Debussy PÉLLEAS ET MÉLISANDE / Los Angeles Opera
 

"Sydney Mancasola’s Mélisande takes unusual agency. She may be a character unknowable to others, but as vibrantly sung by this versatile soprano [...], she presents a formidable strength."
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times (March 2023)

​

"Soprano Sydney Mancasola is cast as Mélisande, her dulcet tones elegiacally mesmerizing"
Victoria Looseleaf, San Francisco Classical Voice (March 2023)

"Sydney Mancasola’s Mélisande was a shining presence. A versatile soprano, her voice was the perfect instrument for the heroine’s quiet phrases and rising passion. With a naturalness of expression, she brought sweetness and clarity to her singing which focused the drama, setting in motion the ensuing twists and turns of the plot."
Jane Rosenberg, Seen and Heard International (April 2023)

​

Sydney Mancasola imbues the role with remarkable credibility as she portrays her with skill and nuance.

Victor Riobo / G. Dhalla, Indulge Magazine (March 2023)
 

Donizetti L'ELISIR D'AMORE / Opéra National De Paris

​

“Sydney Mancasola is sparkling, mischievous and lively. Every moment is a feast for the ears and eyes. The soprano twirls like an elf, full of charm and mischief and performs vocal wonders in the belcanto register.”

John-Christophe Mary, Toute La Culture (September 2021)

"Sydney Mancasola is a strong and determined Adina with the disarming ability to reach her high range with ease. The very open vowels bring intelligibility to her Italian, as do the well-timed midrange or the refined phrasing."

Tania Bracq, Forum Opera (September 2021)

Handel SEMELE / Komische Oper Berlin

​

“Sydney Mancasola shone in the title role, the whole performance building up to a bravura performance of her final air, ‘No, no, I’ll take no less/Than all in full excess!’ That full excess, alas, was to be truly hers, but was also seen and heard to characterize an exuberant performance from beginning to end.”

Mark Berry, Seen and Heard International (February 2020)

​

”The vocal set is dominated by Sydney Mancasola's performance in the title role. The American, who has gained a foothold in Europe in recent years (she was a member of the Frankfurt Opera troupe for three years) and who now flies on her own, signs a performance both stage and vocal that must be warmly saluted. Present on stage almost from beginning to end, she embodies a Semele ravaged by pride, doubt, impossible love, despair and then madness. She holds the distance vocally and strings her four consecutive arias to the III thanks to a confounding energy. She is the fire on stage out of the ashes, and closing her eyes (a feat anyway, as Kosky rivets the viewer's gaze on the stage!), we heard accents that reminded us of Daniele de Niese, who a few years ago was a magnificent Semele at the Tec. Her triumph with the public was well deserved. .”

Thierry Verger, Forum Opera (February 2020) 

​

“Mancasola communicated her ambitions clearly with a lyrical vulnerability”
Zenaida des Aubris, Bachtrack (February 2020) 

​

Mozart THE MAGIC FLUTE / Washington National Opera

“Pamina was American soprano Sydney Mancasola making her WNO debut and offering a master class in how to follow the column of sounds p and down the rigorous aria, Ach itch fühl’s…”

Whitney Fishburn, DC Metro Theater Arts (November 2019)

​

”Pamina, soprano Sydney Mancasola never sounded anything but clear as a bell and winsome as the moon rising behind her.”

Sydney Boyd, Bachtrack (November 2019)

​

”Sydney Mancasola’s Pamina brings a master class of a performance in “Ach ich fühl’s” fully using the legato lines to demonstrate the character’s sadness and allowing her voice to travel up and down fully and freely, which is not easy to do in that aria.”

Daniella Ignacio, DC Theatre Scene (November 2019)

​

”No need to go to New York this year; you can hear the same thing here in Washington. Of the three Mancasola sounded the best to me on Saturday night, singing with a rich lyric sound and considerable affect.”

Anne Midgette, The Washington Post (November 2019)

​

Missy Mazzoli BREAKING THE WAVES/ Edinburgh International Festival

​

”It’s masterful, and it’s brought to life by an extraordinarily committed cast, led by Sydney Mancasola as Bess. She’s a marvel, extracting every scintilla of possibility from her soprano voice, from euphoria to misery via delirium. This is a total tour de force, and the show is worth seeing for her alone.”

Simon Thompson, Seen and Heard International (November 2019)

Sydney Mancasola’s Bess is a compelling tour de force, encompassing every emotional extreme, forcibly dominating a cast that is equally well-served.”

Ken Walton, The Scotsman (November 2019)

​

“American soprano Sydney Mancasola gave a towering performance, barely off the stage throughout, her physical journey from vulnerable God-fearing girl through a series of increasingly dangerous on-stage sexual encounters completely wrapped up in her misplaced religious convictions.”

David Smythe, Bachtrack (November 2019)

​

“As Bess in Missy Mazzoli’s 2016 opera…Mancasola is hardly off stage and charts the descent of her character from shy Skye bride to Christ-like victim with laser-like power and desperate vulnerability. Part of you wants to shake her out of it. Most of you wants to hug her. It’s an extraordinarily gutsy performance.

Neil Fisher, The Times (November 2019)

​

”…bravely enacted by Sydney Mancasola as Bess, an excellent soprano, who gives her all in a performance of touching sincerity.”

Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph (November 2019)

​

“A top-class cast is led by the outstanding American soprano Sydney Mancasola as God-fearing Bess, febrile and loving”

Fiona Maddocks, The Guardian (November 2019)

​

”Sydney Mancasola is vocally and physically unstinting in attempting to realize the troubled figure of Bess.”

George Hall, The Stage (November 2019)

​