What people say in the blogs
ROH La sonnambula
November, 2011

...‘Ah! non giunge’ was spectacularly presented in vocal terms.

...it is hard to think of anyone better equipped for the role than the Cuban-American soprano Eglise Gutierrez. Her high notes are perfectly pitched and her trills are joyously exciting. This was sleep-warbling of a very high character.

...She produced plenty of trills and flourishes when required while keeping to the purity of Bellini's vocal line at all times: it was a superb vocal performance.

...the soprano, Eglise Gutiérrez, is enchanting as the sleep-walker Amina and has a mellifluous, bel canto voice, but there is no doubting the stars of this production.

...Amina is Gutiérrez’s third role at The Royal Opera, having previously sung La Fée in Cendrillon and the title role in Linda di Chamounix. Nothing however prepared us for what was an astonishing performance, as Gutiérrez bewitched the audience with the sort of singing that is all but extinct today. From the moment she sang her exquisite entrance aria “Care compagne.....Come per me sereno”, the audience knew it was in for something special and responded in kind. Chief amongst her many attributes is the haunting way in which her voice, often accompanied by little more than a selection of strings (as is in the “Ah! Non credea mirarti”), can create the illusion of everything winding down, stopping still even, as she caresses the vocal line with delicacy and tenderness. This is a singer who knows the secret of Bellini’s music – its timeless, intricate melodies that should, when sung so beautifully, leave you moved and amazed in equal proportions.

...Hers was a personal triumph, of brilliant vocalism over the constraints of a diabolical production and mediocre accompaniment by the orchestra. I daresay Covent Garden hasn’t heard such a luxurious coloratura soprano for many years.

classicalsource.com (La sonnambula ROH November, 2011)

As the somnambulist of the title, Amina, the Cuban-American soprano Eglise Gutiérrez is superb. She has a lovely voice, a considerable technical command and the ability to knock off electrifying notes above the stave. ...‘Ah! non credea mirarti’ was very touching and ‘Ah! non giunge’ suitably brilliant.

Express.co.uk (La sonnambula, November 2011)

The late Dame Joan Sutherland displayed an outstanding mastery of this style, and indeed La Sonnambula was one of the roles with which she was most closely identified. Of the current generation, however, it is hard to think of anyone better equipped for the role than the Cuban-American soprano Eglise Gutierrez. Her high notes are perfectly pitched and her trills are joyously exciting. This was sleep-warbling of a very high character.

The Guardian (La sonnambula November, 2011)

Eglise Gutiérrez, the Cuban-American soprano, makes a sensational Amina, dispatching her roller-coaster solos with ease and genuine charm.

FT, La sonnambula ROH

...dreamily beautiful.

Opera Britannia
La sonnambula: The Royal Opera, 2nd November 2011

Opera Britannia, La sonnambula: The Royal Opera, 2nd November 2011
Amina is Gutiérrez’s third role at The Royal Opera, having previously sung La Fée in Cendrillon and the title role in Linda di Chamounix. Nothing however prepared us for what was an astonishing performance, as Gutiérrez bewitched the audience with the sort of singing that is all but extinct today. From the moment she sang her exquisite entrance aria “Care compagne.....Come per me sereno”, the audience knew it was in for something special and responded in kind. Chief amongst her many attributes is the haunting way in which her voice, often accompanied by little more than a selection of strings (as is in the “Ah! Non credea mirarti”), can create the illusion of everything winding down, stopping still even, as she caresses the vocal line with delicacy and tenderness. This is a singer who knows the secret of Bellini’s music – its timeless, intricate melodies that should, when sung so beautifully, leave you moved and amazed in equal proportions. Hers was a personal triumph, of brilliant vocalism over the constraints of a diabolical production and mediocre accompaniment by the orchestra. I daresay Covent Garden hasn’t heard such a luxurious coloratura soprano for many years. It’s a plush voice, used with panache and some real old-fashioned glamour – think Lina Pagliughi meets Maria Cebotari. The middle is rich, dark and velvety, whilst the top is silvery and glinting. Her trills are probably unrivalled today, whilst her acuti were all expertly placed, no matter how altitudinous. The top F with which she capped her brilliant rondo finale “Ah! non giunge” was simply astounding. What sets her apart from other coloratura sopranos today is her finely judged legato and feeling for the music. This is not a singer who smudges the vocal line, breaks phrases at inappropriate moments, or indulges in cheap vocal tricks designed to throw you off the scent of a deficient technique. There is integrity in the singing and a real feel for the expressivity of Bellini’s vocal line. It is a moderately-sized voice capable of refined, hushed singing and then, when it’s called for, a real punch in altissimo. Now that we have a soprano who can uphold the grand bel canto tradition, perhaps Covent Garden can be persuaded to offer her Lucia, Elvira in I Puritani, Semiramide or even Beatrice di Tenda?

