Recordings

L’accordéoniste CD Review

Wayne Gooding, Opera Canada, Winter 2009
"It's an eclectic mix, but works very, very well in a program that requires the technique and interpretive flair of accomplished classical musicians in repertoire that is skillfully and artfully composed to sound casual...Barber is appealing in a program that requires her to switch from the gritty, streetwise swagger of the Hanns Eisler/Berthold Brecht There's Nothing Quite Like Money (ooh, how I wish Eisler was included in such programs as much as Weill) to the more wistful Chitarrata abruzzese."

L’accordéoniste CD Review

Joseph So, La Scena Musicale, October 2009
(5 out of 6 stars)
"It may be seem a little surprising that, given her purely classical training, mezzo Kimberly Barber, a noted Octavian, Componist, Xerxes and Regina, has chosen French and German cabaret songs of Weill, Hollaender, Eisler and Bienert for her new project. An artist of great artistic range, Barber delivers these songs idiomatically and fearlessly without operatic artifice, her attention to textural nuance exemplary. Nor is she afraid to dip into chest voice, so essential in these songs. I particularly like her gritty and world-weary delivery of "Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?" It reminds me so much of Teresa Stratas' version in her The Unknown Kurt Weill album back in 1981--even their timbres are similar. Also delicious is "Je cherche un millionnaire", and of course "La vie en rose" which ends the disc."

L’accordéoniste CD Review

A Web of Fine Music, October 2009 (listed as one of "Mike's Picks")
"Here is one of the most interesting independent releases of 2009, featuring all-Canadian talent, including Niagara's own Mary-Lou Vetere. A cross between lieder, cabaret songs and tango, this delectable recording features tracks such as There's Nothing Quite Like Money; Berlin im Licht-Song; The Sailor's Tango and La Vie en Rose. The production values are exceptional and the performances equally so."

L’accordéoniste CD Review

John Terauds, Toronto Star, August 16, 2009
(3.5 out of 4 stars)
"If you love Kurt Weill and his contemporaries, as well as Edith Piaf, check out this self-produced album by Toronto-and-area based pianist Peter Tiefenbach, accordionist Mary-Lou Vetere, violinist Julie Baumgartel, cellist Paul Pulford and percussionist Carol Bauman, collaborating with mezzo-soprano Kimberly Barber. Here is the playfully caustic spirit of the late 19th-century salon and early 20th-century cabaret vividly and elegantly rendered in 17 tracks by people who clearly love the material. Instrumental pieces, such as Guaparia, pulse with red-blooded zest for life. Barber ads a polished sheen to frothy little gems such as Weill's Berlin im Licht-Song, then turns around to apply dramatic force to Weill's tragic Sailor's Tango."

Rinaldo, G. F. Handel, Naxos Records

Robert Tomas, The Wholenote, May 1-June 7, 2006
"It is the mezzo aria 'Venti, turbini' that may be the most familiar, particularly after Ewa Podles' stunning recording. In this Naxos edition, it receives a little less of a star turn from Kimberly Barber, but such comparison is unfair. Ms. Barber delivers the nuances of Rinaldo's torment beautifully in this live recording from the Grace Church on the Hill in Toronto."

Robert Levine, Classics Today, review number 9751
"The cast is uniformly good. Everyone embellishes the vocal line with skill and ease...Kimberly Barber is fine as Rinaldo. Her voice is well-knit and there are no weaknesses..."

Maurice Ravel´s L'Heure espagnole/LSO/ André Previn/Deutsche Grammophon

M. Fiedler, Das Opernglas, October 1999
"Kimberly Barber's intonation and articulation as the much-admired Concepción make her sound like a native Frenchwoman. Her pronunciation, the elasticity and charisma of her voice, unavoidably bring to mind a comparison with Felicity Lott. Due to the charm of her timbre, her strong expression and fine sense for lyrical and subtle nuances, she sings her way into the focal point of this recording."

Urjo Kareda, Opera Canada, Fall 1999
"Canadian mezzo-soprano Kimberly Barber -- so memorable in the Canadian Opera Company's Xerxes -- is alert and rich-voiced as Concepción, the wife who drives the comic action. She is particularly delightful in the opera's funniest moment, when she hints at her designs upon the virile muleteer; "Sans horloge" ("no clock") she sings, resetting the agenda."

Aaron Jay Kernis' 100 Greatest Dance Hits (New Albion Records, Inc.)

Joshua Kusman, San Francisco Chronicle, April 1995
"Most beautiful of all, though, is the awkwardly titled American (Day) Dreams (...) the poems are comic, sad and deeply evocative, and Kernis' melodies, sung with unnerving purity by mezzo-soprano Kimberly Barber, will rip your heart."