{"id":18,"date":"2018-08-29T15:07:38","date_gmt":"2018-08-29T15:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecngx245.inmotionhosting.com\/~amburb5\/home\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T13:21:08","slug":"reviews","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/amburbraid.com\/home\/reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

“But it was Ambur Braid’s show, and her ferocious Katerina may very well be the thing that catapults her into stardom…It’s a joy to hear the role sung by someone in their vocal prime…and Braid’s soprano has ample power from a piercing upper register down to a zesty chest voice as well as excellent intonation and clean vocal attacks. She’s also a phenomenal actor, fearlessly contorting her body and face to express Katerina’s frustration, clinginess, and cruelty. The stillness she achieves in the final scene is terrifying, with a psychopathic glint in her eye before she explodes in violence.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Parterre Box, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Komische Oper Berlin, January 2026<\/p>\n

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“Ambur Braid, however, who played the title role of Katerina Ismailova, was given the opportunity to show off not only her powerful voice but also her legs and physical control in the opening scene of this deeply bored and sexually frustrated merchant’s wife: everything was finely tuned and marked the beginning of a powerful performance. How a heavy longing for life explodes on the completely wrong object and literally becomes deadly; how the nuances of desire, hatred, gnawing fear, and abysmal disappointment change depending on the situation and the person opposite; how her always expressive voice, after tones of barren, almost vomited contempt, blazing sensuality, and hopeless suffering, finally freezes towards the end of the play like a broken and emptied shadow: this shaped the evening.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Frankfurt Allgemeiner Zeitung, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Komische Oper Berlin, January 2026<\/p>\n

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“Soprano Ambur Braid captivates with her wide vocal range from dark to dazzling, and her lascivious, erotic charisma is a perfect match for the muscular Sean Panikkar and his powerful tenor voice.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 BZ Berlin, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Komische Oper Berlin, January 2026<\/p>\n

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“In addition to all the dramatic peaks she masterfully reaches, Ambur Braid as Katerina, with her dark-toned soprano, poignantly portrays this existential wound as an insatiable abyss within herself. Neither her husband Sinovi Borisovich, in Elmar Gilbertsson’s successful character study of the father’s son, nor her lover Sergei, with his dashing recklessness, as portrayed in an engagingly repulsive manner by Sean Panikkar, will be able to fill this void, or even recognize it. This is clear from the outset.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Neue Musikzeitung, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Komische Oper Berlin, January 2026<\/p>\n

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“Only Ambur Braid in the title role really gets to sing; she is wonderfully embodied and impassioned.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Financial Times, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Komische Oper Berlin, January 2026<\/p>\n

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“Ambur Braid in the title role has steel in her voice, pushing the limits of expression in her dramatically heightened performance. For a few moments, Ambur Braid allows us to glimpse into the soul of her character\u2014simply and poignantly portrayed, without constant fortissimo. A little more vocal psychology would have revealed entirely different facets.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 BR Klassik, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Komische Oper Berlin, January 2026<\/p>\n

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“Ambur Braid is the ideal choice for the title role with her attractive appearance, warm and colorful soprano voice that shimmers in many colors, and her devoted performance.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Der Opernfreund, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Komische Oper Berlin, January 2026<\/p>\n

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“But the protagonist Katerina Lvovna Ismailova, spectacularly played by Ambur Braid, sings right from the start with an almost unbearable tremolo about her withering away in a deeply emotionless world\u2014and the tragedy has not even begun yet.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tagesspiegel, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Komische Oper Berlin, January 2026<\/p>\n

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“The performance is carried from the very beginning by the sensational Ambur Braid.” <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Klassik Begeistert, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Komische Oper Berlin, January 2026<\/p>\n

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“Ambur Braid’s glutinous soprano sometimes reaches its limits in this insane role, partly because the singer never holds back, but is completely absorbed in exploring this tormented soul caught between perpetrator and victim. The heartfelt passages are particularly moving, such as the monologue ‘Alles paart sich’. Braid is also a gifted actress who is reminiscent of the great Olivia Coleman at times \u2013 often a hurt or defiant look is enough to capture a complex situation.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Die Deutsche B\u00fchne, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Komische Oper Berlin, January 2026<\/p>\n