Flawlessly delivered sugary decoration...

Opera News
George Hall
October, 2011
Cendrillon, ROH London

Eglise Gutiérrez also confirmed her rising position among the world's sopranos possessing coloratura facility. Light and Silvery in tone, she dusted the score with flawlessly delivered sugary decoration, waving her wand with a will.

"The finest since Callas."

Classical-music.com; BBC Music Magazine
Dynamic 33616 DVD La sonnambula

This performance of Bellini’s lovely opera from Sardinia has a superb Amina in Eglise Gutierrez, the finest since Callas...

Linda di Chamounix--some of the composer’s most refined and melancholic music
Financial Times

Mark Elder conducts a characteristically stylish performance. Eglise Gutiérrez has the musicality to impress in the title role, and Stephen Costello makes an attractive Carlo – a valuable addition to Opera Rara’s Italian series. (CD of Linda di Chamounix, issued by Opera Rara.)

The New York Times (Cendrillon ROH July 9, 2011)

George Loomis

The soprano Eglise Gutiérrez brought gleaming high notes and regal bearing to the role of the fairy godmother...

The Wall Street Journal (Cendrillon ROH July, 2011)

Cuban-American soprano Eglise Gutiérrez as the Fairy Godmother stood out—the first for her booming bottom notes, the second for her on-the-money top notes.

"Seductively glittering"
(Cendrillon, ROH Covent Garden July 5, 2011)

The Telegraph

Eglise Gutiérrez makes a seductively glittering fairy benefactress.

The Guardian (Cendrillon ROH July 5, 2001)

Eglise Gutiérrez has all the diamond high notes for the Fairy Godmother...

"PANACHE!"
(La Fée in Cendrillon at the Opéra Comique)

Opera News
Stephen J. Mudge
June, 2011

"a full-bodied dramatic coloratura, with an exotic presence and vocal panache."

Brava Diva!
DVD of La Sonnambula issued 2011

Opera News
David Shengold
June, 2011

a "remarkable feat of singing beyond the capabilities (past, present or future) of most of the sopranos the Met has been entrusting with bel canto roles. Furthermore, Gutiérrez is a lovely and appealing young woman, utterly sincere as the hapless somnambulist. The great final scena is both movingly and triumphantly sung. Brava Diva!"

"Left the audience gasping."

Georgia Straight
December 6, 2010

Here is a singer blessed with a sumptuous, velvet soprano, matched by effortless control and flexibility. Guttiérez delivered more than fluid, pitch-perfect vocal acrobatics: her Lucia was a portrait of a tremulous, sensitive creature pushed to her breaking point by grief, the increasingly florid lines of her coloratura marking her loosening grasp on reality in the famed mad scene. This she filled with such raw human emotion that it left the audience gasping.

Mad about Lucia

Vancouver Sun
December 5, 2010

The great bel canto operas are the property of vocal stars who can make them live, and force audiences to see beyond their stylized conventions. Eglise Gutiérrez is just such a star, and her Lucia is old school opera at its most powerful.

I puritani, Teatro real de Madrid

El Imparcial, Madrid
April-May, 2010

...Y la joven soprano cubana Eglise Gutiérrez, de quien ya se dice que es una estrella emergente en el panorama lírico internacional, supo darle el carácter que requiere el papel que Bellini creó pensando en María Malibrán y brilló, ella sí, con su gran calidad vocal e interpretativa, una seguridad en el escenario que le hizo merecedora de los aplausos más numerosos de la noche por parte de un público, el del Real, ante el que se presentaba por primera vez.

OPERA NEWS Online:
Lucia di Lammermoor, Florida Grand Opera, 1/23/10

OPERA NEWS Online
Robert Carreras

Cuban–American soprano Eglise Gutiérrez, FGO's Lucia, is fast rising to the upper echelon of bel canto sopranos. As Lucia, Gutiérrez offered liquid phrasing of difficult passages, easy production of pianissimos, note-perfect acuti and passionate communication of text.

