Acclaim
The Complete Songs of Virgil Thomson for Voice and Piano
"Every once in a while a recording comes along that not only represents a high artistic achievement but also a landmark contribution the musical culture."
"Every once in a while a recording comes along that not only represents a high artistic achievement but also a landmark contribution the musical culture."
» The Boston Globe
The Complete Songs of Virgil Thomson for Voice and Piano
“Why have I been discussing the works rather than the performances? Because all four singers are so accomplished, so precise, so free of artifice, and so intent on doing right by Thomson and making the words clear that you hear the compositions first, the interpretations second. I suspect that’s what Thomson would have wanted. Indeed, the diction is so uniformly excellent that New World could have spared providing complete texts. Artistic Quality: 10 Sound Quality: 10" → Read full review.
~ Jed Distler
“Why have I been discussing the works rather than the performances? Because all four singers are so accomplished, so precise, so free of artifice, and so intent on doing right by Thomson and making the words clear that you hear the compositions first, the interpretations second. I suspect that’s what Thomson would have wanted. Indeed, the diction is so uniformly excellent that New World could have spared providing complete texts. Artistic Quality: 10 Sound Quality: 10" → Read full review.
~ Jed Distler
» ClassicsToday.com
Token Creek Music Festival Presents Schubert
“… in truth, Hite could muster up delicacy and nuance as well as earthly strength. Above all, he became a story teller – at once a narrator and protagonist – a singing actor who drew us into the tragic story.”
“… in truth, Hite could muster up delicacy and nuance as well as earthly strength. Above all, he became a story teller – at once a narrator and protagonist – a singing actor who drew us into the tragic story.”
» The Well-Tempered Ear
Emmanuel Tackles Apollo
“William Hite sang Oebalus, King of Laconia: he captured the rage, the vengeance, finally the prayerful attitude of this pious and hospitable ruler.” → Read full review.
~ Cashman Kerr Prince
“William Hite sang Oebalus, King of Laconia: he captured the rage, the vengeance, finally the prayerful attitude of this pious and hospitable ruler.” → Read full review.
~ Cashman Kerr Prince
» The Boston Musical Intelligencer
Britten Mini-Festival Concludes
“Sunday found Hite in fine form, with wonderful clarity of tone and enunciation. Over the years, he has progressed from strength to strength as a singer of songs.” → Read full review.
~ Steven Ledbetter
“Sunday found Hite in fine form, with wonderful clarity of tone and enunciation. Over the years, he has progressed from strength to strength as a singer of songs.” → Read full review.
~ Steven Ledbetter
» The Boston Musical Intelligencer
Beethoven by the people, for the people, with Landmarks Orchestra
“... tenor William Hite and baritone Ron Williams’s duet was heavenly.” → Read full review.
~ Zoë Madonna
“... tenor William Hite and baritone Ron Williams’s duet was heavenly.” → Read full review.
~ Zoë Madonna
» The Boston Globe
Gluck’s ‘Ezio’ kicks off Odyssey mini-fest
“William Hite’s singing as Massimo showed both subtlety and a crystalline articulation of character. ” → Read full review.
~ Jeremy Eichler
“William Hite’s singing as Massimo showed both subtlety and a crystalline articulation of character. ” → Read full review.
~ Jeremy Eichler
» The Boston Globe
“Pre-Reform” Gluck: A Gratifying Surprise
“William Hite was superb both acting and singing as Massimo. He had the clearest Italian diction of any in the company. Though his part often causes him to skulk around, he must be by turns the murderous adviser, the loving father who still wants to force his daughter into a marriage she does not want, and the plotter afraid of being found out. All of these aspects he projected with authority.” → Read full review.
~ Steven Ledbetter
[program annotator for the Boston Symphony | 1979-1997]
“William Hite was superb both acting and singing as Massimo. He had the clearest Italian diction of any in the company. Though his part often causes him to skulk around, he must be by turns the murderous adviser, the loving father who still wants to force his daughter into a marriage she does not want, and the plotter afraid of being found out. All of these aspects he projected with authority.” → Read full review.
~ Steven Ledbetter
[program annotator for the Boston Symphony | 1979-1997]
» The Boston Musical Intelligencer
Da capo drama: Odyssey Opera rejuvenates Gluck's Ezio
“Diamond-sharp diction, elegant, accurate singing, and sensitive phrasing allowed William Hite to meet every vocal and dramatic challenge, most prominently in Act I’s lyrical “Se povero il ruscello” which began as an innocent pastoral then morphed into a venomous, insinuating whisper in its repeat.” → Read full review.
~ Kevin Wells
“Diamond-sharp diction, elegant, accurate singing, and sensitive phrasing allowed William Hite to meet every vocal and dramatic challenge, most prominently in Act I’s lyrical “Se povero il ruscello” which began as an innocent pastoral then morphed into a venomous, insinuating whisper in its repeat.” → Read full review.
