“ Soprano Ava Dodd’s company debut as Susanna is simply triumphant. Dodd infuses the targeted bride with a steel-spined intelligence, guiding the chaotic narrative with luminous vocal clarity. Her Act IV declaration of love is a masterclass in restraint, delivered with breathless, silvery poise.”

The QR

"Despite this tale being called "The Marriage of Figaro", it is Ava Dodd as Susanna who really gets the centre stage here and holds so much of this story together, and tonight her performance was full of charm and warmth"

Arts Reviews Edinburgh

"Ava Dodd who was beautiful in both voice and presence"

Strathclyde Telegraph

"The true star of the show"

"Dodd’s ringing clarity of tone, diction, and comedic timing ensure Susanna commands the stage, whether in her solo moments or in collaboration with other members of the cast."

All Edinburgh Theatre

"The stand-out, though, is Ava Dodd as Susanna, embodying the most admirable and life-affirming character on stage. She flawlessly ranges from comic bitchiness to warmth and affection, and although she is easily the most intelligent character, Dodd convincingly plays comically wrong-footed. She delivers gorgeous singing throughout, culminating in an unforgettable, exquisite duet of female friendship with the Countess in the letter-writing scene."

Broadway Baby

“Ava Dodd’s utterly charming Susanna.” 
The Times

“Ava Dodd’s vivacious Susanna was a sympathetic characterisation sung with a glorious voice, bringing limpid clarity, flawless messa di voce and idyllic sweetness; her ‘Deh vieni non tardar’ was absolutely magical.”
Edinburgh Music Review

"Jowle and Dodd have real chemistry together and excellent voices."
VoxCarnyx

"Ava Dodd delivers a feisty and quietly determined Susanna, with a gloriously agile, glittering soprano.”
The Stage

“Irish Harewood Artist Ava Dodd brings her glorious lyric soprano to the part of the pious Micaëla. Dodd is almost too pretty for the part, with her sparkling top register matching her top and shoes. (…) With a voice that glistens in her duet “Parle-moi de ma mère!” with Don José and the two voices blending beautifully, Dodd should have a fine career ahead of her singing Mozartian leads.”
Dr. Adrian York, London Unattached. 

“Ava Dodd brings confident lyricism to Carmen's foil Micaëla, the 'nice girl' José's mother wishes him to marry. The Irish soprano draws sympathetic attention to the quiet determination of the woman whom José relinquishes for the freewheeling attractions of the self-willed Roma.”
The Stage

“The more powerful contrast is with his relationship with the devoted Micaëla, beautifully sung and performed by Irish soprano Ava Dodd.”
Jane Darcy, Reviews Hub

“(…)soprano Ava Dodd, is well cast as Micaela, singing with beautiful pitch and exuding a bright stage presence.”
Dr. Diana Carroll, Arts Hub

“Ava Dodd (...)projects the words and the sudden surges of feeling stunningly; the central part of the aria in Act Three where the girl has come to search for Jose among the smugglers – brave thing – to tell him his mother is dying is an emotional high point of the evening. “
David Nice, The Arts Desk

“Ava Dodd’s Micaëla provided the evening’s most consistent singing: focused, bright, poised. Her aria found the still centre the show needed, and she phrased with musical honesty.”
Keith McDonnell, musicOMH 

“I was mightily impressed,(...), by Ava Dodd, whose soprano has real sparkle (…)she certainly inhabited the part of Micaëla, a real tear-jerker.”
Colin Clarke, Seen and heard international

“ENO Harwood Artist Ava Dodd brings huge emotion to Micaëla, more than holding her own against Carmen’s wildness. She has a real sparkle to her soprano and the traditional role of moral foil to Carmen is surprisingly subverted when she spits at her as she leaves the stage.”
Aliya Al-Hassan - London Theatre

“Standing out in particular were Ava Dodd, no pushover as José’s former hometown sweetheart Micaëla, ”
Guy Rickards, Critic Circle

“Ava Dodd’s dutiful and magnificent Micaëla, hers is the standout voice, and Don José is far more passionate than the central couple, borne of emotions she triggers in him for her and those for his mother back home on her death bed. Together their voices fill the space with a glorious sound, the soprano and tenor in perfect harmony”
Theatre Reviews | Parikiaki Cyprus and Cypriot News