“Bel Canto Gala” concert in San Juan

Puerto Rico Daily Sun

Gutiérrez thrilled the assemblage with her rendition of “Qui la voce …vien diletto” with the aria-cabaletta format which showed her vocal talents at their best... In Jules Massenet’s “Manon,” Gutiérrez presented an exquisite rendition of “Je Marche sur Tous les Chemins...”

"Florida Grand Opera's
Eglise Gutiérrez lifts 'Lucia di Lammermoor ' to modern heights"

South Florida Classical Review / The Miami Herald

...musically the performance at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami was on a high level, with a stellar vocal performance by the Cuban-American soprano Eglise Gutiérrez.
For sopranos, the role of Lucia is what Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto is for pianists. And Gutiérrez clearly had the technique to cope with the role's runs, trills and other ornamentations...
...she conceived the role as much more than an icy exercise in coloratura, and her rich, gleaming voice brought heft and depth to the role.
In the first act, when she sings of her love for Edgardo, her lyric approach paid off with a Quando rapito in estasi that sounded sweeter and less flashy than many other performances.

"Lucia di Lammermoor soars," Florida Grand Opera, 1-25-2010

Sun-Sentinel

Can the human voice box actually issue the soaring trills that Eglise Gutierrez emits in the Florida Grand Opera's production of Lucia di Lammermoor?
Composer Gaetano Donizetti allowed long stretches without accompaniment in the famed third act showstopper so that sopranos could adapt the aria to show off their inventiveness and vocal agility like Ella improvising a scat number.
Gutierrez takes him up on the offer. Set amid murder, madness and a blood-stained wedding dress, Gutierrez's voice swells, ebbs and performs more loop-the-loops than any rollercoaster at Busch Gardens.
But her pyrotechnics are organic expressions of Lucia's emotions rather than irrelevant demonstrations of her virtuosity.
...the Cuban-American singer, whose local debut in last year's La traviata impressed patrons, is thrilling to hear. She is equally memorable in her seamless runs during the first act as she retells an ominous legend and pledges fidelity to her true love.

La Traviata, Seattle Opera 10/17, 18/09

Opera News

... vocally consistent Eglise Gutiérrez, an amazingly rich-voiced lyric coloratura with a Caballé-like darkness in middle and low registers that hauntingly expressed Violetta's pathos. Gutiérrez capped an in-key, brillante "Sempre libera" with an interpolated high E-flat and a molten "Addio del passato" with a breathtaking crescendo and diminuendo on a held high A.

Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden
"Linda di Chamounix"
Opera Magazine
Andrew Porter
November 2009

...it introduced the remarkable Cuban-American soprano Eglise Gutiérrez, who was captivating.

RAVINIA — "Rigoletto", Ravinia Festival, 8/15/09

Opera News

Most enjoyable of all was the Gilda of Eglise Gutiérrez. Gutiérrez possesses a lovely lyric soprano, graced with notable warmth and body, and plenty of creamily-rounded tone in the middle register. "Caro nome" was enchanting, with trills absolutely in place, and her delicately floated top commanded attention even when Ravinia's notorious train flew noisily by during the cadenza. She also created a credibly modest, feminine character, and was quite comely onstage in a glittering crinoline of virginal white.

Casting choices spin gold in Seattle Opera's 'Traviata'

The Seattle Times

La traviata
Seattle
October, 2009
...marshaled her lustrous soprano voice with an exceptional range of color and dynamics. The pianissimo of her "Dite alla giovine," in the duet with Germont senior that has always been my favorite number in the opera, was singing of a delicacy few sopranos are equipped to accomplish or, for that matter, brave enough to attempt

It was certainly
an exciting debut!

Linda di Chamounix
ROH Covent Garden
September 7, 2009

...we are treated to some exceptional singing. ...it was certainly an exciting debut! ...we have just heard a young soprano who will one day be judged not by her contemporaries, but by the great divas of the past.

Verdi's tuneful tragedy blazes...
Rigoletto's Gilda at Ravinia

Chicago Tribune
August, 2009

Gilda was the Cuban-American soprano Eglise Gutierrez, and she is a real find. Her attractive lyric instrument climbed easily into the soprano stratosphere where her coloratura was a marvel of poise and agility, her limpid high notes always securely placed.

