"The cast for "Cosi" was led by Puerto Rican soprano Ana Maria Martinez as Fiordiligi, one of two sisters whose faithfulness fails the test when their sweethearts pretend to be called away to military service." Read More...— Mike Silverman,
Associated Press
Aug-9-2010
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Raninia launches Mozart opera fest with a splendid 'Cosi Fan Tutte'
"Ana Maria Martinez's vibrant, shining soprano was a true fortress of resolve in the perilous leaps and plunges of Fiordiligi's difficult showpiece, "Come scoglio." The American singer brought off both of her arias to stunning effect and received properly thunderous ovations." — John von Rhein,
Chicago Tribune
Aug-6-2010
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Mozart's 'Cosi fan tutte' gets special treatment it deserves at Ravinia
"Ravinia’s pairs of lovers — soprano Ana Maria Martinez as Fiordiligi, mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose as Dorabella, baritone Rodion Pogossov as Guglielmo and tenor Saimir Pirgu as Ferrando — were simply superb. Martinez was alternately touching and hilarious as the conflicted Fiordiligi. In the wrathful “Come scoglio,’’ she tore through Mozart’s harrowing leaps and runs with ferocious ease."
— Wynne Delacoma,
Chicago Sun Times
Aug-6-2010
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Glyndebourne 2009 - Rusalka CD
"Ana María Martinez makes a lovely Rusalka – rich and creamy of voice and unfailingly responsive to the text. Her voice has a soulfulness that seems absolutely right for the part, and she catches the desperation of the wood-nymph’s plight unerringly; in the final act there’s a bleakness that enters her vocal palette that is very affecting indeed."
— Alexander Campbell,
Classical Source
Jul-14-2010
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" In a highlight of her dazzling performance as Mimi, Ana María Martínez held the audience spellbound as she delivered one of libretto’s most famous arias, “Si, mi chiamano Mimi” – “Yes, they call me Mimi."
Read More...— UAE Today
Mar-29-2010
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"Ana Maria Martinez played Marguerite. Her creamy, bright lyrical voice charmed us in the "Jewel Song" and changed into a more power-packed instrument when called upon in the duets, trios and quartet."
— Jim Edwards,
Suburban Chicago News
Oct-16-2009
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"In addition, there is silky soprano Ana Maria Martinez who brings an engaging tenderness to her role as Marguerite." Read More...— Betty Mohr,
Southtown Star
Oct-8-2009
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"Even more than most performances, this Faust puts Marguerite at the center, and as the innocent girl, seduced, corrupted and driven insane by Faust and the devil Mephistopheles, Ana Maria Martinez gave a powerful performance, unsettling at times in its intensity." Read More...— Lawrence A. Johnson,
Chicago Classical Review
Oct-8-2009
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As Marguerite, the maiden for whom he sells his soul, Puerto Rican-born Anna Maria Martinez revealed a soprano of uncommon warmth and evenness. (The blending of their voices in the Garden Scene duet was ravishing.) Read More...— Mike Silverman,
The Associated Press
Oct-7-2009
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Back at Lyric was the charismatic soprano Ana Maria Martinez, whose beautifully sung and finely detailed Marguerite was the linchpin of Monday's performance. Read More...— John von Rhein,
Chicago Tribune
Oct-7-2009
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"In the title role, the Puerto Rican soprano Ana Maria Martinez does brave back-flips before singing a radiant ‘Song to the Moon’. Her dusky lyric soprano rides the great closing scene to heartbreaking effect."
(As the title role of Rusalka at the Glyndebourne Festival). — John Allison,
Sunday Telegraph
Aug-24-2009
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"In terms of casting, this production looked well-nigh perfect—the leading couple, Ana María Martínez and Brandon Jovanovich, could have stepped out of the illustrations in a volume of fairy tales—and always sounded good." Read More...— Richard Fairman,
Opera
Aug-24-2009
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"But at least there is Martínez! On this evidence alone she requires ranking among the top lyric sopranos of the day. The voice, with its dusky warmth of timbre and fullness lower down, agility in passagework, freedom in opening up on top and ease in pinpointing and floating soft high phrases, is a classic Latin instrument, the more so for apparently suffering none of the stereotypical afflictions of edginess or shrillness, and for the immaculate musicality underpinning its every utterance." Read More...— Max Loppert,
Opera
Aug-24-2009
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"Soprano Ana María Martínez excels in the title role, her account of Mesicku na nebi hlubokém ('Song to the Moon') plumbing the emotional depths with astounding poignancy given its occurrence so early in the opera."
