Tancredi, Opera Frankfurt, 2026

Tancredi, who expressed his emotions primarily while sitting on a wooden bench in the bushes behind a neon pillar, did not have this problem. A touch of exquisite virility is part of this role, and Cláudia Ribas more than lives up to the high expectations.
- Opern.news, Roland H. Dippel

The singers also played a key role in making this moment so powerful. Cláudia Ribas, in the trouser role of Tancredi, embodied a hero who was torn from within – at once noble and vulnerable. With supple high notes and confident coloratura technique, she masterfully navigated the register transitions, imbuing the lower registers with intense drama and allowing the high notes to shine freely without veering into shrillness. In the final scene, she sang and breathed with incredible intensity at the very edge of audibility, in perfect harmony with the orchestra and completely absorbed in her dying role.
- Magazin Klassik, Christiane Franke

Tancredi is one of the great trouser roles in opera, that is, a role in which a mezzo-soprano typically plays a male character on stage, and Ribas delivers a magnificent performance, both vocally and dramatically. The two duets between Tancredi and Amenaide are a musical highlight of the entire Frankfurt season (…)
- Faust Kultur, Stefana Sabin

Musicologists know that Rossini requires the protagonists of his operas to express their inner turmoil and despair – not only through virtuosic cabalettas, breakneck leaps, and rich ornamentation, but also through cantabile passages of prolonged duration – in a manner that borders on the pathetic. The two performers in the lead roles achieved this brilliantly. Cláudia Ribas, in the title role, impressively showcased her dark-toned, velvety mezzo-soprano voice. Her rendition of the now-famous aria Di tanti palpiti from Act 1 (…) was breathtaking. The finale tragico of the Ferrara version was dramatically chilling (…) Short arcs, hesitant melismas in dialogue with the gradually fading orchestra – all interwoven with pauses in which the harmony holds its breath – were rendered by Ribas with evocative intensity.
- Operajournal.cz, Marián Sekerák

Giurami… sposa… addio – the words of Tancredi, lying on the ground, dying alone, forced out with his last ounce of strength, one after another at long intervals. The couple next to me held each other’s hands during those final minutes; tears streamed down her face. The same was true for the woman sitting to my right. Behind me, I heard quiet sniffles and heavy breathing. I myself held my breath and felt tears welling up in my eyes. (…) Cláudia Ribas seems to have been tailor-made for the role, and in Frankfurt she was able to explore the full range of her wonderful, flexible voice – from very low to very high, at times delicate, at times heroic. What a joy that she will be joining the company’s permanent ensemble starting next season!
- Textor.online, Andrea Richter

Carella is also an attentive accompanist, allowing the singers to showcase their strengths. In the title role, Cláudia Ribas is thus able to showcase her dark-timbred, velvety alto voice to great effect. She would not need to further darken her voice in the numerous low passages, which at times gives the impression that she is trying to make her voice sound artificially larger and more masculine. She reaches the peak of her form in her movingly rendered death scene – undoubtedly the vocal highlight of the evening. It’s good news that Ribas will be joining the permanent ensemble starting next season.
- Der Opernfreunde, Michael Demel

Portuguese mezzo Cláudia Ribas was an ideal Tancredi thanks to her attractive dark middle register, which lent the character a genuine nobility in this demanding trouser‑role. Her command of Rossini’s long cantabile lines and her agility with the role’s coloratura were impressive. Completely credible as an attractive young man, Ribas brought the house down in the opera’s only famous aria Di tanti palpiti, though the aria’s long introduction O patria! Dolce e ingrata! Tu che accendi questo core was equally magnificent, thanks to Ribas’s expressivity and heartfelt interpretation.
- Concertonet.com, Ossama el Naggar

First and foremost, we must mention the two ladies: Bianca Tognocchi (soprano) as Amenaide and Cláudia Ribas (mezzo-soprano) as Tancredi. Both, blessed with gifted voices, infused the largely static plot with incredible vitality, temperament, and verve. Each of their solo arias, as well as their duets, became a work of art in sound, coloratura, and heavenly, atmospheric richness. As actresses, too, both were able to inject the necessary energy into the performance on stage. (…) Cláudia Ribas’s 15-minute death aria was one of the highlights of the premiere night. It’s hard to put into words how she passed away – you simply have to experience it in person.
- H. Boscaiolo

Two magnificent leading ladies take center stage: Cláudia Ribas as Tancredi and Bianca Tognocchi as Amenaide. In her first Rossini role, Ms. Ribas immediately reaches a heavenly high point. She possesses a grounded, youthful mezzo voice with phrasing that is almost unreal in it’s confidence and a tonally moving presence.
- Opera-Online.com, Achim Dombrowski

