at the Dallas Opera:

Nimble-voiced mezzos grow on trees these days, but Alaska-born Vivica Genaux, Dallas' Rosina, is one of the best. It's not a big sound, but it's bright and so finely focused that it carries even through the vast reaches of Fair Park Music Hall.”
- Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning News, December 2, 2006

Mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux, winner of the 1993 McCammon Vocal Competition, is a vivacious and alluring Rosina. She especially shines when she adds an artfully exaggerated vibrato to many of her arias that complements Rossini's deceptively complex lines beautifully.”
- Punch Shaw, Star-Telegram (Dallas), December 4, 2006

HEADLINE: Barber is Boffo
The performances of Giorgio Caoduro as Figaro, Donato di Stefano as Doctor Bartolo and the luscious Vivica Genaux as Rosina were ‘bravo’ worthy and the audience gave it up. But everyone was terrific, and some of the scenes, especially in the first act, were transcendent with energy and excellence. I'm sure this was one of the best live performances of anything I've seen in Dallas.”
- Rod Davis, D Magazine, December 7, 2006

Top Ten Performances of 2006/Dallas, TX:
There were at least three contenders for the opera’s 20006 best. Handel’s Rodelinda had drop-dead gorgeous singing by Ruth Ann Swenson, and Verdi’s Nabucco featured imaginative sets and costumes by husband-and-wife Dallas artists Frances Bagley and Tom Orr. But the prize goes to The Barber of Seville, with a cast vocally and dramatically brilliant almost across the boards.”
- Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News, December 28, 2006

“She threw off coloratura with effortless, pinpoint brilliance, and was an absolutely irresistible presence.”
- Scott Cantrell, Opera, April 2007


at the Wiener Staatsoper

The US Mezzo, Vivica Genaux, made her debut as Rosina at the Staatsoper, a role she has performed over 150 times at the world’s great opera houses. Miss Genaux looks gorgeous and displays the proper minx-like qualities. Her mezzo voice is well produced, her vocal attack is always secure, and she sang the role’s coloratura roulades with much style and remarkable ease.
- Karlheinz Roschitz, Neue Kronenzeitung, March 10, 2003

Miss Genaux’s beautiful, highly-cultivated voice, totally secure in the high notes, is tailor-made for the role of Rosina.
- P.J., Kurier, March 10, 2003

at the Opéra National de Paris/Bastille

Vivica Genaux (Rosina), her warm tone wonderfully even up to an unstrained B, her coloratura easy and musical, her stage presence enchanting…
- Rodney Milnes, Opera, July 2003

Of Vivica Genaux, one must emphasize her keenly-drawn portrayal of Rosina, her slenderness and feminine elegance, but also her flawless musicality.
- Jean Cabourg, Opéra International, March 2003

The first night of this third revival of this production at the Opera-Bastille was of interest chiefly because of the Paris Opéra debut of young mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux as Rosina. Genaux, who surprised everyone when her recent recording, Arias for Farinelli, became a run-away hit with CD buyers and critics alike, is, without a doubt, the most famous singer to emerge from Alaska. Her new recording of Handel’s Rinaldo with René Jacobs conducting, a production of which recently toured various European cities, is also likely to sell well. Singing with a prodigious technique and confident style, it was an impressive debut by any measure.

It has only been in the last decade or two that music schools have been turning out singers, schooled in historical informed Baroque technique, who have finally been able to do justice to the elegant, finely-spun vocal lines written by Rossini. Vivica Genaux is one of the best of this new crop and her Rosina was masterful. She does not sound like Marilyn Horne or Teresa Berganza, but the clarity of line and vocal grace was truly a marvel.

