Ambur Braid triumphs in acclaimed Festival d’Aix-en-Provence debut
14/7/2026
Making her festival debut as Die Färberin in Barrie Kosky’s new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten, conducted by Klaus Mäkelä, Ambur Braid delivered a fearless, career-defining performance.
Available to watch on ARTE.tv: Richard Strauss: The Woman without a Shadow — Festival of Aix-en-Provence 2026 — Programme in full length | ARTE Concert
Read the response here:
It’s a reading of “Frau” that relies on sympathetic performers, which this production has in abundance, above all in the soprano Ambur Braid as the Dyer’s Wife. She is a singer capable of extraordinarily fine emotional detail and explosive power; with a touch of artful unprettiness, she bends her musicality constantly in service of the drama.
- – New York Times, July 2026
Faced with such demands, the vocal cast proves magnificent, dominated by the evening’s standout performer, Ambur Braid. As an incandescent Dyer’s Wife, the Canadian soprano delivers a visceral performance, driven by a voice of remarkable range and audacious clarity that effortlessly cuts through the orchestral maelstrom.
– Le Temps, July 2026
“The Canadian soprano has revealed herself to be a magnificent singer and a truly magnetic actress with an inexhaustible arsenal of skills, commanding the stage with every movement and facial expression. It is no surprise that she was the last to receive the audience’s applause; one can easily imagine this tour de force sparking a desire among many opera houses to engage her. ”
– El Pais, July 2026
“Canadian Ambur Braid —a regular in Kosky’s productions — who leaves an impression that will mark her future career. There is no respite in a performance that manages, with similar skill, anger and unease. A truly unsettling performance. ”
– Diario ABC, July 2026
“As for the soloists, we must above all pay tribute to the excellent soprano Ambur Braid, as a young, seductive, explosive and dazzling dyer. Her voice is beautiful, solid, supple, and she succeeds in carrying the dramatic tension of the second act to an extraordinary climax, before discovering within herself an unsuspected resource of love. A magnificent interpretation, well sung and intensely inhabited.”
– Resmusica, July 2026
“With the Canadian singer, as comfortable on stage in a tank top as in a vamp dress, we finally find ourselves in front of an authentic dramatic soprano voice.”
– Premiere Loge, July 2026
“Vocally, she is radiant, nuanced whether in outbursts of anger or in more intimate moments.”
– Concert Classic, July 2026
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