“A an equally standout performance was Ava Dodd, Harewood Artist and obviously rising star, in her role as Micaela; she held the stage with sensitivity, and persuasion. I was convinced.”
“CARMEN” AND ENO. A MARRIAGE IN HEAVEN. – CRTP

“Ava Dodd as Micaëla reveals a sweet but sufficiently strong and very well shaped soprano, and we genuinely believe that she would have the courage to enter a smugglers’ den to rescue the man she loves”
Sam Smith, Opera Online

“Ava Dodd is a standout as Micaëla, delivering a gutsy performance that defies the usual sweetness of the role. She injects steel and modernity into the character, culminating in a surprisingly charged confrontation.”
Operareview.co.uk

“Lauretta’s aria ‘O mio babbino caro’ (sung by Ava Dodd) shines crystal clear”
– Opernfestspiele Heidenheim

“Ava Dodd draws the part of Lauretta with lovely soprano and shines in the most famous aria of the opera, ‘O mio babbino caro’”
– Opernnetz.de

“The central aria of the opera, ‘O mio babbino caro’, is staged like a pop song. Ava Dodd sings it with heart-melting beauty”
– Silja Kummer: HZ

“Ava Dodd sings Lauretta’s famous ‘O mio babbino caro’ with enchanting clarity.”
– Sven Scherz-Schade: Oper Magazin

“Ava Dodd as Lola shone with a bright, sensuously controlled soprano — exactly the seductive element the role calls for.”
– Online Merker

“Singing with a warm timbre Ava Dodd was a lady in red – or rather rose-pink – as the calculating and alluring Lola.”
– Jim Pritchard: Seen and Heard International

“Ava Dodd's beautifully balanced and flowing soprano goes wonderfully with Demuro's voice. Ms Dodd masters the coloratura with sparkling ease, always remaining lively, present and utterly engaging. She is (as women usually are in real life) the more mature, deeply loving soul of the two, but when her feelings are hurt, she can show her claws and (together with Rose) display a female, winkingly nasty cunning. The scene where she confuses the postilion with her two identities as Madeleine and Madame de Latour is eloquent testimony to this.”

– Kaspar Sannemann: Oper Aktuell

“The Irish soprano Ava Dodd, who sang Madelaine (alias Madame de Latour) in the performance we saw, delivered a flawlessly controlled, beautiful voice.”

– Dieter David Scholz: Der Opernfreund

"Ava Dodd's stirringly delivered Barbarina marks the Irish soprano as one to watch."

– Neil Fisher: The Times

"Soprano Ava Dodd excels in the role of Barbarina, portraying all her sweetness and vulnerability against her native deviousness. ...Dodd’s wonderful clear bell-like rendition of Barbarina’s plaintive regret is a gem."

– Mark Aspen

"Ava Dodd brings a youthful infectiousness to the role of Barbarina as well as poignancy for her minor-key aria at the start of Act 4."
– Alexander Hall: Opera Today

"In her all-too brief appearance, Ava Dodd showed a winning stage presence and pearly soprano as Barbarina, one to watch."
– Dominic Lowe: Bachtrack

"The young Dublin born soloist added a whole other dimension to a sparkling afternoon with her powerful, crystal, golden voice, bold, amusing and entertaining stage presence. It was a sheer delight to see and hear her perform, her beautiful voice filling and captivating the auditorium."
– Andy Martin: Bournemouth Echo

“Soprano Ava Dodd, in particular, captured the attention with her lively and beautiful singing in the role of Tiburnia, which she supported with an amusing and bold acting performance, characterizing her as aloof, bored and self-important. Her essaying of the fairly simple mad scene proved to be one of the singing highlights of the evening, giving her the opportunity to show off her tonal beauty and the ability to fashion detailed lines while convincingly drawing attention to her emotional detachment from the performance.”
– Alan Neilson: OperaWire

“It is Ava Dodd, who is given the most important part with a series of soliloquies of which the Irish soprano masters (...) she possesses a ductile tone, all with agility. She showcased great talent as an actress in the hilarious parodic madness scene as well as in the pathetic love scene.'“
– Tania Braqo: Forum Opera

"Ava Dodd performed her initial pastoral aria with charm and elegance while imbuing the vocal line with a sumptuous tone. She switched seamlessly between irritation with Puff's interruptions and the inflated love music of the opera"
– Robert Beattie: Seen and Heard International

