Tatiana Troyanos had an instantly recognisable, beautiful mezzo voice which was both high-reaching but also dark and smoky in timbre. She was a very flexible singer, equally capable whether singing dramatic Wagner roles (Kundry, Venus) or bel canto (Adalgisa, Giovanna Seymour), where she was able to demonstrate all the agility demanded, as well as the necessary range (one can't help noticing in her recording of Norma opposite Renata Scotto that she is considerably more comfortable in the high tessitura of the duets than Scotto herself). She also sang French roles, including Carmen and Charlotte, and Mozart (Cherubino, Sesto, Dorabella). The only slight critism one might make of her is that her tone was a little unvaried in terms of colour, but her one colour was so much better than most other people's entire spectrum that it seems nit-picking to point it out.

Strauss's composer was a role she felt a special affinity for, and she recorded it three times, twice on disc for Solti and B�hm, and once on video under James Levine. Although it is not really a mezzo role, she is one of the few mezzos who do the role justice, portraying an ardent character while the voice remains at ease right up to the climaxes of the role. Troyanos's Strauss roles also included Octavian and Clairon, both of which are available on CD.