Carlo Rizzi / Reviews

“The cast’s one outstanding member was the Armenian soprano Anush Hovhannisyan, as the militant heroine Hélène. Blessed with an alluring ruby-red timbre, she sang with a refinement of phrasing and musical imagination…”

The cast was the strongest I have seen for some time at the WNO. Soraya Mafi was an ebullient Susanna whose exquisite honeyed timbre (notably fine in the higher registers) was matched by her exceptional acting. The phrase “star quality” is scattered about too liberally, but Mafi really does deserve the label.

[...] sang a very successful “Sento da mille furie” in the second act, an aria where he could display coloratura, legato, very high notes, in a great performance.