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Press
"a voice as fresh as the character she created"
"admirable control and grace"
"gentle tone and elegant phrasing"
Rigoletto
Gilda | Opera Baltimore | October 2023
"As Gilda, soprano Rachel Blaustein produced a lovely, pearly thread of tone that helped her get to the very heart of the character. Her way of shading phrases with coloristic nuance (and adding elegant flourishes to Caro nome) added to her poetic portrayal."
Tim Smith, former Arts Critic of the Baltimore Sun
"I have become a big fan of soprano Rachel Blaustein who sang the role of Gilda. She soared beautifully in her upper register; her singing was gorgeous."
OperaGene
Le nozze di Figaro
Contessa | Annapolis Opera | March 2023
“The Countess is the most sympathetic role in the opera and has some of the most beautiful arias. I have seen soprano Rachel Blaustein, who played the role, several times… She has a lovely soprano voice and sings beautifully, maneuvering easily in her higher register. My takeaway from this performance is that she is no longer an emerging opera star; soprano Rachel Blaustein has arrived.”
OperaGene
“Rachel Blaustein gives a deep emotion to the Countess. Her love for [the Count] brings her pain, yet she works with Figaro and Susanna to bring him back. Their relationship is the most complex of the opera, and Godinez and Blaustein make it fascinating to watch.”
DC Theater Arts
Falstaff
Nannetta | Maryland Lyric Opera | January 2023
"Best among the women, however, was newcomer Rachel Blaustein, who made a sensational company debut as Nannetta. The radiant young soprano, who hails from Olney and did her graduate work at the Peabody Institute, floated velvet-gloved high notes in this crucial role. She flirted innocently in the stolen moments with her lover, Fenton, and made a resplendent fairy queen in the opera’s gorgeous final scene.”
Washington Classical Review
“…the most impressive singing was by Ms. Blaustein, new to the MDLO stage, who floated frequently and beautifully in her high range."
OperaGene
"In her second act “Fairy Queen” aria, Nannetta [Blaustein] provides a moment of exquisite lyricism."
DC Theater Arts
The Lord of Cries
Autonoe | Odyssey Opera | November 2022
“…were all excellent. Even better were Leah Brzyski, Rachel Blaustein, and Felicia Gavilanes as the three sisters, eerie and prophetic in their amalgamation of Dracula’s vampire women and Euripides’s crazed maenads.”
Boston Globe
“As the ‘odd sisters,’ Sopranos Leah Bryski and Rachel Blaustein and mezzo-soprano Felicia Gavilanes sang with hypnotic tonal blend and stratospheric range. Their collective sense of character - by turns playful, cunning, and alluring - was spot on.”
Boston Classical Review
“They regularly appear, sometimes in the foreground, sometimes blended into the orchestra, to comment on the action and prod it forward. It is an effect that in lesser hands might seen gimmicky, but which he deployed so well that one looked forward to its return.”
Boston Musical Intelligencer
Awakenings (world premiere)
Ruth | Opera Theatre of Saint Louis | June 2022
“Rachel Blaustein's crystalline soprano provided much pleasure as the social worker Ruth.”
Opera Today
“Soprano Rachel Blaustein's social worker... [was a] sympathetic presence.”
Opera Wire
Garden of the Finzi-Continis (world premiere)
Micól | New York City Opera | Jan.-Feb. 2022
“The soprano Rachel Blaustein brought a sweetness to Micòl that persevered through her character’s capriciousness.”
The New York Times
“…and soprano Rachel Blaustein, making a stellar NYCO debut as Micól (who senses the doom and the likelihood of being the last in the long Finzi-Contini line)…”
DC Metro Theater Arts
“Opposite him, Blaustein had a rounded, gentle tone and elegant phrasing, while still able to express anguish.”
NY Classical Review
“As Micòl Finzi-Contini, soprano Rachel Blaustein was a romantic, determined young woman with a thirst for adventure and a voice as fresh and exciting as the character she created.”