A true coloratura with consistent beauty of sound across her wide range

Chicago Classical Review
August, 2009

Cuban-American soprano Eglise Gutiérrez had some heft to her voice as Gilda in her initial duet with Hvorostovsky but the two voices blended beautifully. Her Gualtier Maldè! … Caro nome revealed a true coloratura with consistent beauty of sound across her wide range and a seamless passagio that was all the more impressive because of her ability to ornament her lines so exquisitely; her trills had such variety and could accelerate and slow down at will, fading off into nothingness yet never losing their full body.

Lucia du festival de Savonlinna, July 2009

ConcertoNet.com

Cette coproduction du festival et de l’Opéra de Malmö pourtant, ne passe pas inaperçue : elle est portée par la magnifique soprano américano-cubaine Eglise Gutiérrez, l’artiste de l’année du festival, dont la Lucia avait déjà, en 2007, lors de la première présentation de la production, transporté le public. Une belle voix, d’abord, riche de couleurs dont elle fait un usage vraiment belcantiste, à l’aigu rayonnant, non sans ressources dans le médium. La technique est sûre, aussi : elle peut attaquer ses aigus pianissimo, vocaliser avec assurance, jouer sur une souffle parfaitement maîtrisé. Et elle fait de Lucia un personnage, progressivement construit, jusqu’à une scène de folie très habitée, où la cadence ne relève pas de la démonstration mais devient symptôme de l’égarement d’une conscience.

VO’s Rigoletto showcases star quality

The Vancouver Sun

Beyond a voice big enough to cut through Verdi’s robust orchestration, she has the look and presence to define the unworldly fragility of Guilda, the court jester’s sheltered daughter. Gutierrez delivers a ravishing first act “Caro nome,” and stellar work thereafter.

Contempative, Succulent and Incandescent...

Opera Now
Nov/Dec 2008
(Violetta, Cincinnati Opera)

Gutierrez's artful singing was best in monologues. 'Ah, fors'è lui' featured the bright attack, light carry and rich colour which gained in confidence throughout. Her contemplative 'Addio, del passato' was succulent, her high As incandescent.

Spectacular!

Diario las Americas
Miami, FL
(Violetta, Miami)

The great expectations...were fulfilled with her brilliant acting...[and]with the exactness with which she carried out the difficulties of the role...she took advantage of her unparalleled vocal control with pure pianissimos that faded into nothingness.

Sublime!

El Nuevo Herald
Miami, Fl
(Violetta, Miami)

Gutiérrez was sublime, secure, convincing and impeccable. Not only did the singer demonstrate her extraordinary vocal gifts and her technical domination, but exhibited a laudable maturity in her acting... Gutiérrez maintained a difficult equilibrium, which, due to her great gift was able to give an historical Traviata. The diva was in top form, as much in the coloratura of “sempre libera” as in the pianissimi of the second and third acts.

Grande tecnica per Gutierrez...

L'unione sarda
(Amina, Cagliari)

...Eglise Gutierrez-Amina, che grazie una tecnica matura arriva a condurre con eleganza variazioni di tono e fioriture. Una voce amministrata con parsimonia in tutto il primo atto, ma che poi emerge splendidamente nel finale, e che in Deh non credea mirarti regala un esempio alto di delicata tristezza e di perfetto controllo vocale.

Rennen Sie der Oper die Tür ein, es lohnt gerade...

Die Welt
(Gilda, Hamburg)

An Callejas Seite gab Eglise Gutierrez ihren umjubelten Hamburg-Einstand. Die junge Kubanerin mit ihrem ätherisch empfindsamen und dabei dennoch substanzvollen Sopran begeisterte als stilistisch lupenrein und pianissimo schimmernd zart singende Gilda.

La Traviata in Cincinnati

Opera News

...The main interest in Cincinnati Opera's sumptuous new production of La Traviata was the performance of Eglise Gutierrez, making her company and role debuts as Violetta. It was impossible to believe these were Gutierrez's first Violettas: hers was a radiantly assured interpretation that many a more seasoned soprano would envy. Her luxuriously worm soprano moved with ease through the coloratura of Act I, then adjusted to the lyric-dramatic outbursts demanded by the rest of the opera. Gutierrez's death scene would have made a stone weep. I attended all three performances of the run, and this young singer's Violetta --- already an impressive piece of work on opening night --- gained depth and commitment throughout the run.'