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\u201cHer voice exudes abundantly and passionately ardently, has a wide range of colors to attest to the nature enthusiasm of the beginning, the frustration of the rejected wife and especially the doubts about God in her monologue at the beginning of the second act.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Der Opernfreund, Die Ersten Menschen, Oper Frankfurt, November 2025<\/p>\n

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\u201cAmbur Braid gives us a monologue at the beginning of Act II that will remain one of the highlights of the performance.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Forum Opera, Die Ersten Menschen, Oper Frankfurt, November 2025<\/p>\n

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\u201cAmbur Braid and Omer Meir Wellber make us forget Grigorian as Salome\u2026with intelligent self-confidence, Braid relies on her own strengths\u2026Braid began in a measured manner, then her elegant soprano became gently enveloping. What a glow in the heights of her register.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014 Klassik Begeistert, Salome, Staatsoper Hamburg, October 2025<\/p>\n

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“I wish there were more scenes between Wozzeck and Marie, helping to establish their relationship. But Kupfer-Radecky and Braid, a soprano whose gorgeous tone embraces the music like a sculptor’s hands moulding clay, are such an electric pairing that they can convey their characters’ dynamics with efficiency and ease. (The pair are reuniting after appearing together in the COC’s<\/em>
Salome in 2023.)”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Toronto Star, Wozzeck, Canadian Opera Company, April 2025<\/p>\n

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“Ambur Braid gave a typically committed performance as Marie with power to burn, but also sang with delicacy. The bible-reading scene was touching and her cavorting with the Drum Major in the tavern was wonderfully over the top.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Bachtrack, Wozzeck, Canadian Opera Company, April 2025\"\"<\/p>\n

“Soprano Ambur Braid as Marie showed why she is now in such demand internationally as an interpreter of early 20th-century German repertoire. She offers ample, expressive tone in Marie\u2019s relatively \u2018lyrical\u2019 passages, especially her delivery of the Bible verses about the adulteress who was forgiven and Mary Magdalene. In contrast, she projects bravado as she throws caution to the wind to embark on the tryst with the Captain that ultimately leads to her murder by Wozzeck. Braid is such a magnetic performer and we can only hope she will return to Toronto soon given her success here, following a searing Salome in 2023.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 MyScena, Wozzeck, Canadian Opera Company, April 2025<\/p>\n

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“Ambur Braid as Marie continues her winning streak at the COC, inevitably the most sympathetic person onstage regardless of the composer or the style she\u2019s required to play. I never doubted her for a moment as the mother of a puppet-child, indeed she will move you to tears.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 BarczaBlog, Wozzeck, Canadian Opera Company, April 2025<\/p>\n

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“This run reunites German baritone Michael Kupfer-Radecky and Canadian soprano Ambur Braid after their superb Jochanaan and Salome two seasons ago. Kupfer-Radecky sang well and was a heartfelt, if rather dramatically understated, Wozzeck. Braid was quite the exuberant Marie, singing and acting with a controlled abandon, not to mention her huge, searing top notes.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Opera Canada, Wozzeck, Canadian Opera Company, April 2025<\/p>\n

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“As Wozzeck\u2019s wife, Canadian soprano Ambur Braid shows us another version of life after war. Her struggle lies in being poor and socially ostracized, and in having a husband who shows little interest in her or their son. From her first notes in the third scene, Braid shoots a streak of gorgeous soprano through this story, making us realize how badly we needed it. Getting the audience empathize with a woman who cheats on her traumatized husband is asking a lot, but Braid gets us there. Her Marie is someone who\u2019s dying to feel normal and beautiful, and who shows real remorse after she seeks those things in the dashing Drum Major, who is sung strappingly by Canadian tenor Matthew Cairns.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Globe and Mail, Wozzeck, Canadian Opera Company, April 2025<\/p>\n

