“There is not a weak link among the soloists and it seems that each and every one of the eight Valkyries could have taken on any of the main female roles. The first of them to be heard, Elizabeth Stannard’s Gerhilde, displays a glorious voice.”
Göran Forsling
MusicWeb International
____________________
“As Ariadne, Elizabeth Stannard’s performance was simple and understated, providing a much-needed respite from the over dramatic caricatures of the prologue. Stannard caressed her phrases and her character with a beautiful lyrical legato.”
Olympia Bowman-Derrick
Australian Stage Review
____________________
“Elizabeth Stannard was a glorious Ariadne, with all the dignity, expansive sound and Straussian style you could hope for, not to mention an excellent sense of pacing, which allowed her to start strong and finish even stronger: a convincing journey to divine bliss.”
Sarah Noble
Prima la Musica
____________________
“The greatest triumph of opening night belonged, however, to our Fidelio. Nicole Youl, Gasteen’s replacement in the role, having succumbed to a malady of her own, we heard instead rising Australian-Canadian dramatic soprano Elizabeth Stannard. Not only was Stannard making a début in a massively difficult role, she was doing so at extraordinarily short notice, a prior commitment having meant she was unable to join the cast until just the previous day. If she felt herself thrown in at the deep end, it didn’t show. Stannard’s attentive, if slightly (and understandably) awkward stage presence was impressive given her lack of rehearsal, and she sang with confident, expressive artistry, her facility with the role’s challenging runs and wide tessitura easily compensating for a slight lack of heft. It was a significant success by any standards: Stannard’s performance would have done her credit even had she been cast in the show from start.”
Sarah Noble
The Opera Critic
____________________
“The Stannard story in this context is remarkable: although she has covered the role – in Canada – she has not performed it. As if that were not enough, she has been in Melbourne singing Ariadne (auf Naxos) and could not even come to Sydney until Tuesday. She was at the general rehearsal on Wednesday, and after a nervous, tight-throated, first ten minutes on Thursday evening, she sang and acted the role as if it were hers and did not put a foot or note wrong all evening. Talk about drama. And courage.”
Diana Simmonds
Stage Noise
____________________
“Canadian tenor John Mac Master showed off the power, control and emotive capacity of his voice as Bacchus. He was perfectly matched by his Ariadne, soprano Elizabeth Stannard: the force and beauty of her delivery was almost Wagnerian.”
Patricia Maunder
Arts Hub
____________________