A Star is Born! La Traviata
July 23, 2008

Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati.com

A star was born at Cincinnati Opera on Wednesday night, and she’s a petite singer with a ravishing voice.
Expect to hear more of Eglise Gutiérrez. The Cuban-born soprano stepped in on short notice to sing the demanding role of Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata” for Cincinnati Opera, after Hei-Kyung Hong bowed out in June. In her company and role debut, Gutiérrez triumphed as the consumptive courtesan who finds and sacrifices her love, communicating from start to finish with believable passion and a gorgeous, creamy soprano.
...Gutiérrez shaped Violetta’s character with a genuine, vulnerable quality, from charming her guests as the sophisticated hostess to her anguished death scene. She sang Violetta’s searching “Ah Fors e lui” with exquisitely shaped phrases and purity of tone, and then launched into the great coloratura flights of “Sempre libera” (Always free) with effortless sparkle. Her death scene was as touching for the heartbreaking beauty of her singing, as for her believable acting.

New York Times - La sonnambula

This vibrant cast navigated Bellini’s bel canto hurdles with aplomb. Dressed at times in a wedding gown, at times in a nightdress, the Cuban-born soprano Eglise Gutiérrez offered a wonderfully nuanced portrayal of Amina, the sleepwalking bride to be. Vulnerable and sweetly innocent, she sang (often in a stratospherically high range) with graceful phrasing and dynamic control.--VIVIEN SCHWEITZER

Town Topics -Opera New Jersey Presents Striking Production of Verdi's "Rigoletto"

Nancy Plum

Especially well matched by Soprano Eglise Gutierrez singing role of his daughter Gilda. Ms.Gutierrez floated her high notes particularly well, emphasizing the breathless effects of the role's signature aria,"Caro Nome" including a clean and dramatic cadenza. Ms.Gutierrez reflective recitative in Act III, accompanied by solo oboe, was especially haunting.

Packet Online for Central Jersey- "Women may be unfaithful, but Opera New Jersey is true to its calling"

Stuart Duncan

"We also had the rare opportunity to welcome a new star to the opera world in Eglise Gutiérrez who sang the role of Gilda, Rigoletto’s doomed daughter. Her exquisite rendering of “Caro Nome” is as fine as you are likely to hear. Ms. Gutiérrez will reprise the role of Gilda later this year at Covent Garden."

Miami Herald- Ricordi Gala Concert

Lawrence A. Johnson

"Local favorite Eglise Gutierrez, who was guest artist at Orchestra Miami's debut, brought her charismatic presence and pure-toned soprano to Rossini and Verdi. Gutierrez negotiated the coloratura fireworks of Semiramide's "Bel raggio lusinghier" cleanly... ...as Gilda in Rigoletto, delivering a radiant, beautifully poised "Caro nome" and blending graciously with tenor Gregory Schmidt in the Act I duet.”

ORCHESTRA MIAMI-RICORDI OPERA GALA

Lawrence Budmen

"The musical temperature immediately rose with the entrance of soprano Eglise Gutierrez, a former Miamian with a major international career. Gutierrez spun glittering coloratura roulades in a dazzling rendition of a fiendishly difficult aria from Rossini’s Semiramide. She cast a dizzying spell with a radiantly vocalized Caro Nome from Verdi’s Rigoletto"

Finland falls for a rising star

No thin-voiced coloratura soprano, Gutiérrez has a voice of depth and creaminess but also a fine upper range (one choice high note in her first cabaletta was sung lying down), a sure way with coloratura, and a serviceable trill. She made telling use of her ability to sing softly and brought off the Mad Scene with éclat.--The Financial Times Limited 2007

Opera News-Sound Bites

Scott Barnes

"Eglise Gutierrez clearly has coloratura technique to burn. The tiny Cuban–American soprano combines her vocal acuity with an emotional presence and a Method-like ability to listen moment-to-moment that makes her an opera-lover's (and a theater-lover's) dream. Trained at Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts, she had what vocal coach Danielle Orlando calls "a memorable but rough beginning. The only apartment she could afford was terrorized by a mouse, and she fell down and broke her glasses the first week of school! Luckily, she survived to become the reigning diva of AVA for the next few years."

San Francisco Chronicle's- Santa Fe Opera "Cendrillon"

Joshua Kosman

unleashed a glistening, almost maniacal torrent of exquisitely placed sound." "At first, even though Santa Fe is a great honor, I wasn't so excited, because I thought they wanted a 'peep-peep-peep' kind of canary. But she's funny, sexy, ageless, and the boss of everything! I was in love...

