“Woodward, though, was an immensely sympathetic and committed Brünnhilde throughout, and she saved her best till last in a Götterdämmerung immolation scene of vocal distinction and probing understanding.”

“Catharine Woodward’s Brünnhilde was often superb – her voice a tremendous instrument of consummate power and beauty, a not inconsiderable virtue for this role in this particular Ring opera. Her horror at finding her impenetrable Rock broken – not by Siegfried but by Gunther – was a moment of brilliance, the voice spellbinding; but so, too, was she in act 2 in her scene with Wilding’s Hagen. It is as much the impact of her stage presence which works in her favour as it is her rich tone, one reason her indefatigable singing of the Immolation Scene was such a moment of triumph here. There was no sense of tiredness; no scooping of notes, no over-reliance on heavy vibrato – and top notes were effortlessly sung. As powerful a final scene as I have heard in recent performances of Götterdämmerung.”

“There was some exceptional singing... but it was Catharine Woodward’s Brünnhilde that has the last word, a Grane-less Immolation of pure dramatic flair.”

“...they fielded a cast with some outstanding singer-actors, led by the glorious Brünnhilde of Catharine Woodward, resplendent and assured, both in passion and anguish, as the opera leads to her immolation.”

“A glorious Brünnhilde”

“Catharine Woodward is a magnificent Brünnhilde. Her “Heil dir Sonne!” is quite a moment; and her instinctive outrage when Siegfried first attempts to embrace her is both terrifying and glorious, simultaneously suggesting her fear of Siegfried, of her own sexuality, and the existential shock of her new mortality.”