Reviews

“Canadian Ambur Braid’s powerful coloratura soprano and sensitive acting as Sabina make her a strong presence throughout the evening.”

Christopher Hoile, Opera News, Sabina Augusta in the world premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian at The Canadian Opera Company

“Making her debut with Calgary Opera, Braid has clearly moved from a promising singer to one who is now equal to major roles with professional companies….Lighter in timbre than other Toscas, Braid was still the dominant vocal presence in this production, her singing the most nuanced and, ultimately, the most beautiful. Youthful in general demeanour, she realistically represented the character of a Tosca who captivated the hearts of both her tenor lover and Scarpia, the villainous chief of police. Moving easily on stage and without stiffness, she projected an unusually sympathetic Tosca, more capricious than maddeningly willful, as is sometimes the case with this role.”

“Gaetano Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux’s audacious coloratura arias in the opera genre represent something of a pinnacle for the interpreter. From dizzying heights in multiple-octave leaps to deep down in the limits of the mezzo-soprano register – there is an enormous vocal range required. Not many singers are able to perform this role with such sovereignty as Ambur Braid did on her role debut in the Frankfurt Opera. Her arias were accompanied on this evening by frenetic applause and cheers. As fast as Braid speeds up and down the scale, the feelings of the protagonists also change. During the two-hour performance, the audience embarks on an emotional roller coaster ride. Even if the stage performance, costumes and orchestra pit are omitted in the concert performance, the Canadian soprano, as Queen of England, shows theatrical talent.”

“The Canadian soprano Ambur Braid, who had taken over the main part a few days before the two performances and will be a member of the Frankfurt Opera ensemble next season, accredited the extremes of the role impressively – not only with their trumpeting tones, but also with a dramatically strengthened vocal range. Love, hate, and jealousy: Braid gave a lot of emotional expression with pleasure…”

“The passionately charged scenes focused on the emotional core offered the singer ensemble magnificent opportunities for development: The Canadian coloratura soprano Ambur Braid savored in the extremely risky part of Elisabetta with her extreme vocal range and abrupt changes in position as fearless as it was vocally powerful. Elizabeth I lavishes sounds like flashing lightning. This feminine-infuriated queen appeared fire-threatening, flinging sounds in her breakneck arias like blazing flashes.”

“As Elisabetta I, she is a force, primarily vocal, but also theatrical. From heartfelt moments to wild fury, the coloratura soprano shows all the feelings of a jealousy-filled ruler with stunning high notes and pianissimo (depicting a very young Elizabeth I).”

“Because the Canadian soprano Ambur Braid did not have to be made up as the old Elizabeth I, her sparkling stage presence could be admired quite undistracted. Braid designed a character without scepter and diamonds and actually far too young the moody queen, who is not in control. Just the corners of her mouth make you forget the absence of a set design: flattering corners of the mouth; mocking, arrogant and triumphant ones. At the end, the ringing, wrinkling corners of the mouth. The same could be said of her eyes. And the vocal mastery! All the nuances are there, from the gentle temptations to the chilling curses of an insulted diva.”

“A powerful Soprano.. Ms. Braid, when in despair, allowed her gleaming sound to turn acidic and steely. In this staging, a climactic aria for Aci becomes a veritable mad scene, which Ms. Braid delivered with unhinged intensity.”

“The soprano Ambur Braid, as Aci, sang with both force and florid charm”

“Zum Spiel mit den Genres gehört jenes mit den Stimmfächern. Ambur Braid als sektbeschwipste Koloraturdrossel in plissierter Bluse ist eine Klasse für sich, wenn sie die Königin, eine Mischung aus Zerbinetta, Kundry und Lady Macbeth, singt.”
“Ambur Braid as a champagne-colored coloratura in pleated blouse is a class in herself when she sings the queen, a mixture of Zerbinetta, Kundry and Lady Macbeth.”

“Soprano Ambur Braid is an impressive Queen of the Night.  She does not sing the Queen’s two principal arias merely as showpieces, as singers so often do, but rather acts while singing so that she brings out the meaning of the words while effortlessly engaging in the score’s vocal gymnastics.“

– Christopher Hoile, OPERA NEWS, January 2017

“Die Hölle Rache (sometimes referred to as the Queen of the Night’s mad aria) is arguably the most recognized opera excerpt in the world. It is unlikely that there are many coloraturas in the world at the moment who can give a better performance of this aria than Ambur Braid. Her effortless freedom and suppleness while singing through impossibly high and intricate passages, combined with a campy, sinister interpretation of the role, was glorious.”

“The same was true for Ambur Braid’s Queen of the Night. Braid seemed cramped and hemmed in by the tiny stage on which she had to sing her first blazing aria in Act 1 – the Queen shouldn’t be confined, she needs to be as large as the night sky. But by Act 2, Braid gave one of the most chilling renditions of Der Hoelle Rache I’ve ever heard, navigating the impossible coloratura lines of the aria pianissimo, rather than double forte, making them doubly malevolent.”

