“On the other end of the spectrum was Issachah Savage’s potent tenor, its grainy qualities used to perfection as he scolded Idomeneo for forsaking his duty. Savage made his mark, his voice soaring over the pulsating orchestra and driving home the importance of this moment. In lesser hands, this recitative would come off as perfunctory, but Savage’s singing added tension and suspense, elevating the drama. His delivery of “O ciel clemente” was some of the boldest and most intense singing of the entire night.”

“As the High Priest, Issachah Savage charged onto stage with enormous energy and presence, with a commanding voice to match.”

“With his lyrical-sounding power machine of a heroic tenor, the American tenor Issachah Savage could penetrate the notes through the orchestra’s wall of sound. His sound evoked associations with Mahler’s ‘Das Lied von der Erde’, just as Schönberg’s music itself evoked memories of Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’. In a superb ‘Gurre’ debut, Issachah Savage was clearly the right person to sing the part of King Valdemar... ”

“WAGNER’S TANNHÄUSER IS A WORK about the power of song as a means of self-expression and as a way of penetrating the emotions of others in order to move and change them. Of all operas, Tannhäuser demands and deserves to be well sung. At LA Opera’s October 24 matinée, it was—triumphantly so. This performance of Tannhäuser was an extraordinary occasion: it was one of the most impressively sung and played Wagner music dramas I have ever heard. The two principal roles were given rousing interpretations that hit the heights of ecstasy and the lowest points of depression. American tenor Issachah Savage, the Tannhäuser, has a mighty, tough-sinewed voice that is loud but compact; assertive, yet capable of tenderness; and invested with unflagging energy. Savage’s Tannhäuser was everything Wagner wanted—“nowhere and never ‘a little,’ but each thing fully and entirely.” Savage sustained this unnervingly split personality with great power. Savage’s performance was complemented magnificently by American soprano Sarah Jakubiak, …Both Savage and Jakubiak are among those rare singers who can be clearly heard above a full Wagnerian orchestra and chorus—a truly thrilling sound.”

“But the name of the show is Tannhäuser and I have to be honest that I hadn’t heard much of, or about, Issachah Savage before he was announced to make his role debut in this production. The LA Opera website promises that Mr. Savage will “knock your socks off” and for once the publicity department isn’t resorting to hyperbole.
Honestly I can’t recall the last time I heard a tenor with so beautiful, so sizeable, and focused an instrument. It’s not one of these Helden voices that has a big baritonal “burr” on it that actually negates it’s carrying power. I also don’t want to give the impression that there was no effort involved. …. Wagner’s writing for tenor, in general and Tannhäuser specifically, could never be called grateful. Yet Mr. Savage met all these challenges head on and with a fearsome musicality and unexpected grace. His sung German was beautiful and he never resorted to the notorious “Bayreuth bark” for emphasis.
For a debutante his “Rome Narrative” has all the building blocks in place and will surely grow with performance. His initial punch-drunk reactions to Wolfram’s questioning were creepy-splendid and the size and spin he managed on the “Curse” was titanic. He and Ms. Jakubiak even garnered some spontaneous applause after their initial Act II duet.
Mr. Savage showed no trouble riding out over the ensembles, the chorus, his colleagues, and the orchestra at full force. Frankly throughout the song contest and the ensuing finale it started to become overwhelming at each new entrance by the soloists as they all threw down a vocal gauntlet that they would not be bested by each other.”

“Savage too came to his own. His projection is clear and focused. He has stamina… a gripping, convincing Tannhäuser
”

“at the arrival of tenor Issachah Savage’s exhausted Siegmund. Their physical fascination with each other became quickly evident and discreetly continued after the arrival of bass Štefan Kocán… Savage gave a remarkable performance as Siegmund, combining power and flexibility and singing with unflagging beauty of tone.… [and] he kept the musical line clean”

“The American tenor sings this punishing role, composed by a sadistic Strauss, as if it were a lullaby. The voluminous and ample voice blooms naturally, and his technique, acquired in the best American schools, assures him all the rest: breath, diction, style, and especially stamina.”

“Issachah Savage, a promising young dramatic tenor, sang Narraboth’s lines with shining bronze tones. Reports of his Otello in Mexico make him a tenor to watch.”

“Tenor Issachah Savage surmounted the soaring “Ingemisco,” not just deploying operatic sobs, but seeming to expand one until it enveloped the hall.”

“I’d wager that one feature of Saturday’s performance would have pleased Wagner, especially the singing of tenor Issachah Savage in the title role. Savage...has that rarest of instruments: a large voice of melting beauty. He wielded it with ease and grace through a long night of singing, marshaling his energy wisely so that he had plenty to give where it counted, especially the Act V prayer, the evening’s showpiece...He’s got a voice that makes you want to hear more of it — and the night belonged to him.”

“The character of Bacchus makes his appearance late in the opera, but Issachah Savage was worth waiting for. Arriving onstage in a “chariot” that doubled as a massive Champagne cooler (looks like the partygoers were enjoying some Veuve Clicquot), the young tenor sang with bewitching tonal beauty and majestic amplitude that underscored his top prize in last year’s Seattle International Wagner Competition.”

