nathaniel Sullivan’s very human Jochanaan was young and comely, fanatical in his religious devotion and touched, even conflicted, by Salome’s seduction efforts.”
—Susan Brodie, Classical Voice North America
“With…a riveting and wild-eyed (and dirty underweared) Jokanaan from baritone Nathaniel Sullivan leading the cast of stellar singers, no assets seemed skimped on.”
—Richard Sasanow, Broadway World
“Nathaniel Sullivan, as Jokanaan, has a healthy, impassioned sound (it helps that his character has the loveliest music that Strauss can muster). His Jokanaan is tempted by the princess against his will and judgment….The moments before his execution, where he nods assent to Jeremy Harr’s servant-cum-executioner, were among the most affecting.”
—Gabrielle Ferrari, Observer
“As Jokanaan, Nathaniel Sullivan was a wild-eyed, tortured aesthetic, tempted by Salome’s charms but never yielding to them. Clothed only in a tattered shirt and underpants, with reddened eyes, Sullivan was both prophet and castigator. His lean, sinewy baritone expressed Jokanaan’s vulnerability as effectively as the prophet’s defiance.”
—Rick Perdian, Seen and Heard International
George Benjamin’s & Martin Crimp’s Lessons in Love and Violence (US Premiere), at the Tanglewood Music Center, August 2022
As the King in George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence (photo credit: Hilary Scott)
“And you would be glad, though gladdening this opera is not, to hear a performance as strong as Monday’s in any major house. Three of the main parts were taken by recent graduates of Tanglewood’s vocal program; greater testament to its worth would be hard to imagine. Nathaniel Sullivan sang the King — Edward II, as imagined by Christopher Marlowe then reimagined by [Martin] Crimp — with sniveling command, the monarch’s weakness to the fore.”
—David Allen, The New York Times
“As the King (never named as Edward II), the alert and highly musical baritone Nathaniel Sullivan offered a searching performance, making a not entirely sympathetic character all too human.”
—David Shengold, Opera News
“Sullivan’s voice was regal but delicate in his portrayal of the King, suggesting the character’s weak will; he only whipped the veil off in the final scene when he unleashed his now-powerless fury against Daniel McGrew’s unctuous but steely Mortimer.”
—A.Z. Madonna, The Boston Globe
Jacob Bancks’s Karkinos (World Premiere), with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, February 2022
As the Angel in Jacob Bancks’s Karkinos (photo credit: Evan Sammons)
“Hill and Sullivan equally dazzled in the heft, energy and force in their voices.”
—Jonathan Turner, QuadCities.com
J. S. Bach’s Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, with Capital City Concerts, October 2019
“Hyunah Yu’s gem of a soprano and Nathaniel Sullivan’s warm assertive baritone proved complementary in the cantata’s two duets.”
—Jim Lowe, The Barre Montpelier Times Argus
Four Cantatas by J. S. Bach in memory of Sanford Sylvan, with the Blanche Moyse Chorale & Memorial Orchestra, October 2019
“…Nathaniel Sullivan not only sang expressively with velvety voices but the German diction was perfect, allowing the text for which Bach meticulously tailored his music to be clearly understood.”
—Lynda Copeland, Brattleboro Reformer
J. S. Bach’s Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42, at the Tanglewood Music Center, July 2019
“…Nathaniel Sullivan sang the final recitative and aria bringing a joyous sense of hope, confirmed by the final chorale.”
—Steven Ledbetter, The Boston Musical Intelligencer
Gerald Finzi’s Requiem da Camera, with the New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall, November 2018
“…baritone Nathaniel Sullivan sang the Thomas Hardy poem with great eloquence.”
—Harry Rolnick, ConcertNet
Four Cantatas by J. S. Bach, with the Blanche Moyse Chorale & Memorial Orchestra, October 2018
“In ‘Hier, in meines Vaters Stätte‘ from Cantata BWV 32, Sullivan sang with a warm lyricism, danced around by longtime Moyse violinist Mayuki Fukuhara. The lyricism of veteran oboists [Stephen] Taylor and Mark Hill provided the warm bed for Sullivan’s expressive presence in ‘Gott, bei deinem starken Schützen’.”
—Jim Lowe, Rutland Herald
PATH New Music Theater's Simulacrum (World Premiere), at 3LD Art & Technology Center, June 2018
As Elias/Bionic Leg in PATH New Music Theater's Simulacrum (photo credit: Pierre Lidar)
"Much the same can be said for Sullivan who handled the staccato vocal effects and obsessive gestures with impressive strength and precision."
—John Hohmann, Schmopera
J. S. Bach's Mass in B Minor, BWV 232, with the Blanche Moyse Chorale & Memorial Orchestra, October 2017
"[Sullivan's] natural expressiveness and warmth gave a joyful quality to the 'Et in Spiritum Sanctum.'"
—Jim Lowe, Rutland Herald
HK Gruber's Frankenstein!!, with The Orchestra Now, October 2017
"The key to the show is that crazed chansonnier, who alternates narration with strutting, marching in place and whipping out a battery of kazoos, whistles, pipes and other kiddie noise makers[....]baritone Nathaniel Sullivan put on a virtuoso show in the part."
—Andrew L. Pincus, The Berkshire Eagle
"Mr. Sullivan is a marvelous actor, his chanting/singing/falsetto was to the point. He showed humor (a well-rehearsed humor), gave allegiance to both music and words. And gave[...]as ebullient a performance as could be expected."
—Harry Rolnick, ConcertoNet