Opera Today
Cendrillon at Santa Fe Opera

"The important role of Fairy Godmother, engine of the action all evening, was a big success for Cuban-born coloratura soprano Eglise Gutierrez. Her mock magical heroics on stage and her remarkable high soprano singing were assured and engaging. Cute, bosomy, delightfully costumed, with an illuminated wand and amusing gestures to control those in her spell, this was one Fairy in a million. Watch for the name, she's to be heard from. Billie Burke is envious!"

The New York Times- Meeting the Challenge in an India of Fantasy

Bernard Holland

"Ms. Queler did find us an extraordinary singer, while surrounding her, as these events usually do, with vocal competence and not a lot more. ...I cannot imagine a voice more suited to a part or a part to a voice. Ms. Gutiérrez sang the title role with pure intonation and a luxurious cushion of sound. Experiencing such softness (not to be confused with faintness) was a little like feeling high-quality cashmere. The "Bell Song" was elegant, with every hurdle gracefully cleared: Sunday's audience went wild."

Classics Today-EGLISE GUTIERREZ PURE AS A BELL IN DÉLIBES’ “LAKMÉ”

Robert Levine

"Sunday night’s performance more than equaled that starry lineup 25 years ago. Eglise Gutierrez is a Cuban-American soprano with an impeccable technique, right-on pitch, a graceful, musical sense of phrasing and clear bell-like tones, and she was as lovely in her opening vocalize and ensuing duet with her companion...She brought the house down with her Bell Song, with rock solid runs and big, secure high E flats.... New York audiences are getting to know a new star - Ms Gutierrez, specifically "

Financial Times "Maria di Rohan" at the Wexford Festival

Financial Times, November 1, 2005

"Maria does not dominate the action like Lucia or Violetta, but she comes across as one of opera's passionate anti-heroines, risking all and ending empty-handed. Eglise Gutierrez gives a spellbinding performance - magnetic in presence, vibrant in voice, with the sort of tremulous energy that reeks of conflicted emotion."

Irish Times

--Maria di Rohan, 2005
"The greatly desired countess, who gives the opera its title, is sung with touching refinement by Cuban soprano Eglise Gutiérrez;"

St.Petersburg Times- Sarasota Opera "Lakme"- A Singular Soprano

John Fleming

"For this production, the company has the singular advantage of a sensational young singer in the title role. Eglise Gutierrez, a Cuban-born soprano, gave a riveting opening-night performance that not only showed off the requisite coloratura fireworks but also passionate depth of character" Lakme's spectacular Bell Song in the second act was eagerly anticipated, and Gutierrez did not disappoint, striking the impossibly high notes with uncanny accuracy and sweetness. The shrewdly judged staging of Ira Siff kept the focus firmly on the soprano's gracefully acted Lakme, with expressive movement and stylized arm and hand gestures. For all the glory of the Lotus Blossom Duet and the Bell Song, the highlight of the evening was Gutierrez's electrifying portrayal of Lakme's sensual awakening and duet with Gerald in the woods at the end of the first act."

Opera News- Sarasota Opera "Lakme"

John Fleming

"Lakmé is sometimes dismissed as simply a singer’s opera, and Leo Delibes’s sentimental, perfumed score certainly is that. But in Sarasota Opera’s well-thought-out production (seen February 26) it emerged as a work of rare refinement. The company had the singular advantage of a sensational young singer in the title role. Eglise Gutierrez, a Cuban-born soprano, gave a riveting opening performance that showed off not only the requisite coloratura fireworks but passionate depth of character Ira Siff’s staging kept the focus firmly on Lakmé, gracefully acted by Gutierrez with stylized arm and hand gestures. Even with the admitted glories of the flower duet and the bell song, the highlight of the evening was Gutierrez’s electrifying portrayal of Lakme’s sensual awakening and duet with Gerald in the woods at the end of Act I."

Opera News- Connecticut Opera "Lucia di Lammermoor"

David Shengold

"Cuban-born Eglise Gutierrez made a thrilling local debut as Lucia. A graduating student at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts, she showed in this first American opera house engagement a hauntingly lovely, flexible lyric-coloratura with a distinctive touch of Latin resin and impressive musicality: her previous training as a guitarist clearly guides her exceptional command of phrasing and dynamics, and her staccati proved flawless. A touchingly pretty, gentle stage artist, she made Lucia’s trajectory simple and moving."