OPERA WIRE

“Kezia Bienek takes the title role. Her instrument is effulgent, with just enough bite to show that it’s her who calls the shots; her vibrato is warm and narrow enough for great clarity of intonation and phrasing, especially in her sinuous singing at Don José in Act One. Low notes gleamed darkly, such as in a burnished ‘la mort’ in the card trio.”

OPERA TODAY

“Kezia Bienek fully inhabited the title role. Hers was a Carmen, quite rightly, not inclined to take any prisoners, yet far from one dimensional. Vocal delivery was well centred on the text as a whole and stage presence fitted the bill splendidly throughout.”

THE TIMES

“Kezia Bienek, who sang pleasantly enough (if with a heavy vibrato) but who seemed emotionally detached from her own opera. It was impossible to imagine this aloof figure getting involved in a factory brawl.”

MUSIC OMD

“Kezia Bienek’s portrayal is excellent as, with her engaging mezzo soprano that is as alluring as it is secure, she laces the central image of an icy cold seductress, who knows she does not actually have to try in order to ensnare men, with so many other emotions.”

THE STAGE

“Where Stinton’s rethink leaves its strongest impressions is not only in Bienek’s finely tuned, thoughtfully sung account of the iconic role, delivered without vocal roughness or dramatic cliché.”

THE GUARDIAN

“Kezia Bienek is a charismatic Carmen at the mercy of Don José’s obsessive control in Cecilia Stinton’s cogent and pacey new production. Bienek’s charismatic, incisive sounding Carmen shines.”

THE TELEGRAPH

“Striding about the stage, Kezia Bienek is all about power, rather than sex. Her Habanera is less a come on than a lead on, a musical game at the expense of the men who surround her. Bienek’s Carmen commands the stage. Wary and cool in her movements, her even toned mezzo does the seducing, showing some heat in the Seguidilla, but at its best in the sterner lines of the ‘card aria’, En vain pour éviter.”