“Back on the COC stage after turning everyone’s head as Dalinda in Ariodante, soprano Ambur Braid is everything you want in a “star-flaming queen”. Her two big arias were sung as close to perfectly as one could hope. Long and lean and beautiful she used every one of her assets while prowling around the stage. She was at the same time equal parts intriguing and intimidating. I could listen to Ambur sing me the phone book, if I’m being completely honest.“

“I have to mention first & foremost a role that’s really like a cameo, namely Ambur Braid as the Queen of the Night. I wasn’t sure if I could mention her misadventure in her first aria, until she admitted it in social media. Instead of a wardrobe malfunction this was outright rebellion, her colossal dress tripping her up. But Braid is such a complete theatre animal that she turned it into business, crawling on her knees at Tamino. I swear nobody in the theatre noticed, although it did seem like an unconventional approach to the aria. In the second aria, she put the damnedest pause at the end, in full partnership with Labadie (his idea or hers?), holding us in that agonized theatrical moment before she ended the aria. It’s such a tiny part, yet she’s the one everyone remembered, including that last dance with Sarastro.“

“Canadian dramatic coloratura Ambur Braid repeated the excellent Queen of the Night she sang in the Ensemble performance in 2011. Hers is a flamboyant, silent-movie style Queen, with all the vocal chops and the hi-camp qualities needed to make the Queen the center of attention. She earned huge ovations from the audience.“

“Soprano Ambur Braid is a gloriously malevolent Queen of the Night, all evil and darkness flashed with sequins and sparkling coloratura. Der Holle Rache (“The vengeance of hell”), the great, wickedly delicious revenge aria that rises from the opera’s psychic centre, is dispatched with gorgeous savagery, Braid tossing off entire handfuls of high Fs with unflappable self-assurance.“

“Archibald is supported by exceptionally fine singing from both Canadian soprano Ambur Braid, making her role debut as Dalinda, and Armenian mezzo-soprano Varduhi Abrahamyan as Polinesso. From the start Braid portrays Dalinda, so infatuated with the unkind Polinesso, as socially awkward and perhaps mentally disturbed. Braid’s soprano has a darker hue than Archibald’s but she is equally at ease in coloratura passagework. One of her finest moments is the aria “Se tanto piace al cor” in which she expresses a battered woman’s hope that Polinesso’s cruelty may eventually lead to tenderness. The other is Dalinda’s great aria of anger and repentance “Neghittosi or voi che fate?” where Braid’s superb vocal control only heightens the aria’s emotions.“

“Of particular note were Ambur Braid and Alice Coote, whose voices sailed wilfully through their arias. Coote’s coloratura injected a complex depth to her character that would have broken this opera very quickly in lesser hands.“

“Ambur Braid, who steals the show as Dalinda.. it was Braid and not Archibald or Abrahamyan who was the most interesting character onstage, a flawed individual right on the boundary between pathos and humour, many of her lines drawing nervous giggles from the audience.“

“Ambur Braid was the Queen of the Night, singing some of the most well-known music in the opera. She made a very strong impression and received a very warm reception to her arias, both of which were sung with brilliant coloratura and a ringing tone.  No one will be disappointed here.”

“Ambur Braid makes an exceptional UK debut bringing the right combination of fear and allure to the Queen of the Night, and achieving a fine balance between clarity and nuance in her sound in ‘Der Hölle Rache’.”

— MusicOMH, February 6, 2016 – Queen of the Night in “The Magic Flute” at English National Opera

“As the denizen of darkness, Canadian soprano Ambur Braid was a formidable Queen of the Night, her upper register impressively firm and all notes hit in the merciless ‘Der Hölle Rache’.”

“No praise could be too high for the feisty Three Ladies, the spooky Three Spirits, Allan Clayton’s eloquent Tamino, Lucy Crowe’s sublime Pamina, and Ambur Braid’s brilliantly-conceived Queen of the Night. Mark Wigglesworth conducts with fizzing authority.”

– The Independant, February 6 2016, – Queen of the Night in “The Magic Flute” at English National Opera  

“Ambur Braid provided tons of useful background info in her funny introduction to how each of the wives hooked up with Henry (“I nerd out… Bear with me”), but mood changed from comedic to dramatic when she started singing. She voiced each queen with unreserved commitment and compassion—it was probably the emotional peak of the evening. Powerful! Larsen’s excellent cycle found an excellent ambassador.”

“We all knew that Ambur Braid had splendid highs, but what perhaps we don’t get to hear as often is how attractive and meaty her lower register is. The songs showed what a fabulous chiaroscuro voice she is. Somebody cast her in some Verdi, stat.”

– Definitelytheopera.com

“Is there a smarter singer in this city?  Yes we’ve noticed how attractive she is, how effortless her high coloratura, but let me repeat, I think she’s very intelligent.  For a few minutes she stood before us riffing on the wives of Henry the VIIIth almost like a stand-up comic, giving us the background while enacting a kind of distancing Brecht would have loved.  I couldn’t help thinking –as I watched five distinct impersonations, one per song—that at least one motivating reason was that Braid was seeking a bit of distance for fear of becoming too emotional. Even as it was, I was in tears in several places, overwhelmed by the intensity of these songs and her portrayals.  I wonder if Larsen has ever heard them done this way, so flamboyantly, yet so distinctly?  I would think she’d be blown away, as were we come to think of it.  Almost incidentally, there was a high C-sharp, among singing and characterization in a different style for each wife.”

