ANGELS IN AMERICA
New York City Opera
"The most distinctive scenes are those involving the titular Angel (Kirsten Chambers)....these passages are heralding and cataclysmic. Chambers drove home the celestial import with her arresting, gleaming soprano, also adding an insouciant touch of self-mocking at her own vocal pyrotechnics."
- Joshua Rosenblum, Opera News
"Kirsten Chambers was compelling in the Angel’s Straussian dramatic soprano explosions, and she looked like Karita Mattila in a flowing white trouser suit by Kaye Voyce."
- Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal
"Kirsten Chambers flung out the high-lying declamation of the Angel with easy aplomb, and, in one of the production’s few moments of wit, does a striking visual imitation of the young Karita Mattila. (Man, could we have used a diva with that kind of pizzazz back in the dark days of 1985!)"
- James Jorden, New York Observer
"The most naturally operatic character in the play is the eccentric angel who appears to Prior, and Kirsten Chambers digs into her swooping, penetrating pronouncements."
- Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times
"Kirsten Chambers, all in white, sings brightly, even exquisitely, with a perfect fusion of purity and passion."
- Martin Bernheimer, Financial Times
"And as The Angel, Chambers (who recently made her Met debut as Salome) brought much charisma to a tricky, symbol-spouting character—I found myself appreciating her acting chops even more than her hefty soprano."
- Joel Rozen, Parterre Box
"Kirsten Chambers sported a soprano of blinding power and searing brightness as the angel, a cigarette-smoking, blazing beacon of celestial sensuality."
- Eric C. Simpson, New York Classical Review
"The two standouts vocally of the night were by far Kirsten Chambers and Sarah Beckham-Turner. While Chambers does not really enter the scene until the end of act one and throughout the second act, her voice resonated throughout. Eötvös gives the Angel long lines and extended high notes that allow audiences to truly appreciate Chambers’ powerful dramatic soprano. Moreover, she was also forced to show her superb florid runs near the end of the first act and at the beginning of the second act. As an actress Chambers was physical, moving whimsically at the beginning, moving to the bed and flirting with Andrew Garland’s Prior and at one point opening her legs in very sexual ways."
- Francisco Salazar, Operawire
“Kirsten Chambers radiates sexiness and confidence as the Angel herself.”
- David Gordon, TheaterMania
“And then there's the Angel herself, sung robustly (and with unnecessary amplification) by Kirsten Chambers. Looking like a younger Karita Mattila, Ms. Chambers is a powerful presence. Her first vocal entry in Act One is powerful.”
- Paul Pelkonen, Superconductor