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\u201cExcellent performance by Ambur Braid as the new prioress (her scene in the prison before the execution is beautiful)\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 PLATEA, Dialogues Des Carm\u00e9lites, Les Arts Valencia, January 2025<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe is joined by the dramatic Canadian soprano Ambur Braid, whose qualities we have already praised, notably as the Dyer\u2019s Wife in Die Frau Ohne Schatten on this same stage (and also in Frankfurt as Salome and as Rachel in La Juive). She portrays a proud and noble Marie, fiery and passionate, living life on her own terms. Vocally, she is stunning, effortlessly hitting high notes with impressive ease, never shouting them despite the challenging intervals demanded by the score. Her voice is wide and powerful, and her portrayal is extraordinary.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Cult.News, Wozzeck, Op\u00e9ra de Lyon, October 2024<\/p>\n

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“Even more impressive is the Marie of the Canadian soprano Ambur Braid, with a vocal amplitude without limit, but without ever forcing the line, always attentive to the diction so essential for this repertoire, and a stage presence that commands respect.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– Premiere Loge, Wozzeck, Op\u00e9ra de Lyon, October 2024\"\"<\/p>\n

“The soprano Ambur Braid, as Marie, faces obstacles with determination, a cold and suspicious stature towards her husband, whom she treats almost like a stranger, as well as the protective and loving mother of her child. Her voice, easy in the high notes but also in the lower tones, becomes more and more intense, even abandoning itself to heartbreaking cries that express his inconsolable despair.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– Olyrix, Wozzeck, Op\u00e9ra de Lyon, October 2024<\/p>\n

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“Ambur Braid takes on the role of Marie with a nonchalant naturalness and all the ambiguity that befits this woman: attached to Wozzeck, but succumbing easily to the drum major, she does not forget to be a mother. The voice is deep and fleshy, the high notes take off but the vocals remain well attached to its solid roots.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– Opera Online, Wozzeck, Op\u00e9ra de Lyon, October 2024<\/p>\n

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“Incandescence characterizes Ambur Braid’s Marie”<\/em><\/p>\n

– Resmusica, Wozzeck, Op\u00e9ra de Lyon, October 2024<\/p>\n

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“At his side, Ambur Braid gives Marie an impressive vocal presence, playing on the opposition between the extroverted side of the character and the introverted dimension of Wozzeck, playing with the difficulties of the score.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– Forum Opera, Wozzeck, Op\u00e9ra de Lyon, October 2024<\/p>\n

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“Ambur Baird’s Rachel, a powerful soprano with brilliant, well-projected high notes, has enormous panache. Like her recent interpretations of the Teinturi\u00e8re in Die Frau Ohne Schatten at the Op\u00e9ra de Lyon and Salome at the Frankfurt Opera, she impresses from the moment she arrives on stage with her incandescent presence, and whatever her allure (wise girl or light girl), we sense the fire smoldering beneath the ice, the strength of character of the woman who reproaches Leopold for his betrayal yet is determined to save him by sacrificing herself. Corn\u00e9lie Falcon created the role, and Ambur Braid has a brilliant, powerful dramatic soprano voice that dominates most ensembles.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– Helene Adam for Cult.news, La Juive, Oper Frankfurt, June 2024<\/p>\n

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“Amber Braid’s effortless unfolding of her well-timbred voice makes every performance of Rachel an event.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– Roberto Becker for Concerti.net, La Juive, Oper Frankfurt, June 2024<\/p>\n

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“Ambur Braid returns to Frankfurt for the title role and impresses with a luminous soprano that can rise to great dramatic heights and clear high notes that emphasize the purity of the character. She movingly portrays the suffering of the title character, showing herself to be uncompromising when she accuses her lover in front of everyone and later turns down her father’s offer to be rescued after his arrest. In Braid’s interpretation, her determined walk to her death gets under the skin, especially as she seeks a moment of closeness to her \u201creal\u201d father de Brogni.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– Judith von Sternburg for Frankfurter Rundschau, La Juive, Oper Frankfurt, June 2024<\/p>\n

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\u201cPowerful and soaring voice for Ambur Braid’s Senta, who has a lot of fun playing the capricious little girl.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

