PRESS

 

“Valdes’ Elvira becomes a force of nature: a woman who periodically gives the plot a crucial push. She effortlessly directs attention her way, mastering deeply affecting arias (“Mi tradì quell’alma ingrata” stood out to me).”

 

–C.C. Lilford, Cultural Voice of North Carolina 7/19/2025

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"The showstopper is the final section, the buoyant, joyful “Alleluia,” which is a tour-de-force for soprano. According to musicologist Stanley Sadie, it was written as the young composer was showing his “high spirits at the time he wrote it and of the elation and confidence that his opera-house success had brought him.” Valdes joyfully took on the task of flights of vocal virtuosity, including a high C at the end. The crowd demonstrated its appreciation in a long, enthusiastic ovation.”

 

–Timothy Lindeman, Cultural Voice of North Carolina 5/20/2025

 

“Her voice is marked by the absence of the sort of humanizing undercurrents that are normally apparent in a performer. The usual sharp intakes of breath and waverings on the tail end of sustained pitches and other inflections that typify even the most capable opera singers are nowhere to be found in Valdes’ delivery. In their place is a disarmingly robust tone that seems to come from some outer dimension where breath support is not required.  And her soaring tones
remain just as vibrant on the back end as the front. Most vocalists are content to be soulful, but Valdes reaches for the superhuman.”

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–Jordan Owen, ArtsATL,

10/11/24

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“Valdes’s soprano was warm and was easily up to any challenges the libretto and music provided.”

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–William Ford, Earrelevant,

4/3/23

 

“Her voice, lyrical and hopeful, deals nimbly with some challenging scoring, and she soars to the top of her compass for a heartfelt “I miss you my dearest, and love you so very much.”
 

–Melinda Bargreen, Earrelevant,

1/10/22

 

"As Young Alyce, Maria Valdes was a vision of Fifties-style domesticity, all lovely and soft with the innocence and charm of Debbie Reynolds singing "Tammy." Cipullo has a penchant for long, sustained high notes, and Valdes floated them effortlessly. She was the vocal and dramatic counter to the high-octane characters, the embodiment of what might have been."

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-Rick Perdian, Classical Voice America, 7/31/21 

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"Valdes made a bright-toned, eloquent Euridice - enough to make a listener wish her assignment were larger."

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-Joshua Kosman, The San Francisco Chronicle, 8/5/19

 

“The soprano Maria Valdes has already proven herself in more modern fare; she was a standout this past January in New York City Opera’s mariachi opera ‘Cruzar la Cara de la Luna.’ Here she was a first-rate singing actress and a perfectly charming Gilda.”

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-Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, 9/31/18

 

“Valdes seems on her way to the otherworldly realm of stardom.”

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-Jessica Balik, San Francisco Classical Voice, 9/26/17

 

"Soprano Maria Valdes used her silvery tone, glassily-smooth dynamics, and fine-caliber dynamics."

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-Steven Winn, San Francisco Classical Voice, 12/14/15