~ Kevin Wells
» Bachtrack
Wolf’s Poetry and Song
“The best moments of the afternoon belonged to that estimable Liederist William Hite. His warm, burnished and ardent tenor matched a communicative personality that engaged perfectly with the sentiments of romance and longing that so many of Wolf’s male songs summon. A direct manner and conversational German allowed him to embody the composer’s aesthetic and get straight to the heart of musical and emotional art.” → Read full review.
~ Lee Eiseman
“The best moments of the afternoon belonged to that estimable Liederist William Hite. His warm, burnished and ardent tenor matched a communicative personality that engaged perfectly with the sentiments of romance and longing that so many of Wolf’s male songs summon. A direct manner and conversational German allowed him to embody the composer’s aesthetic and get straight to the heart of musical and emotional art.” → Read full review.
~ Lee Eiseman
» The Boston Musical Intelligencer
Chorus infuses big sound to Handel's 'Messiah'
“You can always tell what kind of “Messiah” you’re going to get from the opening tenor solo; “Comfort ye my people,” has breath and phrasing challenges, and if it goes well and confidently that seems to pervade the entire enterprise. And tenor William Hite was spot-on unfurling a luminous clearly projected sound with precise diction in getting the oratorio launched.” → Read full review.
~ John Zeugner
“You can always tell what kind of “Messiah” you’re going to get from the opening tenor solo; “Comfort ye my people,” has breath and phrasing challenges, and if it goes well and confidently that seems to pervade the entire enterprise. And tenor William Hite was spot-on unfurling a luminous clearly projected sound with precise diction in getting the oratorio launched.” → Read full review.
~ John Zeugner
» Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Aston Magna enacts Monteverdi’s conflicts of the heart
“Tempro la cetra introduced the concert, its formality amplified by the light intricacy of tenor William Hite’s ornamentation.” → Read full review.
~ Matthew Guerrieri
“Tempro la cetra introduced the concert, its formality amplified by the light intricacy of tenor William Hite’s ornamentation.” → Read full review.
~ Matthew Guerrieri
» The Boston Globe
Soloists, Choruses and Orchestra Compelling in Britten
“William Hite’s nuanced and subtle tenor … has a well-tempered, lyrical sound that was able to convey emotion with an eerie effect.” → Read full review.
~ Sudeep Agarwala
“William Hite’s nuanced and subtle tenor … has a well-tempered, lyrical sound that was able to convey emotion with an eerie effect.” → Read full review.
~ Sudeep Agarwala
» The Boston Musical Intelligencer
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra proves it can be powerful in intimate works, too
"Tenor William Hite brought subtlety and appropriate strangeness to this deeply imaginative music, weaving his singing into the orchestral accompaniment with delicacy and great nuance." → Read full review.
~ Stephen Brookes
"Tenor William Hite brought subtlety and appropriate strangeness to this deeply imaginative music, weaving his singing into the orchestral accompaniment with delicacy and great nuance." → Read full review.
~ Stephen Brookes
» The Washington Post
A Surpassing Prophet from Cantata Singers
"Tenor William Hite brought subtlety and appropriate strangeness to this deeply imaginative music, weaving his singing into the orchestral accompaniment with delicacy and great nuance."
~ Cashmere Kerr Prince
"Tenor William Hite brought subtlety and appropriate strangeness to this deeply imaginative music, weaving his singing into the orchestral accompaniment with delicacy and great nuance."
~ Cashmere Kerr Prince
» The Boston Musical Intelligencer
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra balances the sweet and astringent
"The heart of the program was Britten's "Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings," featuring an elegiac, at times eerily menacing performance by tenor William Hite." → Read full review.
~ Barry Wheeler
"The heart of the program was Britten's "Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings," featuring an elegiac, at times eerily menacing performance by tenor William Hite." → Read full review.
~ Barry Wheeler
» The Washington Post
Marveling at the Musical Chairs in a Riotous ‘Passion’ Season
"The Trinity [Church, Wall Street] pair, William Hite as the Evangelist and Stephen Salters as Jesus, were also excellent. Mr. Hite, in fine voice, described the action rather than lived it, a legitimate, time-honored approach." → Read full review.
~ James Oestreich
"The Trinity [Church, Wall Street] pair, William Hite as the Evangelist and Stephen Salters as Jesus, were also excellent. Mr. Hite, in fine voice, described the action rather than lived it, a legitimate, time-honored approach." → Read full review.
~ James Oestreich
» The New York Times
World Premier: Garden of Martyrs by Eric Sawyer
"Hite is amazing. That’s the only way to describe this role and his work in it. Cheverus is a demanding stage role and Hite has the sustainability to handle it. He brings many things to bear here, including a perfect tone and a splendidly interpretive attack on the role. His third act confession aria with Jamy’s interpolations is a show-stopper and rightfully so as it is the moment that affords him a solo bow at the curtain call, a well-deserved one. This role could be the one for which he is remembered."