– Opera Teatro, The Flying Dutchman, Komische Oper Berlin, March 2024<\/p>\n

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“Her soprano becomes more dramatic, and the way she lets herself be carried away on the giant wave of Strauss’s music is risky, but authentic. From the first to the last scene\u2026the evening is hers.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– Frankfurter Rundschau, \u00a0Barrie Kosky\u2019s Salome at Oper Frankfurt, January 2024<\/p>\n

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\u201cAmbur Braid has probably found the role of her life in Salome. She can colour her bright voice in an almost childishly na\u00efve way; but she also has astonishing reserves of strength which allow her to literally flood the auditorium in sound, as in her final ecstatic monologue\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– Der Opernfreund, Barrie Kosky\u2019s Salome at Oper Frankfurt, January 2024<\/p>\n

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“Ambur Braid tries to be a 16-year-old princess with the voice of Isolde, as Strauss desired. Her voice has an attractive Straussian timbre with warm high notes and radiant long notes. Her playing is marked by a certain joy at experimentation and a healthy curiosity towards portraying unconventional women”<\/em><\/p>\n

– Leidmotief, Barrie Kosky\u2019s Salome at Oper Frankfurt, January 2024<\/p>\n

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\u201cAmbur Braid (La Femme de Barak) est id\u00e9ale dans son personnage tr\u00e8s humain, alliant justesse de la voix et pr\u00e9sence charismatique.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– BachTrack, Die Frau Ohne Statten, Op\u00e9ra de Lyon, October 2023<\/p>\n

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\u201cAmbur Braid est une magnifique teinturi\u00e8re, superbe actrice et voix surmontant le d\u00e9ferlement de d\u00e9cibels dans la fosse.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– Concertclassic.com, Die Frau Ohne Schatten, Op\u00e9ra de Lyon, October 2023<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“And Ambur Braid blows them all away as the highly emotional Chawa – her triumph is also the triumph of a femininity that emerges from the crude archaism of the play.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung, Die Ersten Menschen at Oper Frankfurt, July 2023<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\u201cThe young dramatic soprano Ambur Braid makes a brilliant role debut, both singing and acting. \u00a0With her cool and clear voice and her provocative ecstatic acting, she depicts the figure of Salome radically and uncompromisingly and with her portrayal goes to the limit of a self-destructive portrait. \u00a0She easily changes registers, plays with her voice, and is brilliantly clear even in the dramatic climaxes.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Andreas H. H\u00f6lscher, <\/span>O-Ton, Barrie Kosky\u2019s new production of Salome at Oper Frankfurt, March 2020<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cAmbur Braid is a fascinating Salome with a big, colourful voice, which has a clear declamatory edge without losing warmth.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Johannes Breckner, Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz, Barrie Kosky\u2019s new production of Salome at Oper Frankfurt, March 2020<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cSalome is Ambur Braid and she completely immerses herself in the role. She has a radiant, youthful, lyrical soprano voice, which she uses very musically.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

– Friedeon Ros\u00e9n, Der neue Merker, Barrie Kosky\u2019s new production of Salome at Oper Frankfurt, March 2020<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cYou completely believe in Ambur Braid\u2019s Salome, you believe in her every note.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– Natascha Pflaumbaum, hr2 kultur, Barrie Kosky\u2019s new production of Salome at Oper Frankfurt, March 2020<\/p>\n

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\u201cAmbur Braid as Salome, a vocal and dramatic force.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– Renate Feyerbacher, Feuilleton Frankfurt, Barrie Kosky\u2019s new production of Salome at Oper Frankfurt, March 2020<\/p>\n

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“The Compelling Soprano, Ambur Braid.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n
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– Anthony Tomassini, New York Times, Sabina Augusta in the world premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian at The Canadian Opera Company<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cIn fact, the opera could almost be called Sabina, since Braid is given the most exciting music and has the biggest character arc in the show. (There are shades of Verdi\u2019s Amneris to her.) Braid vaults through the score like an Olympian, her high notes accurate and thrilling, her emotion palpable. (She also looks fabulous in Gillian Gallow\u2019s sumptuous costumes.)\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