He [Bruce Fowler as Almaviva] and Miss Genaux made an attractive, believable and convincingly sung couple.
- Frank Cadenhead, musicweb.uk.net, January 20, 2003

From under her blue veil the stunning Vivica Genaux, a velvety mezzo, here embodies the future of the female condition, the hope of all oppressed women. With vocal presence, agility and caressing clarity of timbre, here is a rare voice, indisputably fascinating. Making her debut at the Opéra de Paris, the singer excelled, superbly sculpting the role that was composed by a master goldsmith. Genaux, a Rossinian sparkler, knows how to be humane, tender and brilliant, thanks to the grain of her warm, supple voice, for which the clear coloratura passages become even bolder under the fire of exquisite articulation. Since her Baroque debut on records under the Flemish conductor René Jacobs, a specialist in this material, (Arias for Farinelli and Rinaldo, both produced by Harmonia Mundi), one remains dazzled by her technical assurance and the musical instinct of which she gives proof.
- Alexandre Pham, Concertclassic.com, January 27, 2003

Three artists made their debuts at the Paris Opera, most significantly Vivica Genaux. The Alaskan mezzo-soprano here imparts a style wholly suited to Rossini’s comic works. Her vocalization is both easy and fluid; her phrasing is a dream. And as an actress, she achieves an ideal balance, with magnetic gestures and gazes, of genuine charm and cunning, a rare quality among those who sing the role of Rosina.
- Vincent Agrech, ConcertoNet.com, January 20, 2003 With these performances, Vivica Genaux confirms her reputation and virtuosity, never experiencing the slightest difficulty with Rossini’s ornamentation.
- Alessandro Di Profio, Il Giornale della Musica, January 31, 2003

The surprise came with the reprise of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, musically everything has changed. This cast’s singing proved to be better adapted, scintillating and dizzying, with an enticing Rosina from Vivica Genaux, who was making a sparkling debut at the Opéra de Paris.
- Pierre René Serna, Scènes, February 2003

The cast is musically perfect. Vivica Genaux possesses wit down to the tips of her vocalises. And as her beauty equals the art of her singing, one can say that she offers us a deluxe Rosina.
- Luc Décygnes, Le Canard Enchaîné, January 22, 2003

Above all there’s the beautiful Rosina of the American mezzo Vivica Genaux, whose voice possesses a luminous clarity.
- Claude Ollivier, Radio Notre Dame, January 19, 2003

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at the Metropolitan Opera - 2002

The Rosina, Vivica Genaux, was her usual brilliant self. Her secure technique and burnished tonal quality made the role seem easy, as she tossed off her coloratura with aplomb and handled her comic stint with consummate skill.
- Maria Nockin, OperaJaponica.org, April 27, 2002


at Opera Carolina

But the stars of the evening were the two young lovers, Count Almaviva and Rosina. Vivica Genaux, who has played Rosina more than 100 times, including with the Metropolitan Opera, actually lived up to her advance billing. The tone is rich and sure, and coloratura pyrotechnics are simply no problem at all.
- Luther Wade, Charlotte Observer, April 6, 2002


at Baltimore Opera

Vivica Genaux's Rosina was a mezzo with both agile, fully supported coloratura flights and a low range of ruby-red depth.
- Cecelia Porter, The Washington Post Company, October 13, 2001

Vivica Genaux's warm, sure mezzo suited Rosina perfectly. The music had terrific vibrancy.
- Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun, October 13, 2001

Vivica Genaux has made a specialty of Rossini and with good reason. Her Barbie Doll figure and large, agile, dark timbred voice enable her to portray his most difficult heroines with seeming ease.
- Maria Nockin, operajaponica.org, October 2001

at De Nederlandse Opera – Amsterdam:

The youthful and elegant mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux is very well cast as the innocent, cunning Rosina. Making her debut at the Netherlands Opera in this role, Ms. Genaux uses her alto-like timbre effortlessly, performing music that displays her superb flexibility with coloratura, as well as her subtle elegance with more lyric passages.
- Mischa Spel, NRC Handelsblad, November 2, 2000

[Her voice] is warm and beautiful in all registers and she allows the finely wrought details of her richly ornamented music to unfold beautifully.
- Hans Visser, Noordhollands Dagblad, November 3, 2000

