“Ailyn Pérez made her belated Lyric Opera of Chicago debut at this concert. On the basis of one act of her Violetta, one can only hope that she returns frequently.
Her voice’s many colors were expertly employed in the service of the dramatic situation. Has “Dite alla giovine” ever been sung that softly, with such an angelic glow of altruism? Pérez’s pain-choked chest tones as Violetta orders Annina to deliver a letter of surrender to the baron were almost Callas-like in their darkness. And few other sopranos would have been willing to break the flow of Violetta’s last line of the first scene as a means of communicating her desperation…
Each singer then took a solo turn, displaying a different virtue: silkiness for Spyres in “Salut, demeure” from Faust, charisma for Domingo in Gérard’s monologue from Andrea Chenier, and luster for Pérez in “Io son l’umile ancella” from Adriana Lecouvreur.”
John Y. Lawrence – Chicago Classical Review
“That night marked the debut in the opera house of Ailyn Pérez, who fascinated the audience as Violetta in the first part of the program that introduced the second act of Verdi’s “La Traviata” as much as her interpretation almost at the end with “Estrellita” by Mexican composer Manuel Ponce.”
{Esa noche marcó el debut en dicha casa operística de Ailyn Pérez, quien fascinó a la audiencia tanto como Violetta en la primera parte del programa que presentó el segundo acto de “La Traviata” de Verdi y con su interpretación casi al cierre del programa de “Estrellita” del compositor mexicano Manuel Ponce.}
Gisela Orozco – Hoy