Seen and Heard International
“Her lyric voice had a carefree lilt, perfect for the daughter of the richest family in Ferrara, and this came across beautifully in the letter-writing scene as she narrates the words she will send to Giorgio... The “rich girl” who is careless with hearts is a trope, and a less-skilled actor could fall into the stereotype trap. Blaustein stayed far from that pitfall.”
Opera Wire
“Brightly voluptuous soprano Rachel Blaustein, responded with a heartfelt performance.”
Musical America
The Lord of Cries (world premiere)
Autonoe | The Santa Fe Opera | July-August 2021
“But it is the un-dead that create the drama. The “Three weird Sisters,” attendants of Dionysus, were sung by apprentice artists Leah Brzyski, Rachel Blaustein and Megan Moore, who gave a class in ensemble singing such than no one could be judged individually. The trio span the full range of the female voice, with extreme highs and growling lows used strategically by Corigliano and sung with fierce intensity by the young artists.”
Sharps & Flatirons
“Leah Bryzski, Rachel Blaustein, and Megan Moore give feverish passion and ardent voice to the three attendants.”
Dallas News
“Apprentices Leah Brzyski, Rachel Blaustein and Megan Moore offered vivid portrayals of the three sisters, Dionysus’ acolytes, whose haunting, macabre appearance was perfectly matched by Corigliano’s eerie vocal writing for them...”
Santa Fe New Mexican
“As “the three weird sisters,” sopranos Leah Brzyski and Rachel Blaustein, and mezzo-soprano Megan Moore sang their difficult passages with admirable control and grace.”
Opera Today
“Dionysus’ attendants had an arresting musical signature...”
The Wall Street Journal
Taking Up Serpents
Queer Kid | Chicago Opera Theater | Winter 2022
“Morgan Middleton, Justin Berkowitz, and Rachel Blaustein showed versatility as a kind of intermittent Greek chorus, the latter two in double roles.”
Chicago Classical Review
“Morgan Middleton, Justin Berkowitz, and Rachel Blaustein served as the chorus and mostly appeared in triple screens which was beautifully done. The three take on different small roles and in repeated viewings (this opera is one which I found impossible to view just once) I saw tremendous detail in this trio’s approach to different scenes.”
Hyde Park Herald
“There also is fine supporting work from Ann Rosen (as Kayla’s foul-mouthed co-worker at the Shop Mart), the Greyhound bus driver (Justin Berkowitz), and other passengers (Morgan Middleton and Rachel Blaustein).”
Wttw News
Carmen
Frasquita | Chicago Opera Theater | Fall 2021
“Leah Dexter and Rachel Blaustein brought superb support in their ensemble singing as Mercedes and Frasquita, Carmen’s friends and co-conspirators.”
Hyde Park Herald
“Rachel Blaustein warbled away prettily as Frasquita.”
Opera News
“Carmen’s pals Frasquita, and Mercedes, Rachel Blaustein and Leah Dexter combined bright voices with comic flair.”
Chicago on the Aisle
Gianni Schicchi
Lauretta | Tulsa Opera | Fall 2021
"Blaustein performs the opera's best-known piece, the aria "O mio babbino caro," well; her character is using this effusive paean to convince her father to give his blessing to her romance, and Blaustein's performance blended vocal sincerity with physical guile."
Tulsa World
Eugene Onegin
Tatyana | Opera NEO | Summer 2019
“Rachel Blaustein gave us a Tatyana to cherish, at first a complex mix of youthful reticence and wildly impassioned outpourings that grew over the opera’s course into a passionate, mature woman who knows her own mind and finds the strength to carry out her resolve. Her brilliant lyric soprano animated her first act Letter Scene, and it turned into gleaming, steely resolve in her final confrontation with Onegin.”
San Diego Story
"Soprano Rachel Blaustein provided a stirring finale to the Aria Marathon with her “Par le rang . . .Salut à la France” from Donizetti’s La fille du regiment.” With apparent ease her voluptuous phrasing soared into her gleaming high register.”
San Diego Story (Aria Preview Concert)
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