"Soprano Sylvia Schwartz's reputation as a rising star is confirmed by her Hyperion debut album, a programme of songs from her native Spain, finely accompanied by Malcolm Martineau...There are some exquisite songs in Catalan, too, by Eduardo Toldá; and Schwartz's performance of Jesús Guridi's torrid Seis Canciones Castellanas is all the more remarkable for being so admirably restrained."

The Guardian

"Songs by Schubert, Wolf, Richard Strauss and Jesús Guridi framed the celebration, interpreted with wonderful intuition by Sylvia Schwartz and the pianist Wolfram Rieger. It was with elaborate and exquisite beauty that the young Spanish soprano illustrated in brilliant cantilena the devotional enthusiasm of the lied “Wie blitzen die Sterne so hell durch die Nacht” and that she plumbed the emotional depth in the text “Du bist die Ruh”. […] Sylvia Schwartz knows to express the nuances of such romantic art songs with outstanding vocal culture, her piani for example are of finest quality. But even more impressive is the interpretation of different atmospheres. […] One could hardly imagine that a tenor had made the emotions shine as intensively as Sylvia Schwartz succeeded together with the outstanding accompanist Wolfram Rieger" Esslinger Zeitung, 05/10/2011

"Undoubtedly a very good opera singer was the young Spanish soprano Sylvia Schwartz who stepped in at short notice. The attractive singer with the pleasant timbre had her strongest moments in four songs by Richard Strauss. In the operatic gesture she could show off best her bright voice and her security in the upper register."  Stuttgarter Zeitung, 04/10/2011

"Schwartz and Martineau judged the acoustic to perfection, Martineau creating atmospheres without blurring, Schwartz well able to convey the ongoing sense of nostalgia or desolation.

"The last items were selections from Schoenberg’s Brettl-Lieder. By now Schwartz was at her best – slinky in extremis for the first number (with Martineau superb in the quixotic nature of the accompaniment), wonderful as narrator in the second (‘The Contented Suitor’) and wonderful in her graphic vocal illustration of a heart-beat in the final song"

The Classical Source

"Sylvia Schwartz was the star among a stellar cast. Vocally, visually and dramatically, she was the embodiment of the maid Susanna, who conspires with husband-to-be Figaro and others to foil the amorous Count Almaviva. The enjoyment level was high – and a toss-up between her comic abilities and her fluid and flexible voice." San Francisco Chronicle / Associated Press, February 2011

"Bleiben Sylvia Schwartz und Luca Pisaroni, die als Susanna und Figaro nicht nur stimmlich am meisten zu bieten hatten, sondern auch das Spiel besonders lebendig vorantrieben und so die Erwartungen mehr als erfüllten."

OÖNachrichten Zeitung, February 2011