'Irina Tchistjakova portrayed the old Countess as one clinging to life with implacable force against failing flesh.' Peter McCallum, Sydney Morning Herald, 03 December 2012

'Russian-American soprano Dina Kuznetsova's rich-toned singing and sensitive phrasing created an appealing portrayal of the unfortunate Lisa, in stark contrast to mezzo soprano Irina Tchistjakova's hard-edged, imposingly sung Countess.' Murray Black, The Australian

The third character, whom Hermann seems to want to make his nemesis, is of course the Countess, who ends up wreaking vengeance on him. Irina Tchistjakova had even more dramatic presence in walking on and off stage and standing or sitting, as in the fatal penultimate encounter in Act II, than Skelton. There was more than a bit of Carabosse to her Countess, which did much for the urban legend, if not making it myth then real fairy tale. Her voice lived up to this physical presence, with a kaleidoscope of deep, dark but unmuddied colors, and sounded almost masculine at times, which gives an interesting interpretation given how Hermann feels threatened enough by her to call her names and to pull a pistol — a convincing and frightening confrontation between the two even without a literal pistol. Yet even as she is a scary force as she chides Liza for “dancing Russian” in Act I, she had a very human fear of her own for her ward, even before her song in the chair after the ball “Ах, постыл мне этот свет!…” (“Ach, I hate this world!…”) and in the following confrontation with Hermann won much sympathy.  Andrew Miller, The Berkshire Review, 03 December 2012

...The highest praise of this production was due to Irina Tchistjakova, whose dark glowing Alto, stetching into the high Mezzo register, had already been admired by audiences in Münster in Meyerbeer's 'Prophet'. It was a miracle that this mature operatic contralto could blend so well with two German-trained and one Italian voice. But this simply confirmed her vocal calibre. When she sang alone, or with others, despite her unorthadox Latin, she sent shivers down the spines of the listeners. Her Liber Scriptus and Lux aeterna sounded elysian... Translation, Münster Kulturelles Leben