1997 AIDA: "Maria Pellegrini sang well and brought great sensetivity to the role. Her voice was beautiful in the lower register but the full lyric voice was also stunning and dramatic when appropriate. Her artistry could be most appreciated during her aria 'O patria mia'."

 

OTTAWA CITIZEN

 

1997 AIDA: "Maria Pellegrini invests in the role with credible dramatic intensity by sensitively underscoring the despair and lackluster disposition of a defeated heroine. Where many Aidas would emote by ranting and bellowing, Pellegrini belies fragility."

 

OTTAWA X PRESS

 

1996 MADAMA BUTTERFLY: Maria Pellegrini all but owns the title role nowadays... she really was superb. In addition to her convincing portrayal of the young geisha, she has the ability to refrain from overwhelming the rest of the cast. Her big numbers Un bel di, and Tu! Tu! Piccolo Iddio are among the glories of the dramatic soprano repertoire...Pellegrini sings them like a Butterfly rather than a Brunhilde."

OTTAWA CITIZEN

 

 

1995 LA TRAVIATA: "Maria Pellegrini illuminated the Lyric Opera... to a packed house and a heartfelt standing ovation. Her performance as Violetta was a perfect combination of grace and humility, fitting the part with not only the beauty of her incredible voice, but also with her impressive ability as an actress... The Baltimore Times would like to salute Maria Pellegrini for a magnificent performance in Baltimore."

 

THE BALTIMORE TIMES,USA

1993 OTELLO:"Maria Pellegrini was dramatically and vocally subservient as Desdemona...she projected the quietly intense line and upward reach of the music with chilling effect."

1992 LA TRAVIATA: "As Violetta, Maria Pellegrini sang a role for which she was born... Hers was a grand, gut-wrenching performance in the tradition of Callas and Stratas."

OPERA CANADA

 

1991 TRAVIATA: "As Violetta soprano Maria Pellegrini displayed radiant vocal fireworks throughout, with a voice that exploaded in moments of passion. Her hopeless love for Alfredo Germont was revealed in countless gestures and statements that bore the sting of realism."

 

THE TRIBUNE, BUFFALO, USA

1990 TURANDOT: Liu, petite Maria Pellegrini spun a properly Italianate line, capturing the audiences heart in Tu Che di gel sei cinta."

THE TRIBUNE, BUFFALO, USA

 

1989 MADAMA BUTTERFLY: "Thursday night I heard what I can only describe as 'the total Cio-Cio-San'...Miss Pellegrini looks the part of the petite Cio-Cio-San, she acts the role to perfection, and the voice meets the challenge of the soaring Puccinian line. TO FALL BACK on that cliche of cliches, Maria Pellegrini IS Cio-Cio-San. She pulls us into the spirit of this bewitching, childlike, most beloved of Oriental heroines. Most of all she, conveys so poignantly the absolute vulnerability of the dainty geisha. Combine this with a voice that soars to the climactic high D flat (on her first act entrance) that still thrills with just the memory of it, and some idea is gathered of Miss Pellegrini's entrancing Cio-Cio-San."

 

PORTLAND, OREGON, USA

LA TRAVIATA: "Miss Pellegrini sang with a mellisonant cadence and acted with a dramatic power that sometimes seemed to stun her audience. At the end of several of Pellegrini’s superb coloratura passages the audience remained mute and immobile, precipitating for a second or so a pin drop silence, and then like water bursting through a dam, suddenly shaking the walls of the theatre with applause and cheers... Pellegrini’s voice is sweet, smooth and liquid, suggesting vocal cords that are soaked in nectarous juices. "

TORONTO STAR, CANADA

 

LA BOHEME: "The delightful Maria Pellegrini has a fine resplendent voice which matched Pavarotti like cream to coffee"

LONDON TIMES, ENGLAND