November 16, 2020

When you watch this production, you go back centuries in time; you go behind closed doors and you go inside people's minds as they think, read and write. Then the powers of the voices of Ashley Galvani Bell and Anna Tonna capture you. It's a total success.

November 12, 2020

A documentary that will entertain and delight lovers of opera and history alike.

"A magnificent adaptation of an operatic masterpiece...From his stage setting, which encapsulates the very inner-workings of Elle’s erratic emotional compulsions, to his finely tuned awareness of Poulenc’s dense music as the main guide, Armendariz Diaz invites one to experience the opera’s main theme surrounding love and supports the understanding of the forms of love, as being equally as important as the purpose of love itself."

"Last night, Divaria Productions presented a fascinating exploration of how the extravagant lives of librettist Lorenzo da Ponte and singer Manuel Garcia influenced and were influenced by the opera Don Giovanni....Thanks to the diligent scholarship and astute writing of Andrew Bell, the scripted production ofDon Giovanni in New York left us with much to think about, as well as some memorable performances dancing around our brain"

The idea of mixing both is really interesting because we can study all the characters and the main three characters from different points of view, and to create a new production off of these two masterpieces.”

"DIVAria's Ashley Bell (Elle, soprano)  and Anton Armendariz Diaz (director) offer an unusual and effective take on The Human Voice. ..What this troupe is able to achieve is both clarity and beauty.  It is a remarkable and accessible evening of opera theater."

​“What you first see is the switch of couples, like in a commedia dell’arte. But the plot is really more about hypocrisy, because all of the characters lie to the others. They pretend to be something they’re not until the end of the opera, when they discover who they really are.”

"This is the third time we have had the pleasure of reviewing a DIVAria production and we left thinking that with directors like Anton Armendariz Diaz on "team opera", we do not have to worry about opera's future. "

"The musical values were high all around and the storytelling was effective...It was a most enjoyable evening that left us wanting more"

"We try to meld theater with opera,” .....“It’s a way to bring in audiences who are more familiar with musicals and do like theater, but are afraid of opera.”

"The unique nature of the event lies in the performance of Abruzzese Mario Fratti as the character Lorenzo Da Ponte..we are moved...the poet lives on...especially thanks to the musical concert accompanying Fratti's performance."

"A stupendous invention...

an original and well-crafted proposal transferred to a rabidly current era....a great success!"

"The performances were, in every case, first-rate.  Soprano Ashley Bell has a fine full voice that is strong in the lower register and brilliant in the upper register...Soprano Amaya Arberas has a bright resonant instrument which she uses well....Tenor José Daniel Mojica has a sweet generous voice that is filled with sazón, the Spanish equivalent of the garlic in the voice of an Italian tenor...."

"pioneering not just the resurgence of opera, but as keeping opera alive....The world of opera, it’s big, it’s bold, it’s got a lot of possibility. She’s breathing life into it, breathing life into this art. And maybe a new life. A modern life.”

"This isn't your grandmother's opera...Performers are young, agile, and insanely energetic!" 

"A wonderfully thrilling and intensely musical evening....the concert offered by Divaria productions is proof that sometimes the smaller, lesser known companies are where opera truly lives."

A unique vaudeville adaptation of Pergolesi's Opera La Serva Padrona will come to the Sedona Creative Life Center on Saturday, March 17, at 6:30 p.m."