"Ava Dodd as Tilburina was the consummate actress, managing to successfully portray boredom with having to repeat her lines and yet somehow also singing with grace and elegance."
– Andrew Larkin: Bachtrack

"The divinely diva-ish Dodd deliciously lampoons the pastoral, Disney innocence of a young woman whilst also being vocally mesmerising. A spellbinding lovers duet again sees singing undercut by humour, but never undermined."
– Chris O'Rourke: The Arts Review

“The young Irish soprano Ava Dodd shines in the role of Oscar as a secret audience favorite”
– LOOKLIVE

“The Irish soprano Ava Dodd sings the forest bird with a crystal-clear, very bright soprano”
– Marcus Haimerl

“Soprano Ava Dodd from the Wexford Factory young artist programme was cast as Perdita. She possesses a strong, fresh voice with a engaging timbre, which she used successfully to develop a sympathetic portrait of the young lover in an energetic performance which belied her relative inexperience. Her ability to spin out lyrical, bright, beguiling lines and deliver pleasing coloraturas with apparent ease was particularly impressive.”
– Alan Nielson: Opera Wire

“Dodd was equally impressive […] Possessing a golden voice, her virtuosic octave leaps and vocal gymnastics were dispatched with tremendous verve and panache, wooing both the audience and her Prince”
– Andrew Larkin: Bachtrack

“Dodd was dramatically convincing as the love-struck Perdita and she brought an enchanting lyricism and enormous vocal agility to the music […] there is no doubt that this was an impressive performance”
– Robert Beattie: Seen and Heard International

"The young Dublin born soloist added a whole other dimension to a sparkling afternoon with her powerful, crystal, golden voice, bold, amusing and entertaining stage presence. It was a sheer delight to see and hear her perform, her beautiful voice filling and captivating the auditorium."
– Andy Martin: Bournemouth Echo

“Soprano Ava Dodd, in particular, captured the attention with her lively and beautiful singing in the role of Tiburnia, which she supported with an amusing and bold acting performance, characterizing her as aloof, bored and self-important. Her essaying of the fairly simple mad scene proved to be one of the singing highlights of the evening, giving her the opportunity to show off her tonal beauty and the ability to fashion detailed lines while convincingly drawing attention to her emotional detachment from the performance.”
– Alan Neilson: OperaWire

“It is Ava Dodd, who is given the most important part with a series of soliloquies of which the Irish soprano masters (...) she possesses a ductile tone, all with agility. She showcased great talent as an actress in the hilarious parodic madness scene as well as in the pathetic love scene.'“
– Tania Braqo: Forum Opera

"Ava Dodd performed her initial pastoral aria with charm and elegance while imbuing the vocal line with a sumptuous tone. She switched seamlessly between irritation with Puff's interruptions and the inflated love music of the opera"
– Robert Beattie: Seen and Heard International

"Ava Dodd as Tilburina was the consummate actress, managing to successfully portray boredom with having to repeat her lines and yet somehow also singing with grace and elegance."
– Andrew Larkin: Bachtrack

"The divinely diva-ish Dodd deliciously lampoons the pastoral, Disney innocence of a young woman whilst also being vocally mesmerising. A spellbinding lovers duet again sees singing undercut by humour, but never undermined."
– Chris O'Rourke: The Arts Review

“The young Irish soprano Ava Dodd shines in the role of Oscar as a secret audience favorite”
– LOOKLIVE

“The Irish soprano Ava Dodd sings the forest bird with a crystal-clear, very bright soprano”
– Marcus Haimerl

“Soprano Ava Dodd from the Wexford Factory young artist programme was cast as Perdita. She possesses a strong, fresh voice with a engaging timbre, which she used successfully to develop a sympathetic portrait of the young lover in an energetic performance which belied her relative inexperience. Her ability to spin out lyrical, bright, beguiling lines and deliver pleasing coloraturas with apparent ease was particularly impressive.”
– Alan Nielson: Opera Wire

“Dodd was equally impressive […] Possessing a golden voice, her virtuosic octave leaps and vocal gymnastics were dispatched with tremendous verve and panache, wooing both the audience and her Prince”
– Andrew Larkin: Bachtrack

“Dodd was dramatically convincing as the love-struck Perdita and she brought an enchanting lyricism and enormous vocal agility to the music […] there is no doubt that this was an impressive performance”
– Robert Beattie: Seen and Heard International