– Glenn Sumi, Now Toronto, Sabina Augusta in the world premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian at The Canadian Opera Company<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Melancholic lyricism is all Sabina\u2019s: Ambur Braid as Hadrian\u2019s unloved wife gets to deliver \u201cWill you have Egypt with me\u201d as a show-stopper Puccini aria. She was also spot on in her appearance disguised as the Sibyl, launching some stratospheric spikes that she made sound logical and right, as well as later, in a Straussian trio with Hadrian and Antinous. I don\u2019t think she\u2019s ever sounded better\u2014purer and more effortless of tone, more generous in colour and warmth.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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– Lydia Perovic, Opera Canada, Sabina Augusta in the world premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian at The Canadian Opera Company<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I was intrigued that Ambur Braid effortlessly stole the show, in a character who is far more sympathetic than one might expect. The jealous wife of a gay man, she has the two most dynamic moments musically, a pair of arias that, for whatever reason, are the moments of greatest inspiration & commitment from Rufus Wainwright.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

– Leslie Barcza, Barczablog, Sabina Augusta in the world premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian at The Canadian Opera Company<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Ambur Braid, an alumna of the COC Ensemble and COC favourite, was divine in the role of Hadrian\u2019s neglected wife, Sabina. Regal bearing is second nature for Braid given that she is well known for playing the Queen of the Night. But Braid brought a much softer quality to this role. Her performance of an aria that I will call \u201cWhere is your Heart?\u201d was spectacular and heart-wrenching.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

– Keira Grant, Mooney on Theatre, Sabina Augusta in the world premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian at The Canadian Opera Company<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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“Canadian Ambur Braid\u2019s powerful coloratura soprano and sensitive acting as Sabina make her a strong presence throughout the evening.” <\/em><\/p>\n

– Christopher Hoile, Opera News, Sabina Augusta in the world premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian at The Canadian Opera Company<\/p>\n

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“Making her debut with Calgary Opera,\u00a0Braid 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.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– Calgary Herald<\/div>\n
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\u201cGaetano 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\u00a0required. Not many singers are able to perform this role with such sovereignty as Ambur<\/span> Braid did on her role debut in the Frankfurt Opera.\u00a0Her arias were accompanied on this evening by frenetic applause and cheers.\u00a0As fast as Braid speeds up and down the scale, the feelings of the protagonists also change.\u00a0During 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– Sebastian Kraemer, Offenbach Post, February 5, 2018 (Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux at Oper Frankfurt)<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe Canadian soprano Ambur<\/span> 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\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– Axel Zibulski, Frankfurter Allgemeine, February 5, 2018 (Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux at Oper Frankfurt)<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe passionately charged scenes focused on the emotional core offered the singer ensemble magnificent opportunities for development: The Canadian coloratura soprano Ambur<\/span> 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– Silvia Adler, Allgemeine Zeitung, February 5, 2018 (Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux at Oper Frankfurt)<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
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\u201cAs 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).\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– Joachim Reiber, KulturFreak, February 5, 2018 (Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux at Oper Frankfurt)<\/div>\n
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\u201cBecause the Canadian soprano Ambur<\/span> 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– Markus Kuhn, Frankfurter Neue Presse, February 8, 2018 (Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux at Oper Frankfurt)<\/div>\n
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“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.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– Anthony Tommasini, July 14, 2017 The New York Times (Aci, Galatea e Polifemo at National Sawdust)<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe soprano Ambur Braid, as Aci, sang with both force and florid charm\u201d<\/em>
<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2013 Russell Platt, The New Yorker (Aci, Galatea e Polifemo at National Sawdust)<\/div>\n
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\u201cAmbur 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Dienstag, As Die K\u00f6nigin in Das Geheime K\u00f6nigreich at Opera Frankfurt<\/p>\n

