"The production’s “poor, pale Rusalka” was soprano Emily Birsan in a captivating role debut. The famous “Song to the Moon” revealed the soprano’s lovely lyric instrument and aptitude for intelligent phrasing straightaway; but it was in her anguished narrative “Ó marno,...

"The strong cast was headed by Daniel Montenegro, who exhibited a plangent tenor, as the young aristocratic Luis. He was also a gifted, natural actor and didn’t seem challenged in the least by all the spoken dialogue he had to deliver." -Opera News

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"If any further proof were needed that Des Moines Metro Opera is at the forefront of operatic excellence in America, their theatrically searing, musically impeccable Wozzeck would cement this assertion. I am happy to report that although I have only ever seen good prod...

“Corey Bix sang the role of the Captain, Wozzeck’s corpulent superior who constantly berates him. Bix’s tenor voice soared through Berg’s complex score, traversing an insanely wide vocal range as he jumped from dark low tones to brassy high notes. His performance of th...

"He might have stolen the show, except that he had a serious challenge from Craig Irvin, whose Valentin evinced a soldier’s strength and assuredness throughout. The vocal and emotional power of Irvin’s death scene in Act IV was wall-shaking. It was a shame he didn’t ge...

"The delightful Susanne Mentzer was Grandmother Buryjovka, the retired mill owner who occasionally hit the offending not-so-gentle man with her purse."

-Broadway World

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"Conductor Robert Wood have created a wholly original interpretation of Costello’s quixotic exploration of love in all its facets: raw, wanting, hurting, grasping, embracing, soaring, sorrowing...Musically delightful and demanding, the cast and orchestra unite soul dee...

"Director Tara Faircloth used the supporting cast to advantage in a production that was at once fairly conventional — set around the time the opera was written, in the early 20th century — and quietly inventive, particularly in its use of the backstage area in Act II,...

"Oh my. Let’s start with Carmen herself, sung with mesmerizing command by mezzo-soprano Audrey Babcock. One has to wonder what on earth Babcock would have done with her life if she hadn’t found opera and if Bizet hadn’t written this role for her. She is so perfectly su...

"While this comic opera in two acts provided plenty of laughs, Corigliano’s score was sensational: Its color, intensity and clarity without sacrificing volume; how it slithered, thundered, or wailed for effect; or how effortlessly it moved from 18th-century style to Ha...