Don Giovanni/The Royal Opera House
Rachel Willis-Sørensen, as Donna Anna, never sounds vocally stretched (as can sometimes happen with this role) and is as lyrical as she is luminous.
Opera Today
“Rachel Willis-Sørensen was a revelation as Donna Anna, [we last saw her as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier], she sang with a lovely brightly flexible voice which gave a clear indication of her lyric background, but she added a firm almost steely core (perhaps more silver than steel) to create a real dramatic firmness to the voice. It is a long time since I have heard Donna Anna’s Act One aria sung so well and with such a dramatic element to it. This was quite a cool Donna Anna, but then the production makes her complicit from the start, but Willis-Sørensen also erupted wonderfully with the moments of anger when considering the death of her father. And her Act Two aria was finely controlled, yet rather moving.”
“Rachel Willis-Sørensen was a knockout as Donna Anna, her scorching top notes fired off with laser-like intensity in ‘Or sai chi l’onore’ and delivering a ‘Non mi dir’ full of pathos.”
Mark Pullinger – Opera Magazine
“Willis-Sørensen’s lowest register is resplendent and commanding; painting in viscous detail Donna Anna’s willfulness and independence. Tenderness percolates her plea to fiancé Don Ottavio “Crudele? Ah no, mio bene!” and her rendition of “Non mi dir” is a well-measured balance between indignant attacks that recall her experience with Don Giovanni and the soothing, slow diminuendi she uses to placate her lover. At its most potent and secure, Willis-Sørensen’s voice sounds almost Wagnerian; even, in moments, it reminds one of Kirsten Flagstad.”
-Sophia Lambton – Operawire
“On the distaff side honours are stolen by Rachel Willis-Sørensen, a soprano who’s been in outstanding voice this summer both here and as Glyndebourne’s Marschallin. Her incarnation of Donna Anna is profoundly intense and lyrical, and her account of “Non mi dir” is probably the evening’s high point.”
Mark Valencia – Whats On Stage