“Blythe Gaissert was a dignified, vocally assured Dido, who contributed some stylish onamentation and sang her closing Lament movingly.”
-The NY Times, Allan Kozinn
The cast is strong, with Blythe Gaisserts eloquent Lucretia........
-The London Guardian
......Blythe Gaissert sung and acted superbly Lucretia.....
-Norfolk News
Blythe Gaissert fused dignity and sensuality in her Lucretia.........
-London Times on Line
Blythe Gaissert, in the title role, becomes the flamboyant Gypsy in every respect. Her vibrant, clear mezzo embodies the aggressive sexuality so essential to opera's femme fatale par excellence.
In the opening act her Habanera clearly sets the tone of erotic abandon, and with the Seguidilla she charms her way out of captivity with a steamy sensuality and physical magnetism.
-Albuquerque Journal
“Blythe Gaissert as Lucretia on the other hand gave a vivid and memorable account of the role. She has a commanding stage presence and made the dramatic transition from assured, in-control mistress of the house to unhinged rape victim in a series of deft stages. Her mezzo has warmth and polish, but also a touch of flint: I enjoyed especially her
articulation of the lower-lying passages (in a role made famous for ever by her illustrious
predecessor Kathleen Ferrier). Her monotone low B to the words "If it were all adream/Then waking would be less a nightmare" was chillingly effective in the scene leading up to her suicide: in this production with the help of Collatinus's pistol rather than with a knife....
- Musical Criticism
The cannibalism aria of mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert whetted our appetite too with her
soft-edged voice.
-The SFist Philistine (about Transformations)
Blythe Gaissert, in the trouser role of Annio
from Mozart's "La Clemenza di Tito," was
warmly compelling.
-San Francisco Chronicle
Mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert was impossible to ignore as the headstrong Mother Marie. She has a pure, powerful and appealing voice and a forceful stage presence to match.
- Denver Post
