Wed June 15 2011 - ConcertoNet.com

Look, Listen, and be Immersed

Copenhagen
The Royal Danish Opera House, Main Stage
05/15/2011 -  & May 18, 22, 28, 31, June 4, 7, 10, 14, 2011
Richard Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten
Johnny van Hal (The Emperor), Sylvie Valayre (The Empress), James Johnson (Barak), Linda Watson (Barak’s wife), Susanne Resmark (A Nurse), Anna Rydberg (The Guardian of the Threshold), Ludvig Lindström (The Messenger of Keikobad), Kjeld Christoffersen (The one-eyed man), Sten Byriel (The one-armed man), Peter Arnoldsson (The hunchback), Peter Lodahl (The Apparition of a Youth), Ylva Kihlberg (The Voice of a Falcon), Johanne Bock (A Voice from Above), Ole Jegindø Norup, Johan Hallsten, Stefan Cushion (Voices of the watchmen)
The Royal Danish Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Martin Nagashima Toft (chorus master), Michael Schønwandt (conductor)
more »»»

---

Sun February 21 2010 - SDNN

Every member of the excellent cast sings wonderfully, looks his/her part, and can act acceptably (from a slightly wooden but vocally adept Fenena to a movingly-portrayed Nabucco, who, in the wake of the lightning bolt, has “lost his senses” for the duration of Act III).  But the evening’s top vocal honors must go to French soprano Sylvie Valayre as Abigaille.  She bursts onstage in armor in Act I, with her armies at the Temple gates, and her performance, in one of opera’s most demanding roles, is nothing short of magnificent.
more »»»

---

Thu April 02 2009 - Opera Warhorses

Californians know Valayre for her Puccini, in the title role of “Madama Butterfly” at San Francisco Opera in 1997 and earlier this year in the title role of “Tosca” for the San Diego Opera (see my review at Grimsley Memorable in San Diego Opera’s Quasi-Traditional “Tosca” – January 27, 2009).

But Butterfly and Tosca are not the right roles to introduce Valayre’s extraordinary skills. It is in two of the early Verdi roles, Lady Macbeth and Abigaille in “Nabucco” (which she is scheduled to sing next year at San Diego Opera), for which she has achieved deserved fame.
more »»»

---

Sat February 20 2010 - Opera Warhorses

The role of Abigaille is one of the most treacherous in Italian opera, with extraordinary cadenzas that descend into the chest voice and then leap into the top of the soprano range . French soprano Sylvie Valayre is one of the few sopranos in history to make Abigaille a signature role.

Valayre has become a specialist in this role as well as that of Lady Macbeth (see my review of her Lady at  Power Verdi: Stoyanov, Valayre Mesmerizing in Berlin Staatsoper “Macbeth” – April 24, 2009.)
more »»»

---

Fri September 01 2000

“Sylvie Valayre setzt die Idee dieser Figur mit einer höchst ausgefeilten Gestik exzellent um, beherrscht die Szene mit einer atemberaubenden Präsenz. (...) Doch die schauspielerische Überzeugungskraft war quasi nur noch das Sahnehäubchen auf einer brillanten stimmlichen Bravourleistung, da die Sängerin jede noch so heikle Klippe der gefürchteten Partie mit beneidenswerter Souveränität meisterte: (...) Eine nachhaltig beeindruckende Leistung.”
(Arena di Verona, R. Tiedemann, Das Opernglas 09/2000

---

Fri April 24 2009

(…)
The Berlin Staatsoper “Macbeth” had a cast of which any company would have been proud in any era (…) Sylvie Valayre, who has established Lady Macbeth as one of her signature roles and has dominated the history of the Staatsoper production.
(...)
… my own experiences with the pairings of Macbeths and Lady Macbeths in performances I attended over the past 42 years. Although I have experienced wondrous performances from singers in both roles, I believe that none were better matched than Stoyanov and Valayre.
more »»»

---

Thu November 19 2009

"Côté féminin, les personnages de Turandot et Liu, portés par Sylvie Valayre et Daniele Dessi étaient également à la hauteur de l’évènement même si l’on a pu regretter un petit manque de souffle mélodramatique dans la scène du suicide.
Au final tout de même, on a vécu un vrai moment de magie, où lyrisme et poésie se sont posés sur une Principauté en fête."
Benoît Ulrich, monaco.mc
more »»»

---

Sat January 24 2009

“… 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
more »»»

---

Sat January 27 2007

Manon Lescaut - Miami Opera House

"As Manon, Sylvie Valayre boasted a big voice. An attractive woman with a seductive, veiled timbre…"
Octavio Rota, Miami New Times

"… petite yet full-throated Sylvie Valayre as Manon… Valayre, however, manages to juggle showiness and restraint in turns up to and including their climactic finale."
Jack Zink, southflorida.com

"In the title role, Sylvie Valayre was glamour personified. … her portrayal of this tragic heroine was deeply affecting and she brought impassioned fervor to Manon's death scene in the wilderness ofLouisiana. (…)
Thanks to Cavallaro's inspired conducting and Valayre's intense vocalism, the production was deeply moving – a tribute to the youthful genius of Puccini."
Lawrence Budmen, Entertainment News & Views
more »»»

---

Thu April 19 2007

Macbetn - Glyndebourne festival

"… [Jurowski] setting unrushed, flexible tempos that allowed Sylvie Valayre’s Lady to really sing her solos, never scream or shout them. … [her voice] is solid, with a good edge, and she has all the notes quite fearlessly in the voice, and the necessary agility too, even sketching in that terrifying bit of knitting at the end of the cabaletta with conviction.

