"The new Carmen at Glyndebourne, Rinat Shaham, is a sensation. From the moment she slinks downstage, douses her head in the water barrel, and tosses it back in a spray of defiance, she has taken possession of the stage and everyone on it. I've never been one for note-perfect Carmens - this one uses the music like promises and threats, coaxing, cajoling, insinuating, bending the melody, shamelessly exploiting the chesty rasp of her bottom notes. The colour of the voice is just about as dusky as it gets, but it's the way that it is an extension of her body and soul and language - the vernacular - that really grabs you."

Edward Seckerson
"The Independent"
July 28,2004