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\u201cAmbur Braid provided tons of useful background info in her funny introduction to how each of the wives hooked up with Henry (\u201cI nerd out\u2026 Bear with me\u201d), but mood changed from comedic to dramatic when she started singing. She voiced\u00a0each queen with unreserved commitment and compassion\u2014it was probably the emotional peak of the evening. Powerful! Larsen\u2019s excellent cycle found\u00a0an excellent ambassador.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe all knew that Ambur Braid had splendid highs, but what perhaps we don\u2019t 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\u00a0Verdi, stat.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– Definitelytheopera.com<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“Is there a smarter singer in this city?\u00a0 Yes we\u2019ve noticed how attractive she is, how effortless her high coloratura, but let me repeat, I think she\u2019s very intelligent.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t help thinking \u2013as I watched five distinct impersonations, one per song\u2014that 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.\u00a0 I wonder if Larsen has ever heard them done this way, so flamboyantly, yet so distinctly? \u00a0I would think she\u2019d be blown away, as were we come to think of it.\u00a0 Almost incidentally, there was a high C-sharp, among singing and characterization in a different style for each wife.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– Barczablog.com<\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cAnne Truelove, the only \u201cpositive\u201d character of The Rake\u2019s 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.\u201d <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– P\u00fablico<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe finally meet the show\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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 H\u00e4agen-Dazs sex shoppe of life, vanilla will never be her favourite flavour.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u2019s\u00a0The 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.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– The Toronto Star<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cAmbur 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.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– The National Post<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cAmbur Braid\u2019s Konstanze met the challenges of her role in an unexpected way.\u00a0 There\u2019s the big aria \u201cMartern aller Arten\u201d for example, where one sometimes sees a singer gamely struggle.\u00a0 Not only did Braid make it look easy (although\u00a0 we should also credit conductor David Fallis in the pit for supporting his singers so perfectly that they\u2019re easy to hear), but of course Pynkoski & Zingg make this hysterically funny.\u00a0 I won\u2019t say how.\u00a0 Sometimes we\u2019re watching overdone romance, a young woman in tears for her missing BF, sometimes we\u2019re watching her defy her scary captors.\u00a0 It\u2019s wonderfully funny, owing much to Braid\u2019s comic gift, which we saw amply displayed last year in Die Fledermaus.\u00a0 Yes Braid can sing, but she\u2019s very smart and never dull.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– Barczablog.com<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThere 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.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– The Toronto Star<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cAmbur Braid was our Vitellia, communicating malice with intense acting and a steely, tight vibrato. She cross-pollinated coloratura with verismo in Act 1; Non pi\u00f9 di fiori, in Act 2, was nothing less than a mad scene. I must say this raven-haired Canadian does wicked rather well.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– The National Post<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stand out has to be Ambur Braid\u2019s Vitellia.\u00a0 She was so inside the character it was scary.\u00a0 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 \u201cin the moment.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– Operaramblings.com<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Vitellia is Ambur Braid \u2013 an extraordinarily versatile singer who seems able to turn her voice to anything.\u00a0 Well who knows?\u00a0 But the Vitellia displayed vocal beauty and technical assurance in abundance, as well as another fiery theatrical presence.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– Brian Dickie<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Top Ten Theatre Artists of 2012<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who thinks opera singers are all voice and no drama hasn\u2019t seen Braid\u2019s work with the Canadian Opera Company. A member of the COC\u2019s Ensemble Studio, she sang in The Tales Of Hoffmann and wowed viewers in the Ensemble\u2019s performance of Handel\u2019s Semele, giving a tragic turn to the title character; she depicted Semele\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– NOW Magazine<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cAmbur Braid drops her maid\u2019s gear to emerge in finery as the best Adele ever: sexy, sparky, sensational.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– Toronto Star<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201c..(the) maid Adele as portrayed by Ambur Braid.\u00a0 I\u2019d been expecting to enjoy this portrayal, but was not prepared for how fully she inhabited the maid- who- becomes \u2013Olga.\u00a0 While I\u2019d 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.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– Barczablog<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cShe 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.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– The Walrus Magazine<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe performances are superb. Braid\u2019s Amore is characterful and spontaneous in voice and presence.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

– NOW Magazine<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 “But it was Ambur Braid’s show, and her ferocious Katerina may very well be the thing that catapults her into stardom…It’s a joy to hear the role sung by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amburbraid.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amburbraid.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amburbraid.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amburbraid.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amburbraid.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/amburbraid.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13647,"href":"https:\/\/amburbraid.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions\/13647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amburbraid.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}