– Barczablog.com

“Anne Truelove, the only “positive” character of The Rake’s Progress, a woman with true love (even in name) was treated with special care in this production. Helped by the good performance of Canadian Ambur Braid, who managed at the same time to give body and voice to the only truly operatic character from beginning to end, but with a greater complexity than usual and using a more dramatic soprano at times.”

– Público

“We finally meet the show’s leading lady and Ambur Braid is everything you want a Konstanze to be and more. She has beauty and stature and poise, but the best part is that she (and Pynkoski) are constantly willing to mock these traits, having her don spectacles or fall onto the floor in unattractive positions.

She also is the possessor of a sly wit that this master manipulator of a woman needs and an evil twinkle in her eye that tells you, in the great Häagen-Dazs sex shoppe of life, vanilla will never be her favourite flavour.

Oh yes, her voice is also something to write home to mother about, if you wanted mother to know you were seeing a girl so deliciously urbane. As she demonstrated in last season’s The Magic Flute, she can deliver the trifecta of crystalline high notes, blissfully graceful vocal cadenzas and deep emotional intensity that Mozart liked all his leading sopranos to possess.”

– The Toronto Star

“Ambur Braid, a strong-willed Konstanze, sang this famous aria with firm technique and edgy tone. By wearing and removing eyeglasses she added an amusing touch of complexity to her character.”

– The National Post

“Ambur Braid’s Konstanze met the challenges of her role in an unexpected way.  There’s the big aria “Martern aller Arten” for example, where one sometimes sees a singer gamely struggle.  Not only did Braid make it look easy (although  we should also credit conductor David Fallis in the pit for supporting his singers so perfectly that they’re easy to hear), but of course Pynkoski & Zingg make this hysterically funny.  I won’t say how.  Sometimes we’re watching overdone romance, a young woman in tears for her missing BF, sometimes we’re watching her defy her scary captors.  It’s wonderfully funny, owing much to Braid’s comic gift, which we saw amply displayed last year in Die Fledermaus.  Yes Braid can sing, but she’s very smart and never dull.”

– Barczablog.com

“There was, however, a wonderful wake-up call given the production by Ambur Braid as the Queen of the Night. She eschewed the diva-esque posturing that many women adopt for the role and gave us instead a ravishing creature of glacially cold evil, which made the sharply carved icicle notes she dispensed during her signature Act II aria seem all the more appropriate.”

The Toronto Star

“Ambur Braid was our Vitellia, communicating malice with intense acting and a steely, tight vibrato. She cross-pollinated coloratura with verismo in Act 1; Non più di fiori, in Act 2, was nothing less than a mad scene. I must say this raven-haired Canadian does wicked rather well.”

– The National Post

“The stand out has to be Ambur Braid’s Vitellia.  She was so inside the character it was scary.  She sang an extraordinary cadenza in her big first act aria and right at the end she produced a veiled tone that was weird, disturbing and exactly right. She is so “in the moment.”

– Operaramblings.com

“The Vitellia is Ambur Braid – an extraordinarily versatile singer who seems able to turn her voice to anything.  Well who knows?  But the Vitellia displayed vocal beauty and technical assurance in abundance, as well as another fiery theatrical presence.”?

– Brian Dickie

Top Ten Theatre Artists of 2012

“Anyone who thinks opera singers are all voice and no drama hasn’t seen Braid’s work with the Canadian Opera Company. A member of the COC’s Ensemble Studio, she sang in The Tales Of Hoffmann and wowed viewers in the Ensemble’s performance of Handel’s Semele, giving a tragic turn to the title character; she depicted Semele’s progressive madness in a coloratura aria usually sung for its sweetness. In the fall she won hearts onstage and in the audience as the pert maid, Adele, in Die Fledermaus.”

– NOW Magazine

“Ambur Braid drops her maid’s gear to emerge in finery as the best Adele ever: sexy, sparky, sensational.”

– Toronto Star

“..(the) maid Adele as portrayed by Ambur Braid.  I’d been expecting to enjoy this portrayal, but was not prepared for how fully she inhabited the maid- who- becomes –Olga.  While I’d seen the photos in the publicity, I was unprepared for the power (and comedy) of her transformation from the ugly duckling of Act I into the seductive Olga in Act II. Her rendition of the laughing song had a delightfully angry edge to it.”

– Barczablog

“She plays Amore, goddess/god of love (she switches genders midway through the show). She is tall, thin, with Audrey Hepburn eyes, long auburn hair, and perfect teeth.”

– The Walrus Magazine

“The performances are superb. Braid’s Amore is characterful and spontaneous in voice and presence.”

– NOW Magazine