THE LOSER, LOS ANGELES OPERA
“Gilfry’s vocal range and palate is wide. I don’t recall ever before hearing the baritone go so startlingly deep into the low bass register. And what assures Lang’s hypnotic opera of being an inescapable winner is a mesmerizingly virtuosic performance by Rod Gilfry destined for the annals of opera. ”
- Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times
“…it is the unrelenting presence and vocal clarity of Gilfry’s performance that makes the loser such a remarkable operatic experience.”
- Jim Farber, San Francisco Classical Voice
“Rod Gilfry was the storyteller and his resonant voice flowed voluminously across to the balcony of the Theatre at Ace Hotel in waves of bronze-tinged tone. Since he sang his monologue with excellent English diction, there was no need for titles. For Baritone Rod Gilfry as the Narrator, the opera was a solid hour of almost unbroken singing, which he handled magnificently with exquisite vocalism that never seemed to tire. His ability to communicate the austere beauty of Lang's unvarnished music secured our awareness of the Narrator's sad state of disappointment.”