The main attraction was a cast completely new to Amsterdam, headed by the young American Vivica Genaux in her local debut. She combined fresh, spontaneous acting and a somewhat veiled timbre with warm, mellifluous vocal lines and excellently delivered coloratura. Four days after the performance I saw (Nov. 28), she displayed the same qualities during a concert performance of Handel's Arminio at the Concertgebouw, and immediately she was asked to return in the spring for a Rossini concert.
- Paul Korenhof, Opera News (On-line Edition), March 2001

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at the Festival Lyrique d’Été, Antibes

Vivica Genaux, in her French debut, won the public over with her dazzling interpretation of Rosina, which was brimming with playful and good-hearted life.
- José Pons, Opéra International, September 2000


at Seattle Opera

This Barber is more than a comedy; it is a feast of voices. The Rosina of Vivica Genaux is a particularly lovely discovery; a true mezzo-soprano with rich low tones, she tosses off spectacular and accurate coloratura flourishes, trills and embellishments of rare agility and evenness. Genaux is a winning actress, too, a real minx who revels in the disguises and the machinations of the plot.
- Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times, May 8, 2000

Vivica Genaux (an Alaskan despite that irresistibly Continental name) made a triumphant company debut as Rosina, convincing at every step. What a winning voice – dark at the bottom and a bubbling fountain above. She gets to show off both aspects aplenty in her opening aria, wowing everyone from the start. This is where I probably ought to make some pronouncement such as ‘destined to be one of the great Rosinas of her generation.’ I mean, how would I know? But it wouldn’t surprise me. Even though we live in a golden age of mezzo-sopranos and Rosina is one of the pillars of their repertory, Genaux makes a strong claim to the role.
- Gavin Borchert, Seattle Weekly, May 11, 2000

Vivica Genaux is that rara avis, a true mezzo Rosina, with a dark, amazingly flexible voice and mesmerizingly beautiful stage presence.
- Theodore Deacon, Opera, August 2000

Mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux, who has already made her mark as a Rossini singer, made her Seattle Opera debut at this performance. Not only did she look and act the quintessential Rosina – slim, vivacious and very pretty – her voice encompassed her florid runs with clear ease, on pitch and with low tones as rich as an organ's and high ones as sweet as a bell. Her voice has expressive depth and timbre.
- Philippa Kiraly, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 8, 2000


at Michigan Opera Theatre

Genaux, who possesses a huge vocal palette and a technique to match, delivered a ringing account of Rosina’s tempestuous aria ‘Una voce poco fa.'
- Lawrence B. Johnson, The Detroit News, October 5, 1999

Mezzo Vivica Genaux’s Rosina was built on a mischievous personality and a luminous voice of pinging clarity and flexibility. Her ornaments were supple and tasteful.
- Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press, October 5, 1999

Vivica Genaux is a stunning presence as Rosina, demonstrating the dexterity and color that has quickly made her one of the foremost mezzo-sopranos in the world.
- Frank Provenzano, Observer & Eccentric, October 7, 1999

[Genaux’s] lustrous gemstone of a mezzo-soprano voice beautifully defined the torrents of notes required by the runs that mark Rossini’s composition.
- John Laycock, The Windsor Star, October 4, 1999

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at the Dresden Festival

Nothing could impede the effect of the Rosina of Vivica Genaux, who scored highly in vocal and dramatic terms throughout. Secure in every detail of the writing, and deploying an even and attractive timbre from the top to the bottom of her range, she also made a fine impression as an actress, bringing warmth and charm to the character and conducting herself on stage like a mistress of her art.
- George Hall, Opera Monthly, September/October 1999


at West Australian Opera

It is difficult to recollect a more convincing Rosina than Vivica Genaux. Not only is this young lady strikingly attractive, she has a magnetic stage presence and a wondrously flexible voice. She nonchalantly negotiated all the pitfalls Rossini set in her way, tossing off the florid runs with cascading brilliance and giving the low notes a warm chesty strength. The feisty character, who is more a thorny rose than a shrinking violet, was projected superbly in an Australian debut which will not be forgotten in a hurry.
- Alan True, Opera-Opera Magazine, October 1998

American mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux, a stage natural, makes a radiant and mischievous Rosina. A former student of the superb bass Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, Genaux has a remarkably supple voice. Her chest notes have a thrilling, dark timbre and she sings with ease, brilliance and fearless attack.
- Neville Cohn, The West Australian, September 3, 1998


at San Diego Opera

Genaux was born to sing Rosina, the role with which she made her Metropolitan Opera debut last month. The San Diego Opera production reaffirms her luscious voice and lovely stage presence, never more beguiling than in the celebrated ‘Una voce poco fa’.
- Valerie Scher, San Diego Union-Tribune, January 26, 1998

The company began showcasing the young American mezzo [Genaux] last season and word has caught on fast. And Genaux showed San Diego why. Genaux is a natural, so much so that it is a little difficult to explain what makes her exceptional. The voice is neither large nor small. The timbre is slightly dusky in the lower registers, buttery and potent on top. But it doesn’t exactly call the kind of showy attention to itself the way some of the flashier mezzos do these days. In fact, it is this directness, this lack of artificiality in the singing (nothing has more artifice than Rossini’s elaborate coloratura passages) that sets her apart. Sometimes it is only after she has finished an aria that it can dawn on the listener just how much art it takes to hide art. Genaux is a natural onstage. A pert, spunky yet vulnerable and touching Rosina, she commands her surrounding with ease.
- Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, January 26, 1998

Genaux is an extremely gifted artist, a trim fashion plate to behold, and the possessor of a rich, agile voice, full of color and character. The sound she makes seems remarkable coming from such a slim figure – the timbre at times reminiscent of Marilyn Horne’s. She continues to prove she is a marvelous actress, with a flair for comedy and one who radiates charm.
- David Gregson, San Diego Magazine, January 24, 1998

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at the Metropolitan Opera - 1997

Her [Ms. Genaux’s] performance was delightful and impressive. She has a lovely voice, rich and warm, evenly produced throughout all registers, with bright, full top notes. Her sound has presence and body. Her understanding of style, especially regarding embellishments and coloratura runs is informed, and her execution is exceptionally crisp and clear. But ultimately, it was the poignancy of her singing and her affecting conception of the character that made her work memorable. This was a confident and winning debut. The warm ovation from the audience must have been heartening.
- Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, December 19, 1997

Even star cancellations have turned out well [at the Met]: Alaska-born Vivica Genaux stepped in to make a fabulous debut after Bulgarian mezzo Vesselina Kasarova bailed out of Barber of Seville.
- David Patrick Stearns, USA Today, January 15, 2000


at Florentine Opera - Milwaukee

Vivica Genaux’s Rosina was the revelation in the cast. What richness, what power in that voice, from top to bottom. And what complexity – she moves her sound from the front of the mouth to the back of the throat to create a dazzling range of vocal color. And that voice is packaged in a pretty face, a graceful body and a stage presence of irresistible vivacity.
- Tom Strini, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 9, 1996

The rapidly rising mezzo Vivica Genaux offered a polished Rosina, exuding charm and grace and singing her coloratura ever so cleanly.
- John Koopman, Opera, September 1997


at Cincinnati Opera

Her instrument has a lovely, dark quality and she handled the bel canto without laboring. Genaux (who frankly, and appropriately, is a bit of a knockout) also gave us a Rosina capable of bawdy asides, iron will and a graduate degree in feminine gamesmanship.
- Roger Grooms, Everybody’s News, July 18, 1997


at Washington Opera

Vivica Genaux sang a delightful Rosina. She has a dusky Marilyn Horne-like chestiness to her sound, plus vocal agility, charm, and an enormous smile.
- Heidi Waleson, Opera Now International Showcase Edition, 1996/97

Top honors must go to [mezzo-] soprano Vivica Genaux, who made her Washington Opera debut as Rosina. She imbued the part with a sort of teasing panther grandeur; her voice is healthy, agile and distinctive (with some fine, ringing low notes), and her acting was both vigorous and charming.
- Tim Page, The Washington Post, December 25, 1995<


(Photo credit: Ken Howard courtesy, SD Opera)

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