(As the title role of Rusalka at the Glyndebourne Festival). Read More...— William Norris,
MusicalCriticism.com
Jul-24-2009
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[Director Melly] Still was supported in this conception by an exceptionally strong cast, crowned by the radiant central performance of Ana María Martínez. Her beautiful lyric voice, allied to excellent diction and magnificent breath control, was perfectly suited to the role, and in the famous ‘Song to the Moon’ she soared through its long arching phrases like the world-class diva she is. Read More...— Ditlev Rindom,
MundoClassico.com
Jul-22-2009
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"The greatest pleasures of the evening are the playing of the LPO, and the vibrant performance of Ana Maria Martinez as Rusalka."
(Glyndebourne Festival)
Read More...— Mark Gale,
West Sussex County Times
Jul-17-2009
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"But Still’s vision is first and foremost a fairytale. And one with a warm, if tragic, heart, in the form of Dvorak’s sumptuous score and soprano Ana Maria Martinez.
Her Rusalka is luminous. Writhing against the dark forces of the water, you are completely invested in the heady intensity of her adolescent passion and tragic naivety." Read More...— Talitha Bromwich,
The Argus
Jul-13-2009
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Anna Picard
"When Martinez sings that "to suffer is to feel alive" in her lustrous, vibrant voice (an intoxicating composite of Slavic darkness and Latin brilliance), you believe her."
— The Independent
Jul-12-2009
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Glyndebourne Triumphs with "Rusalka"
"Ana Maria Martinez made her Glyndebourne debut in the title role, displaying a truly impressive voice that she deployed with great musicality and sensitivity."
— Keith Clarke,
MusicalAmerica.com
Jul-9-2009
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"So a grim reality lies at the heart of this particular fairy tale and shouldering so much of its burden it is the wonderful Rusalka of Ana Maria Martinez. What a special performance this is" Read More...— Edward Seckerson,
The Independent
Jul-6-2009
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Throughout her long, tortuous silences, which she expresses with balletic intensity, Martínez makes us feel the painful palpitations of Rusalka’s heart, while Jovanovich’s Prince, masculine and eloquent, inspires her to a radiant Liebestod.
— Andrew Clark,
Financial Times
Jul-6-2009
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Rusalka is a sort of female Peter Pan, afraid of adulthood yet irresistibly drawn towards it - a dilemma touchingly dramatised in Ana Maria Martinez’s heartrending performance. Read More...— Rupert Christiansen,
Telegraph
Jul-6-2009
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"[Director Melly] Still makes plenty of demands on her singers – especially Martínez, who in her water-nymph incarnation backflips around Vodnik and then sings the first verse of her Song to the Moon lying on her back. But she sings vibrantly and tirelessly." Read More...— Erica Jeal,
Guardian
Jul-6-2009
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The evening's vocal laurel went to the Nedda of Ana Maria Martinez, whose seductively darkish timbre, sensitivity in dynamic shading, and keen textual resonance coalesced for a most impressive house debut.
— Mark Thomas Ketterson,
Opera News
May-5-2009
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"Galouzine's intense performance-more furious than sad-is well matched by Martinez's soaring, poignant voice, which carries both her resignation and her longing to be free."
— Barbara Yaross,
Chicago Reader
Mar-8-2009
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Back-to-back Lyric Opera Productions feature thrilling betrayals
"And soprano Ana Maria Martinez, as Nedda, provides a lusty delivery that quickens every man's heart."
— Betty Mohr,
South Town Star
Feb-19-2009
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"Martinez's firm, soaring soprano mirrored the soaring spirit of a caged wife yearning to be free. This was the Puerto Rican-born singer's Lyric debut, and an impressive one it was." Read More...— John von Rhein,
Chicago Tribune
Feb-18-2009
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"As his wife, Nedda, Ana Maria Martinez makes a mesmerizing Lyric debut. A native of Puerto Rico, she has a bright, strong soprano that's extremely agile in the filigree of her opening aria." Read More...— Wynne Delacoma,
Chicago Sun Times
Feb-17-2009
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"The female leads, mezzo-soprano Guang Yang as Santuzza in "Cav." and soprano Ana Maria Martinez (Lyric Opera debut) as Nedda in "Pag" also are in superior vocal form... Read More...— Bill Gowen,
Daily Herald
Feb-16-2009
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By far the star of the production is Ana María Martínez in the prima donna role of Rosalinde, a bourgeois wife whose husband is about to serve a brief jail sentence and whose old flame Alfred, a singer, has shown up to take advantage of the situation. Read More...— Fort Worth Renaissance
Dec-15-2008
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