“When Savage sang the opening line of yesterday’s Die Walküre, we immediately knew that we were in store for something quite different. Instead of the usual tenor with baritone colouration and vocal heft, we had a lyric, unforced dramatic tenor, lighter in colour and yet powerful. Savage was careful to pace the first two acts in which he appears – building from strength-to-strength...The roaring ovation that greeted him when he walked out on stage for his curtain call was of a quality and pitch usually reserved for only the greatest of singers.”

“Last Saturday, the scheduled Siegmund in the Die Walküre at the Canadian Opera was ill, and his understudy, Issachah Savage, stepped in. He has a robust, ringing tenor, and he also sings lyrically, with a young, healthy sound. It was a creditable vocal debut for a very promising singer...”

“So, when it was announced at noon Saturday that he [Issachah Savage] would be singing, it really piqued my interest. The first voice in the opera belongs to Siegmund, and right away I was impressed by his warm, hall-filling, rich sound, accurate of pitch and used with a surfeit of musicality. Undoubtedly there were some nervous tension, but he hid it well. He grew in confidence as the performance continued, and the voice sounded splendid in the Four Seasons Centre. At his final curtain call, the roar of approval from the house was among the most impressive I’ve heard in my 43 years of attending COC performances.

This performance clearly demonstrated that Savage’s tenor is ideal as Siegmund. He managed the unusually low tessitura well. When the vocal line rises, his tenor is in its glory. Unlike many Wagnerian tenors who are basically pushed-up baritones, Savage is a genuine tenor, with a bright, forwardly placed sound, one that defines the term Jugendlich dramatischer Tenor. The gleaming yet warm sound is lovely, and it has the heft for the dramatic outbursts like the “Walse, walse” passage.”

“In the end, it was a big night for tenor Issachah Savage who won a $25,000 first prize award from the judges. Savage, whose big and lyrical tenor was at its best in “Mein Lieber Schwan” (from “Lohengrin”), also won both the audience’s and the orchestra’s prizes, bringing his total winnings to $35,000. He was further honored by Seattle Opera’s retiring general director and master of ceremonies, Speight Jenkins, who chose Savage to fill in a slot in Saturday’s opera gala, the ‘Speight Celebration Concert and Dinner.’”

“...Dramatic tenor Issachah Savage proved a tremendous, heroic Lohengrin. The line of his gorgeous voice in “Mein lieber Schwann” was seamless, the energy unflagging. Having previously thrilled the loyal Merola audience with his Otello in the Schwabacher Summer Concert, it is easy to imagine Savage, who also has a delightful comic sensibility, following in the footsteps of Domingo and Botha.”

“Tenor Issachah Savage made a thrilling Lohengrin, bringing grace and ardor to “Mein lieber Schwann” from Wagner’s opera”

“Issachah Savage brought the house down with his personal best for all his impressive appearances this summer: “Mein lieber Schwann” from “Lohengrin” was heldentenor par excellence - trumpetlike, clear, open-throated, powerful.”

“For the other shoe to drop, the audience had to wait all the way until the end of the evening, when tenor Issachah Savage gave a phenomenal glimpse of his abilities as Otello in the final scene from Verdi’s opera. Merola is supposed to be a training program, yet here was a vocal showing as sure-footed and commanding as anything you might encounter on a professional stage. From his opening notes - impeccably shaded and coiled with repressed fury - to the opera’s final explosion of grief and shame, Savage sang with a combination of power and finesse that is rare to observe. The only disappointment was that we didn’t get to hear more from him - though that will surely be corrected soon.”

“The men were quite impressive, starting with tenor Issachah Savage’s Egyptian commander Radames. His middle-range voice was extremely beautiful and clear, while his high notes rang out brightly.”

“Radames was sung by Issachah Savage, who produces a bright, clear and potent sound, consistent throughout, and his power and presence were welcomed with loud ovations after his very first aria.”

“Mr. Savage was phenomenal as Radames, starting with his beautiful timbre, and continuing through great projection and Italianate phrasing, all the way to excellent pitch control both on the top and the bottom of his range. This was a superb Radames, which is already a third of what is needed for a beautiful Aida. And it’s the young singer’s role debut!”

“There was an extra thrill in the final selection, most of the last two scenes of “Meistersinger,” with tenor Issachah Savage singing the famous Prize Song. Savage is a Catholic University alum who’s been winning competitions for a few years and singing in the Washington area as well as around the country, but I wasn’t prepared for the easy, rich, warm sound that poured out of him in one of the most beautiful arias in the repertory...a world-class voice.”

“Yet still, the most moving moment of the evening did not come necessarily in the singing. It was in that very moment that tenor Issachah Savage walked unassumedly on stage for the first time, that an intense sense of trepidation seemed to be in the air. It was midway through the orchestra’s playing that Savage came onstage and sat down. When tenor Isachaah Savage stood and opened his mouth, for many it was an unexpected gem of royal worth. His voice was like a wall of glorious sound and he commanded every note. After the performance, noted music educator, conductor and organist Peter Krasinski remarked to the D. C. Performing Arts Examiner on that special moment. “ A voice that has the power and strength to sing this repertoire is rare indeed, one with such beauty that it reaches onto the heart is a true gift, to hear a single voice that can do both might be called a voice heard once in a century. When Mr. Savage began to sing “The Prize Song,” the tears began to flow, and to my left and right I could plainly see that I was not alone. Couples became closer; the very walls resonated with a silent”yes. We all became one in the realization that we were witnessing history in the making.” he said.”