Gretel in HANSEL AND GRETEL - Metropolitan Opera, New York, December 2014
The Met assembled a strong ensemble of singers for the revival. Aleksandra Kurzak sang and acted Gretel as a strong-willed and resourceful girl with her clear and penetrating soprano. Her English diction was excellent and every word was intelligible.
bachtrack.com - Ako Imamura
Her Gretel was the soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, a veteran of this production whose slender tone has lately gotten subtly fuller, her range’s center of gravity lower. The colors of their voices are similar enough that the great “Evening Prayer” duet was more like a mirror than a blend. Their chemistry delightful, Ms. Rice and Ms. Kurzak danced, crept and cowered with ease, radiating sweetness without ever tipping over into sentimentality.
New York Times - Zachary Woolfe
Mezzo-soprano Christine Rice and soprano Aleksandra Kurzak are the leads, and they clearly appreciate the chance to be, well, childish on the operatic stage. They express the impatience, self-involvement and wonderment of the characters without condescending to the roles or pandering to the audience.
New York Classical Review – George Grella