Cláudia Ribas's Tancredi is fabulous. The Portuguese mezzo-soprano portrays all facets of the character, but above all brings out his youthfulness and the uncertainty of returning home. Even her opening aria, the famous Di tanti palpiti, is sung with a restrained optimism rather than an aggressive assertiveness. Her Tancredi confronts the village community as a hothead, and his relationship with Amenaide ultimately fails due to his feelings. It's hard to imagine a more honest portrayal.
- Oper-magazine.de, Bernd Zegowitz

FR critic Judith von Sternburg sees this more as “conventional musical theater,” but applauds the singers: “Cláudia Ribas has already been here at the opera studio; she brings her Tancredi to life with a dark-toned, expressive, and tireless mezzo-soprano voice.”
- Perlentauscher.de

All in all, it’s safe to say that the director’s concept works – thanks, of course, in part to the enthusiastic ensemble, which also has the audience cheering with its musical performance. First and foremost is Cláudia Ribas in the title role. Her mezzo-soprano voice possesses an absolutely virile depth that makes the youthful hero entirely believable at every moment. At the same time, she shines with dramatic coloratura and demonstrates enormous agility in the fast runs. It’s easy to forget that it’s completely incomprehensible why Amenaide doesn’t reveal her true feelings to Tancredi during their moments of intimacy. The famous cabaletta Di tanti palpiti, in which Tancredi welcomes his beloved homeland once more, is presented by Ribas with light, flowing coloratura. In the final cavatina, Ribas succeeds in rendering the death scene very believably with a mezzo-soprano voice that grows ever softer and weaker.
- Online Musik Magazin, Thomas Molke

In the meantime found a couple more for Cornelia from this season: As for Cláudia Ribas’s mezzo-soprano performance as Cornelia, it is spellbinding, and the actress fully draws us into the suffering of the inconsolable widow.
- Forum Opera, Thierry Verger

Claudia Ribas, a mezzo-soprano with a warm tone, portrays the deeply wounded noblewoman Cornelia, delivering a particularly inspired performance that moves us deeply.
- Cult.News, Helene Adam

Carmen, Malmö Opera, 2026

She doesn't have any major stage experience and is making her debut here in the most iconic of roles. She does so with impressive authority. Ribas dominates the stage without seeming to make the slightest effort, though she has likely benefited from the guidance of such a skilled acting coach as Thoma. She feels perfectly cast in the role, and her not overly large but well-focused voice resonates evenly across the entire register.
- Lennart Brommander, Opera

This is said with all due respect for the vocal gold that seems to flow here from an inexhaustible source: one hit aria follows another, handled beautifully by a sensitive group of soloists, led by Carmen herself, Cláudia Ribas.
- Mattias Gejrot, YA

In an attempt to problematize the theme of violence, the artistic team has chosen to clean up the original’s stereotypical portrayal of gender. As a result, the attentive opera-goer can observe stage direction that avoids turning Carmen into a victim, while we surrender ourselves to Cláudia Ribas’s lyrical voice, full of brilliance and confidence despite her early career stage. Carmen not only straddles her beloved motorcycle - she also takes up physical space by striding across the stage, raising her arms in a flamenco pose, and touching both women and men. Her longing for love is boundless.
- Malena Forsare, SDS

Cláudia Ribas’s Carmen is tough, beautiful, and expressive from the very moment she makes her entrance on her motorcycle.
- Theo Vareman, Expressen

This is instead the soloists’ evening. Cláudia Ribas eases into the seductive chromaticism of the ‘Habanera,’ singing with greater melancholy than we are used to - even in lines about drink and dance ‘près des remparts de Séville.’ Her Carmen is an existential Amazon who foresees death long before anyone else -especially the depth of her mezzo is absolutely magnificent.
- Kristina Lindquist, DN

Cláudia Ribas is Carmen. She is charismatic and sings with a freshness that is far removed from the old-fashioned, vampish seductress we know. She is a woman in her own right, and we understand the group’s fascination with her.
- Pia Fossheim, Ascolta

As for Cláudia Ribas’s mezzo-soprano performance as Cornelia, it is spellbinding, and the actress fully draws us into the suffering of the inconsolable widow.
- Forum Opera, Thierry Verger

Claudia Ribas, a mezzo-soprano with a warm tone, portrays the deeply wounded noblewoman Cornelia, delivering a particularly inspired performance that moves us deeply.
- Cult.News, Helene Adam