Verdi Requiem in Houston
“Martínez and Prudenskaya headed up a solo quartet that relished the Requiem’s theatrics and poetry alike. As a frequent presence at Houston Grand Opera, Martínez was the only familiar member of the group. In the “Agnus Dei” and other lyrical outpourings, she treated the Requiem’s soprano part to the warmth and fervor she has brought to such roles at HGO as Gounod’s Marguerite and Puccini’s Cio-Cio-San.
When some of the score’s most compelling moments called on the soprano part to soar aloft pianissimo, Martínez’s voice floated right up, free and true. In the last movement’s ethereal a cappella section with the chorus, Martínez’s purity and poise practically embodied the heavenly light she and the chorus were singing about. Yet she also gave the last movement’s outbursts a dose of full-throated, operatic abandon—all the way through the climactic high C.”