~ J. Peter Bergman
~ J. Peter Bergman
» Bright Berkshire Focus
World Premier: Garden of Martyrs by Eric Sawyer
"The part of Father Jean Louis de Cheverus, a notable Boston priest who traveled to Northampton to pronounce a funeral oration at the hanging, was probingly inhabited and masterfully sung by tenor William Hite." ~ Clifton Noble
"The part of Father Jean Louis de Cheverus, a notable Boston priest who traveled to Northampton to pronounce a funeral oration at the hanging, was probingly inhabited and masterfully sung by tenor William Hite." ~ Clifton Noble
» MASSLIVE/Springfield Republican
Emmanuel Music Chamber Series
Beethoven: An die ferne Geliebte
"Hite and Hodgdon flew through the six connected songs at a fast clip with seamless transitions…. and the cycle as a whole was vocally strong and expressively resonant." ~ Benjamin Pesetsky
Beethoven: An die ferne Geliebte
"Hite and Hodgdon flew through the six connected songs at a fast clip with seamless transitions…. and the cycle as a whole was vocally strong and expressively resonant." ~ Benjamin Pesetsky
» Boston Musical Intelligencer
“Tenor William Hite was in his own class, not just because his medium-weight voice was ideal. His vocal ornaments were thoughtfully deployed to either emphasize or elaborate on what the music was saying. Something bigger was afoot, though: He didn't perform the music so much as he shared the profound experience he was having with it. That's what I call the Christmas spirit.”
» The Philadelphia Inquirer
“... lyrical and luxuriantly voiced — Hite’s [singing] was boldly pointed.”
» The Los Angeles Times
“As for William Hite’s turn as the buffoon Bogda, let’s just say that comic relief never felt so good. Harkening back to the slapstick genius of Ed Wynn, Milton Berle and Red Skelton, Hite simply stole the show. Without him, the evening would have been interminable.”
» Opera News
“Tenor William Hite was in his own class. His vocal ornaments were thoughtfully deployed to either emphasize or elaborate on what the music was saying. Somethng bigger was afoot, though: He didn’t perform the music so much as he shared the profound experience he was having with it.”
» The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Mr. Hite delivered his texts with an appealing voice and clear tone.”
» The New York Times
“As Hite sang beautifully, and his characterization was as terrifying as one of Tony Perkins’s studies of psychological disintegration.”
» The Boston Globe
“Tenor William Hite delivered a lesson in how much can be made of what wrote, when one sings his phrases with individual colors and dynamic modulations. Offering the first solo of the night, Hite began in hushed tones that were breathtaking in their lyric expressiveness. But he could also be bold and forthright. That kind of duality gave his singing warmth and strength. He also had no difficulty with Handel's florid vocal line.”
» The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“Mr. Hite began the evening with a splendidly forward, arresting cry of requiem aeternum.”
» The New Yorker
“Your reviewer has heard some choice performances of – Hotter, Huesch, Anders, Fassbender and Shirai – but none more beautiful, or, to be frank, so painful.”
» The Boston Globe
“But tenor William Hite stole the show, with Handel’s help, … Hite is a breathtaking communicator of spoken nuance, which he accomplishes completely through musical means.”
» The Boston Globe
“Tenor William Hite’s upper notes glowed.”
» Chicago Tribune
“William Hite delivered the ’s texts like a fire-and-brimstone preacher and with hauntingly personal vocal colorations.”
» The Boston Globe
“The best singing came from William Hite, who lavished the music with considerable eloquence. In his vivacious account, the pastoral air ‘How blest are shepherds’ emerged as one of the evening’s loveliest moments.”
» The San Francisco Chronicle
“Tenor William Hite glided easily through long florid passage work.”
» The Washington Post
“Tenor William Hite was terrific in the role of Belshazzar, throwing off coloratura with boozy bravado and acting with conviction.”
» The Boston Globe
“With Jephtha, tenor William Hite took on his most important part to date. He is a singer of intelligence, ability, and disarming directness; he sings the notes with assurance and delivers the words with conviction making no show of ‘interpretation’ because he doesn’t have to… and when he got to ‘Waft her, Angels,’ he sang with subtle gradations of volume and timbre that expressed an overwhelming heartbreaking tenderness of feeling.”
» The Boston Globe
“Tenor William Hite’s ring and agility captured the optimism of ‘Ev’ry Valley.’ What really hit home was his poignant half-voice in ‘Thy rebuke hath broken his heart.’
» The Charlotte Observer
“...his aria ‘Erwäge,’...was the high point of the performance, with beautiful tone and good pitch... He may be the best Bach tenor hereabouts.”
» The Boston Globe
“… [his voice] shone through on the lovely aria ‘Love in her eyes’. Overall, he was more than able to pull off the demanding part.”
» Pittsburgh Post Gazette
“Tenor William Hite provided effective contrast with his bright timbre and affinity for baroque style.”
» The Plain Dealer