"Mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani sang with a lush, darkness of tone. Lahyani provided one of the best moments of the concert, in the Part II Air "He was despised and rejected", she sang the words "he hid not His face from shame and spitting" with chilling ferocity. 

"Mezzo-soprano Lahyani expertly conveyed the sexy and willful title character fluidly – one moment she could be enticingly saucy and the next moment aggressively taunting. Her voice deftly expressed Carmen’s desires with ease, from her enticing tra-la-las to her defiant refusal of Don José."

"Bravura debut performances are the highlights of the Israel Opera’s current production of Jules Massenet’s tragic opera 'Werther,' based on Goethe’s famous novel; Korean tenor Ho-Yoon Chung and Israeli Mezzo soprano Maya Lahyani— who portray tormented souls sinking into despair— breathe life into this production."

"Mezzo Soprano Maya Lahyani was simply wonderful. Her warm voice, measured vibrato, excellent intonation, dramatic vocal gestures, dynamic range of her voice, rhythmic flexibility, and excellent diction - all made the moments she was on stage extremely special. In fact, in such a performance, the emotional focus of the work (whether or not the composer meant it) became the inner struggle experienced by Charlotte. Lahyani was able to persuade especially at the beginning of the third act and during the fourth act that Charlotte was torn between her love for Werther and her loyalty to the institution of marriage. The quality of Lahyani's performance is, for me, a good reason to recommend watching and listening to this production."

"...act three quartet helped make that a moment where I wished we could have revived the tradition of bis. Please, repeat!
Especially after adding the husky, sensuous sound of Israeli mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani who sang a very sensual and seductive “Maddalena”. Vocally and visually, she gave the Duke good reason to not be so terribly faithful (if he ever was inclined that way)."

"Among the women, mezzosoprano Maya Lahyani brings a sumptuous roundness of tone (and a very seductive physicality) to the role of the amorous Maddalena."

"Just as the father-daughter relationship never seemed more real to me than in this performance, Maddalena’s affection for the Duke, who treated her as he did all women as little more than a piece of meat, rang true. Maya Lahyani has a dark, sultry mezzo-soprano voice with a truly distinctive timbre that roped me in hook, line and sinker."

"Maya Lahyani sings a most sultry Maddalena, the prostitute sister of Sparafucile who seduces the Duke in the final act. She has a warm, lush voice and a beautiful, statuesque figure and is really wonderful in this role."

"The luscious seductress Maddalena (Maya Lahyani) sang with an enticing mezzo that provided an excellent foil to Gilda’s coloratura innocence."

"Acting is indeed central to great opera, and here cast member Maya Lahyani as the sultry man-trap Maddalena is a standout. She infused her character with a delicious sexuality that made her seduction of the Duke all the more believable, and her husky mezzo voice juxtaposed with Gilda's pure tones made the quartet "Bella figlia dell' amore"(accompanied by Rigoletto and the Duke) a recording-worthy gem."

"Her timbre a good contrast to Gilda's, Maya Lahyani maximized the right assets for an effective Maddalena."

"Maya Lahyani played the role of Varvara with a light-hearted and free-spirited nature that provided some relief from the heaviness of Katya's situation. It also meshed wonderfully with Joshua Kohl's Kudrjas. The duets that featured the two lovers (Varvara and Kudrjas) were exceptionally well sung.

"Maya Lahyani made an appealingly free-spirited Varbara."

“Maya Lahyani’s plummy mezzo made an impact as a Mean Girls-esque Flora and seemed to connect particularly movingly with [her] Violetta.”

"If there were ever a mezzo-soprano perfectly suited to sing Carmen, it is Israeli-born Maya Lahyani, who combines a voice to die for with acting ability, beauty and stage presence. She is one of the few Carmens I have seen who makes Don Jose’s and Escamillo’s infatuation entirely believable."

"Maya Lahyani, the mezzo-soprano who sang the title role, brings both vocal suppleness and an alluring stage presence to the production, in healthy masure. Her two first-act showpieces, the “Habanera” and “Sequidilla,” were magnificently sultry, and her account of the dark, second act card aria, “En vain pour éviter,” touched on Carmen’s tragic side without overstating it." 

"In the title role, Maya Lahyani made a sensuous Carmen, her rich mezzo seductively persuasive in the Habanera and Seguidilla, and quite chilling in Act III’s “en vain pour éviter…” Her portrayal was powerful and gripping, particularly as she conveyed both Carmen’s bravado and her growing sense of doom."

"Maya Lahyani is a born Carmen. The demands of the role lie smoothly on her voice and she has strong resonance all across its range. Most of all, she created a charismatic figure that held the attention of every member of the audience. For a young singer who had only performed the title role of Carmen in two previous productions, her grasp of its intricacies was amazing."

"The comely nymphs were distinct in sound - Maya Lahyani's Dryad deep and extraordinarily rich." 

"Omar, the fourth Palestinian, was apparently written as a trouser role for a mezzo-soprano; in this case, dancer Jesse Kovarsky threw his body into contortions of despair (choreography by Arthur Pita), as Maya Lahyani, here identified as Palestine Woman, sang the part with a dark, well-rounded tone."

"Maya Lahyani brought an attractive, sultry tone and deftly sculpted phrasing to the title role... this was a vocally impressive Carmen, whether in seductive mode (Lahyani simmered nicely in "Je vais danser en votre honneur," clinking ale tankards and anything else she could find) or in furious outbursts of self-assertion. The mezzo revealed a good deal of assurance as an actress."

"Particular praise is due to the trio of Dísella Làrusdóttir, Renée Tatum and Maya Lahyani as Rusalka’s sisters. They blended beautifully and sounded distinctly individual in solos, a tricky balance to strike."

“Maya Lahyani’s velvety mezzo hit the mark as Marchesa Melibea”.

“Soprano Andrea Carroll and mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani (both of whom starred in Wolf Trap’s production of Rossini’s “The Journey to Reims” last month) got things off to a strong start with the “Barcarolle” duo from Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffmann,” showing off rich and supple voices as well as a subtle sense of drama.

Those qualities marked both women’s singing all evening.
Lahyani’s gorgeous mezzo voice was delicately balanced between anguish and nostalgia in Rachmaninoff’s “Do Not Sing for Me,” and her account of “Forgiveness” by the Israeli composer Oded Lerer — a beautiful piece in moody colors — was as lyrical as it was sensuous, delivered with quiet and convincing passion.”

“Maya Lahyani showed a promising dark contralto-colored mezzo as the Polish Marquise Melibea.”

“Maya Lahyani’s Page gamely did what was asked of her, and she sang with rich, ripe tone to boot.”

"Israeli mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani displayed an unusually rich voice as the Page."

“Performing live, mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani and Hadley McCarroll at the piano, glow iridescently in their rendering of pieces of Handel, Vivaldi and Richard Strauss, imbuing them with exquisite feeling.”

“Most impressive is the quality of the ensemble singing. I’ve rarely heard the three ladies — here the excellent Caitlin Lynch, Lauren McNeese and Maya Lahyani — sing with such precision of intonation and expression”.

“In the future-stardom sweepstakes came soprano Nadine Sierra and mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani, who joined forces for a sublime account of “Mir ist die ehre” from Act 2 of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier.” Sierra offered sumptuous, pointed singing as Sophie, and was matched by Lahyani’s dark-toned urgency as Octavian; as the two characters moved from formal politeness to increasingly dumbstruck love, the scene kept gaining depth and vigor.
Each of them proved equally terrific on her own… Lahyani’s evocation of the grief-stricken Dido from Berlioz’s “Les Troyens” was a powerful blend of earthy chest tones and emotional urgency."