And, like Jurowski, she made you listen to the music afresh. Is so much of the Lady’s music really marked pianissimo? Yes it is, and her attention to Verdi’s instructions was little short of inspiring: the marvellous “legato e cupo” opening to “La luce langue”, the sudden pianissimo in the middle of the cabaletta, the frequent staccati (almost a fingerprint in the woman’s characterization-through-music), the hushed, panicky delivery of the “Fatal, mia donna” duet, the pianissimos in the Brindisi – all were there.
more »»»

---

Tue July 24 2007

Macbeth - London Proms

"The international cast featured a real find of a Lady Macbeth in the French singer Sylvie Valayre. ... the ideal voice for the role: 
a dramatic soprano with an incisive edge and the dark-tinged richness of a mezzo."
Matthew Rye, The Daily Telegraph

"Even if the cast had been average, this would still have been a night to remember, but Glyndebourne had assembled a nine-carat one within which Sylvie Valayre's Lady Macbeth took pride of place. 
It's an almost impossible role to cast these days – not only must the soprano have a thrilling top, but a cavernous lower register as well. Many 'celebrity' sopranos have come a cropper in this role, but Valayre positively revelled in all the pitfalls that Verdi's writing threw at her. She was nothing short of sensational, and I couldn't help wondering why she is so underused in this country. 
She would be a glorious Turandot – come on Royal Opera!"
Keith McDonnell, musicOMH.com
more »»»

---

Thu October 25 2007

Tosca - Opera de Paris

"Sylvie Valayre impose une Tosca magnifique d’allure et de volonté, ardente et passionnée, à la ligne de chant totalement maîtrisée sur l’ensemble de la tessiture."
Opéra, 12/2007

 

"En Tosca nous avons… Tosca ! L’identification de Sylvie Valayre est incroyable de vérité et de sincérité. Jamais le II n’aura été si poignant, et, au III, rarement la note finale aura semblée aussi vertigineuse que le saut dans le vide qui s’ensuit…. Sylvie Valayre a réussi à trouver sa propre Tosca, qui lui colle à la peau."
Clément Taillia, Forum Opéra
more »»»

---

Fri March 07 2008

Turandot - Tel Aviv

Sylvie Valayre was an excellent Turandot, her powerful spinto soprano melting beautifully into lyrical ardor in the final scene. 
Jehoash Hirshberg, Opera News

---

Fri September 26 2008

Macbeth - Semperoper Dresden

"Als Lady Macbeth gibt Sylvie Valayre ihr Dresdner Debüt. Demnächst kommt die Turandot dazu. Das ist der Karrieretyp. Aalglatt. Das
Businessweib in elegantem Schwarz, knallhart in tödlicher Einsamkeit.
Sportiv, beweglich ist das Spiel der Sylvie Valayre. Wenn sie mit Ganzkörpereinsatz Karriereschübe in Bewegung setzt, stets mit Stil und Eleganz. Im Einklang mit der Optik ihr Gesang, betörend in den tiefen und mittleren Lagen, schmaler in der einsamen Kälte der Höhen."
Boris Michael Gruhl, klassik.com

"As Lady Macbeth, Sylvie Valayre gives her Dresden debut. Turandot will follow soon. This is the career-oriented type. As slippery as an eel. A business woman, dressed in elegant black, two fisted in lethal lonelinness. Sylvie Valayre's acting is sportive, agile. When she is, with total physical exertion, actuating career advances, she always does it with style and elegance. Her singing is in line with the visual appearance, infatuating in the low and middle register, svelter in the lonesome chilliness of the high register."
Boris Michael Gruhl, klassik.com
more »»»

---

Sun November 09 2008

Aida - Oper Leipzig

„Sylvie Valayre mit ihrem warmen, geschmeidigen, klaren Ton, hat die schwere Partie der Aida tapfer, überzeugend, souverän und sicher ausgespielt durchgestanden.“
Sebastian Schmideler, Leipzig-Amanach Kulturtagebuch

„With her warm, smooth, clear and bright sound, Sylvie Valayre got through the difficult part of Aida in a brave, souverain way and with reliable acting.”
Sebastian Schmideler, Leipzig-Amanach Kulturtagebuch
more »»»

---

Sat January 08 2000

Madama Buttrfly

“Debut at the MET: lovely, vulnerable - her singing had poignancy and beauty - standing ovation” 
(Metropolitan Opera, New York, A. Tommasini, nifty.com, 01.08.2000)

“Sylvie Valayre soars as Butterfly. . . deploying a gleaming instrument and urgent manner than mines the opera for the last nugget of tragedy”
(San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Examiner)

---

Thu November 25 1999 - La Stampa

Madama Buttefly - Teatro Regio di Torino

“Sylvie Valayre commossa interprete - ...la sua compenetrazione col personaggio è totale, nell’intreccio di fragilità, stupore, incanto e desolazione: pochi ma ben piazzati i tratti drammatici; diffusi, lungo tutto lo spettacolo, i gesti ispirati alla grazia stilizzata del teatro giapponese... Grande successo.”
(Teatro Regio di Torino, Paolo Gallarati La Stampa 25.11.1999)

---

Wed September 01 1999 - Das Opernglas

Aida - Arena di Verona

“... gestalterisch brillant und höhensicher, prickelnd perlend in der Nilszene.”
(Arena di Verona, A. Brüggemann, Das Opernglas, 10/1999)

---

Tue May 04 1999 - Wiener Zeitung

Salome - Graz

“...phänomenalen Sylvie Valayre. Eine Stimme, die in allen Lagen leuchtet, sich zurücknehmen an, Zwischentöne formt, den Ausbruch zuläßt. Eine Sängerin von bewundernswerter Distinktion und Disziplin. Eine Figur, die klar ist und unerklärbar, logisches Rätsel, zärtliche Furie. Perversion zum Küssen.”
(Opernhaus Graz, Die Opernwelt 06/1999)
more »»»

---