“At her role debut as the Countess, Ekaterina Bakanova impressed with her expressive depth. Her warm, well-projected lyric voice made the character’s bittersweet melancholy fully palpable, giving her portrayal remarkable emotional intensity.”
Paolo Bullo, OperaClick
“Ekaterina Bakanova made her role debut as the Countess Almaviva: her velvety, graceful singing highlighted the pain and disappointment of the betrayed wife, bringing the character’s emotional depth to the forefront.”
Patrizia Zamboni, OperaTeatro
“Ekaterina Bakanova brings a strong dramatic temperament to the Countess, enhancing the moments of greatest emotional pathos.”
Stefano Nardelli, Il Giornale della Musica
“Bakanova delivers a Countess of rare vocal elegance: “Porgi, amor” and “Dove sono” unfold” with intensity, control, and a refined vocal line that captivates the audience.”
Sara Bembi, La Nouvelle Vague
“With the physique du rôle and a statuesque beauty underscored by the restrained poise of someone with true aristocratic bearing, Ekaterina Bakanova’s Countess was portrayed with the effortless grace of someone who knows how to move through the world with refinement, all hauteur and wounded dignity. In her sumptuous costumes and slow, noble gait, she brings to mind Watteau’s ladies waiting to embark for Cythera.
A sorrowful vision, she appears at the start of Act II in her cavatina to the god of Love, Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro / al mio duolo, a’ miei sospir. / O mi rendi il mio tesoro, / o mi lascia almen morir, a plaintive plea filled with memories of the ardent Lindoro who had made her fall so deeply in love when she was still Rosina, Don Bartolo’s ward. It is Mozart’s miracle: on a simple quatrain of exquisitely crafted Da Ponte verse, he builds an aria of lost happiness, and Bakanova’s luminous voice seems to chase the tender longing etched into the clarinets’ melismas.
In the accompagnato recitative E Susanna non vien! of Act III, she shapes every word with a phrasing that distills all the nostalgia of happier early days of marriage. This leads into the quick-tempo aria Dove sono i bei momenti / di dolcezza e di piacer, where, after initial despondency, she seems to gather remarkable inner strength. It is a crucial dramatic turning point, and Bakanova navigates it superbly thanks to her brilliant middle and upper registers. With a long-held A4, she underlines the Countess’s resolve to win back her wayward, unfaithful husband by every means available to her.
Emilio Pappini, Opera Mundus
“In the roles of the Countess and Count Almaviva, the radiant Ekaterina Bakanova and Giorgio Caoduro, who deftly reveals all the character’s nuances and shines in his knotty aria, form a truly noble pairing, with expansive, well-colored voices that can be supple or imperious as the score demands.”
Dejan Bozovic, Trieste Prima / Mescalina
“Ekaterina Bakanova is a solid Countess…”
Rino Alessi, Le Salon Musical
“Ekaterina Bakanova is a valid Countess”
Una bella vita all’opera
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