"Tackling a role normally sung by sopranos, mezzo-soprano Layna Chianakas is a hit as the jilted and vengeful but ever-hopeful Donna Elvira. Chianakas sings her difficult part with dramatic urgency and unflagging vocal resources, creating a character both dramatically and vocally exciting...Chianakas is musically on top of the role, negotiating runs and high notes with ease and betraying not the slightest sign of strain. Each of her three major arias was strikingly effective, with her Act II "Mi tradi quall'alma ingrate" particularly stirring."

The City Paper (Dayton, Ohio)

"...and, more than anything else, the earthy, richly textured voice of abundantly talented mezzo-soprano Layna Chianakas in the title role (Carmen)."

The Tennessean

"The excellent cast was headed by the warm-voiced and elegant Layna Chianakas (The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors), whose vocal talents are matched by her poignancy as an actress."

Des Moines Register

"Wild of eye and seductive with sense, not stereotype, Chianakas' ownership of the title role (Carmen) proved an artist catapult for the company."

San José Mercury News

"Sesto (Giulio Cesare) was played wonderfully by Layna Chianakas.  Her coloratura was accurate, her acting inspired.  While she proved dazzling in the treacherous runs of 'Svegliatevi,' she was no less impressive in the quiet 'Cara speme' and in the duet with Cornelia that closes Act I."
 

Opera News

"Layna Chianakas was an enthralling Angelina.  She confidently negotiated the role's demanding coloratura with precision, agility and warm radiant tone.  She gave refreshingly impish, sometimes even steely responses to her stepfamily's responses and in the duets with Prince Ramiro, her voice blossomed with lyric beauty, soaring ecstatically through the fioritura in 'Nacqui all'affanno' and 'Non più mesta."

Opera News

"Among the rest of the cast, the standout was mezzo-soprano
Layna Chianakas as an unusually saucy Maddalena, her throaty chuckle matched by singing of wonderfully dark coloration (whether her pregnancy was a directorial invention or the plain truth--or both--is a good question)."
 

San Francisco Chronicle

"In the title role, (La Perichole) Layna Chianakas was a joy.  With a warm, caressing, Flicka-type mezzo, and dead-on-pitch, Chianakas also exhibited confidence, presence, and remarkable comedic timing."
 

San Francisco Classical Voice

"The mezzo-soprano playing Carmen must take her character from Bizet's music, must let it shape her performance; Layna Chianakas does exactly that.  She avoids all the clichés of the role...and trusts the music to keep us focused on her.  Chianakas is the best reason to see this production."

Santa Barbara Independent Press

"Layna Chianakas as Suzuki is a totally convincing actress with a voice of unusual quality.  Her projection of the text was like a crystallization of her perfect performance."
 

Sacramento Bee

"In the relatively small role of Maddalena, mezzo-soprano Layna Chianakas, gives a dramatic performance that is sultry, earthy and entirely magnetic."
 

Cincinnati City Beat