"The voice is nothing like a countertenor, nor a baritone singing falsetto, nor a boy’s treble voice. There is all the power of a Heldentenor voice placed in the soprano range. The virtuoso works that Carissimi wrote for his friends in Rome show off everything that Crowe can do. The tonal production is beautiful, the technical control phenomenal, whether in a rapid trill or a sustained tone. The texts that inspired Carissimi are original late Latin poems of little distinction beyond recycling phrases of biblical origin. The composer used them for his own purposes, not always linked to the meaning of the texts, but he gave his singers what they needed to display their abilities. Crowe makes the most of the opportunities in a phenomenal set of performances." -J.F.Weber- From Fanfare Magazine, Jan-Feb 2009, for The Virtuoso Soprano Motets of Giacomo Carissimi (recording)
“Neither length nor complexity faze American male soprano Robert Crowe, who does stellar work interpreting compositions originally written for four different soprani. The fascinating timbre of his voice is like sharp-edged silver swaddled in and gleaming through velvet, and it is superbly supported by organist Michael Eberth’s idiomatic partnership. … He has a full command of Baroque vocal ornaments such as trillo and trill, and can negotiate huge leaps and fast scales…this disc is a major treat. Bravi all around.” -Craig Smith- From the New Mexican, Pasatiempo April 24-30, 2009 for The Virtuoso Soprano Motets of Giacomo Carissimi (recording)
“Robert Crowe, who has mastered the rare soprano fach in the countertenor realm, sprang into action with a brilliant high soprano und thrilled with his special talent through vocal power and agility.” -Antonia Lezerkoss- From the Hohenzollerische Zeitung, Thursday, June 26th, 2008 (from the original German) for Hasse’s Petrus et Magdalena
“Robert Crowe is anything but soft and feminine. His coloratura are crystal-clear, like a cut diamond, when he sings in the upper ranges; they let an intellectual clarity resound that arrests and chills the listener.” -Martina Holbein- From the Schwarzwälder Bote Tuesday, June 24, 2008 (from the original German) for Hasse’s Petrus et Magdalena
“The male soprano Robert Crowe was in the truest sense of the word a soprano: a high, clear and pure voice, and after the intermission he got some chances to display some darker tones (but far too few) and some passages with powerful fortes even in the highest reaches of his voice.” From otid.se (Sweden) March 14, 2009 for Handel’s Tirsi (from the original Swedish)
“He [Crowe] is one of the few ‚male sopranos‘ who, with a masculinely austere soprano voice and absolute mastery of vocal technical precision in pieces such as Oleum Effusum est, Adeste Mortales, and Domine, Deus Meus, can celebrate in such a way as to bring to his listeners a goodly portion of the vocal atmosphere and brilliance of this era. Crowe mastered these three solo motets with great sensitivity and vocal security, even when climbing into the highest heights. He gives these motets a very elegant shape, aetherial, refined, and occasionally, vehemently explosive.” From the Badische Neueste Nachrichten March 20, 2009 for Carissimi Motets (concert)(from the original German)