“… the excellent new singers that General Director Ian Campbell has cast  in the three lead roles… an impressive trio with big, well-controlled 
voices that easily fill the cavernous Civic Theatre but lose nothing in nuance or intonation. Their voices also blend together beautifully.
Valayre's performance as Tosca is flighty, impetuous, affectionate and girlish. 
She can't keep her hands off Mario, but she flinches and recoils whenever Scarpia draws near. The role of Tosca is a difficult one to sing, 
requiring a wide vocal range. (…) 
Valayre's tone is warm and rich with lots of flexibility and dead-on pitch. 
Her rendering of "Vissi d'arte" brought down the house on opening night.”
Pam Kragen, North County Times

“Valayre and Haddock have something in common, lower- and mid-register  voices that have no breaks in quality from the high ranges. 
The vocal production of each is seamless with no shifts in what are called the “transport tones.” In other words, all parts of the voice lie in the same pipe. For one used to color changes in each of a singer’s three “voices,” this is a revelation. Each is a marvelous singer, rich in quality yet unhampered in the top ranges.

 The diminutive Valayre, a lovely figure in her period gowns, is a dynamo, a spitfire, dramatic Tosca with plenty of humor, joie de vivre and petulance. 
She’s a joy to watch, and to hear, especially when she nails a high pianissimo or sings a usually broken phrase in “Vissi d’Arte” all in one breath with plenty of room to spare!

 Exceptionally handsome and dramatically engaging, Haddock has a baritone quality that soars surprisingly and easily to the requisite vocal heights. 
In combination, he and Valayre are quite extraordinary, unlike any other pairing heard in all these years of opera-going.”
Charlene Baldridge, SDnews.com

En la parte vocal, el papel protagónico fue encomendado a la soprano Sylvie Valayre, cuya prestación fue sobresaliente y ampliamente satisfactoria. 
Su concepción del personaje contó con dos vertientes que se deben resaltar individualmente, pero que son igualmente importantes, y en conjunto constituyen su legítimo éxito artístico: la actoral y la musical. 
Escénicamente, su concepción es la de una extrovertida, expresiva y seductora Tosca, que es a la vez es romántica y frágil, una idea más cercana a cómo se describe al personaje en la obra original de Sardou. Esta idea dotó al personaje de un carácter más humano y creíble, y es totalmente opuesta a la visión tradicional en la que Tosca es representada como un personaje temperamental, furioso, que mata por rencor. La otra vertiente es la musical, en la que Sylvie desplegó una voz de buena proyección, pareja en todo los registros, y con una 
tonalidad que tiende a oscurecerse en su registro alto, en los momentos de más exigencia y dramatismo de la obra, pero que a la vez posee la flexibilidad y necesaria para conmover en los pasajes más tenues y dulces del aria ‘Vissi d’Arte’.
Alberto Rosas, Mundoclasico.com

“… the gifted Frenchwoman Sylvie Valayre personifying Tosca most credibly in her vocal and dramatic fireworks. Her interpretation of the protagonist is refreshing and vivacious. Portraying her role in Act I as a rather innocuous, flirtatious young girl, she swiftly transforms into a woman of tremendous substance and maturity in Act II’s Farnese Palace where she 
whittles her way through emotional battle hearing Cavaradossi’s torture offstage while standing up to the sexual aggressions of Scarpia sung by returning baritone Greer Grimsley. Tension abounds in this Puccini verismo opera, but catapults us beyond the register during the Tosca/Scarpia conflict. 
Valayre’s interpretation of the famed soprano aria, “Vissi d’arte”, is electrifying and edgy.”
Christie Grimstad, ConcertoNet.com

“Tosca still pleases; Sylvie Valayre soars

Sylvie Valayre, whose Tosca is one of her many signature roles, and who continues to soar in this production… .  Both Valayre and Haddock are most attractive and excellent actors and soar in both duo and solo arias."

Carol Davis, San Diego Jewish World

“… a gleaming top voice… an appealing Tosca, winning audience approval for a sympathetically executed Vissi d’arte. Valayre has an expressive face, and can display the open-eyed terror that one associates with certain actresses in European silent movies.

… both vocally and histrionically effective in her first and second act encounters with the Scarpia, Greer Grimsley. … laudable performances from Valayre and Haddock... ."

Opera Warhorses

“The singing was strong. Sylvie Valayre was lovely as La Tosca, her voice as a surprising warmth to it. Her "Vissi d'arte" was fine...“
The Opera Tattler

“French soprano Sylvie Valayre gave a strong performance in her SDO debut. 
She was convincing as a self-absorbed, intensely jealous woman and her affection toward Cavaradossi in the final act was apparent. 
Her “Vissi d’arte” was competent... a powerful sound …”
Olga Hirsch, Operaclick 

“Stunning French soprano, Sylvie Valayre, played Tosca as an impetuous eighteen-year-old girl. 
She has a dark soprano voice that fit the role well.”
Maria Nockin, Music&Vision

“… Sylvie Valayre … in top form. 
Sylvie Valayre was “rich” in her lower register, and soared to the skies when needed.”
sdtheatrescene.com

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