“lustrous-voiced mezzo-soprano Betany Coffland fascinates as the star of Opera San Jose's smart new production of "La voix,"

“Coffland's confidently sustained performance, in which she explores progressive states of emotional breakdown, her voice as shimmering and plush as Poulenc's score.”

“I can report that Coffland's performance is top notch....It's a highly detailed performance that feels natural, flowing with the storyline. Extended passages of recitative erupt into lush melody, reflecting some fond memory or camouflaging some revelation, including the woman's suicide attempt with pills. As the conversation grows ever darker, Coffland's voice matches the smoky colors of the score. All the while she is in conversation with the orchestra; crisply conducted by Bryan Nies, it represents the unseen ex-lover on the other end of the line with its spiky outbursts, its sighs, hesitations, doom chords and pungent textures. This is Coffland's fourth and final year as a resident artist with the company. She has previously given some fine performances, but her "La voix" was a tour de force.”

“Betany Coffland gave one of the most sensational performances I have ever witnessed. I was on the edge of my seat, captivated by her singing and raw emotion—as though what I was watching happen on stage was real. Coffland effortlessly captured the character in Poulenc’s work, making her character come to life. “

“A one-woman show can be a tough sell. It sounds too artsy, right? It was one of the most compelling performances I have seen this season. Betany Coffland (mezzo-soprano) plays an unnamed woman alone in her apartment, going through a bad breakup, desperately holding onto her lover via the telephone.” “Coffland performed admirably, maintaining the on-stage vitality of the show all by herself and acting out the full range of emotions without holding back. She looked right at home in her lonely room on stage, as if there were not a thousand people watching her go from sexy to ugly to insane.”

“Our heroine, known simply as “the woman,” is more desperate than most, a point that Betany Coffland takes to divine extremes...Taken as a whole, the act is a devastating hour of pathos, and I don’t know if I’ve seen a more complete performance on an opera stage.”

“Mezzo-soprano Betany Coffland (Rosina), the fifth member of Opera San José's resident company in the first-night cast, showed the rest of the ensemble how it ought to be done. In terms of temperament, Rosina might have been written with her in mind. Sounding too arch at the start, with an "Una voce poca fa" a few embellishments short of brilliant, her instrument bloomed as the evening progressed. By Act II, Coffland was able to sweeten her tone at will, all the while traversing her role's large range with aplomb. It was an extremely fine performance.”

“the singer introduced an agile, well-projected mezzo voice and a vibrant stage presence.”

“Betany Coffland’s turn as Rosina – together with last season’s Cenerentola – should confirm her genius in the special discipline of bel canto mezzo. Her performance of “Io sono docile” was astoundingly agile - and also funny. She rolled an r at her snoopy housemaid as if it were a dagger. She also brought out the easily overlooked beauty of the music-lesson rondo (even when it’s a joke, Rossini’s music is divine). Theatrically, Coffland gave the role an extra measure of feistiness, a welcome choice.”

“Mezzo-soprano Betany Coffland was sassy and elegant in the role of Rosina, the opera's heroine. Especially in the second act, she showed poise, power and precision, taking on Rossini's finely chiseled, mile-a-minute flurries and roulades.”

“Betany Coffland positively glowed in the role of Rosina. Displaying a wide range of facial as well as vocal emotions; she looked naturally comfortable on stage and sang with accuracy and clarity.”

“The great emotional heft of the opera belongs to the role of Idamante, shunned by his father for no apparent reason, and infatuated with a woman, Ilia, who considers him an enemy. These conflicts fall to just the right performer, mezzo Betany Coffland, and the results are wonderful. In Act I, Coffland delivers the heartrending lament, "Il padre adorato," then curls up on the beach as the curtain falls on Idamante's befuddlement. “

“Sunday night I saw Betany Coffland nail the part as a trouser role.”

“mezzo-soprano Betany Coffland sailed through this pyrotechnic workout, wowing the audience. Pretty as the Cinderella of picture books, she sang with a pure and pleasing voice, as well as steady control of those coloratura fireworks.”

“Betany Coffland is a rich mezzo who was more than up to the challenge of Rossini's careening vocal lines for Angelina ("Cinderella"). She blended beautifully with Dailey, and perhaps most important of all, her spot-on, kind-but-assertive stage presence as the title character carried the show.”

“Betany Coffland's superb vocals shine in the role of Angelina”

“The page, Cherubino, was outstandingly sung by mezzo Betany Coffland singing her first pants-role. The dilemmas of adolescence were captured perfectly by her "Non so piu cosa son, cosa faccio."

“I have already developed the belief that mezzo Betany Coffland can do no wrong on a stage, and this, her first trouser role, is further evidence. Coffland plays Cherubino as the traditional cad-in-training, but one who literally cannot keep his eyes off the Countess whenever she's in the room. This bluster/blush dichotomy is a perfect summary of male teenhood, and her rendition of a boy "running like a girl" is freakin' hilarious. "Non so piu" and "Voi che sapete" are just the hummable delights one would expect, especially the touching coda of the former.”

“mezzo-soprano Betany Coffland (in the pants role of Cherubino, the girl-crazy teenage pageboy), her honeyed lines skipping along with beguiling ease”

“Betany Coffland (always excellent) as Oblonsky’s wife Dolly is limited by the script and can only give us the pain of betrayal and a template for forgiveness.”

“mezzo-soprano Betany Coffland — as Dolly Oblonsky, Stiva's suffering wife — kept mining nuggets of drama from Carlson's twisting lines.”

“Betany Coffland endows Dorabella with a powerful mezzo that cuts right through the orchestra, particularly in her first-act aria of grief, "Smanie implacabili”

“mezzo-soprano Betany Coffland’s hormonal tantrums as Dorabella, a dumb blond who just wants to have fun — these bits were priceless.

"Mezzo-soprano Betany Coffland produced a plusher Italianate sound as Dorabella, deftly capturing the ardor of the moment in scene after scene.”