Il barbiere di Siviglia
Rosina | Pittsburgh Opera | October 2023
“Stephanie Doche, also making her Pittsburgh Opera debut, has it all. Her velvety mezzo-soprano voice, her comedic acting skills and beautiful stage presence make for an excellent Rosina. Her resonant voice…is negotiated with a secure loveliness, and her “business” and asides are engaging.”
onStage Pittsburgh
“Standouts include Stephanie Doche as Rosina in a triumphant Pittsburgh Opera debut…”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Il barbiere di Siviglia
Rosina | Florida Grand Opera | April-May 2023
“Doche, a former FGO Studio artist, was an aptly coquettish Rosina. Her dusky mezzo timbre is luxuriant but she can spin patter at top speed and her high register has a strong foundation. “Una voce poco fa” and the music lesson scene were showstoppers, sung with plush tone and dexterity. Both Doche and Angelini ornamented their arias in a tasteful manner, the additional trills and melodic variants adding an extra dose of fireworks. With her impressive singing and theatrical flair, Doche appears destined for a major operatic career.” …
“Michele Angelini as Almaviva and Stephanie Doche as Rosina are clearly the stars of this show…the pair playing off each other with split-second comedic timing and blending mellifluously in duets and ensembles.”
SOUTH FLORIDA CLASSICAL REVIEW
“Mezzo Stephanie Doche displayed magnificent technique, a complete arsenal of carefully articulated pyrotechnics. In the cavatina ‘Una voce poco fa,’ she demonstrated with complete clarity the two sides of Rosina's personality - a young, gentle ingenue and a woman in love capable of weaving any ruse in order to attain the love of Lindoro.”
Pró Opera
Ariodante
Ariodante | Opera Neo | August 2022
“Extraordinary singing by Stephanie Doche in the title role.” …
“The castrato who created the part of Ariodante was a virtuoso, and Handel took advantage of that skill with several astonishing arias. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Doche conquered these vocal challenges with bravura. She looked the part of the dashing hero to boot. She easily navigated difficult runs and roulades, even when called upon to walk across the company’s legs in an illustration of love’s flight on the wings of constancy.” …
“Doche’s aria “Scherza infida” showcased beautiful sustained tones, roundly shaped with imperceptible breaths buoying the melody.”
San Diego Union-Tribune
“In last summer’s Opera Neo production of Handel’s Serse, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Doche proved stellar in the title role, so my expectations for her Ariodante were high. As she sailed through every challenging, vocally intricate aria with unflinching command and vocal allure, she left those high expectations in the dust. But Doche had more than brilliant pyrotechnics in her quiver. Her compelling, second act aria “Scherza infida,” Ariodante’s lament of betrayal by his beloved, proved emotionally searing, one of those moments in opera that suspends time.”
San Diego Story
La Cenerentola
Angelina | Pacific Opera project | August 2021
“There was much to enjoy, especially Stephanie Doche’s Cenerentola. Could it be that in this French–American artist we have a rare instance of a contralto coloratura? Doche sounds most at ease in her distinctive lower voice, the part of her range that best suits Cenerentola’s strangely vulnerable personality….the sense of growth in Doche’s voice expressed Angelina’s progress from abused servant to mature, decisive woman.”
Opera News
“In a perfectly chosen cast…a charming performance by Stephanie Doche as Cenerentola whose warm mezzo and impressive range give an intimation of purpose under the fragility of the downtrodden heroine.”
Stage and Cinema
Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno
Piacere | Opera Neo | August 2023
“As the imperious Piacere, Doche gave a striking, flamboyant edge to Pleasure, subduing with apparent ease the composer’s most daunting fioriture as her resonant mezzo-soprano amply filled the hall.”
San Diego Story
“Pleasure, set from the outset as a dangerous siren, was sung with infectious and wicked purpose by Stephanie Doche. At every turn, her character pulls at Beauty like the friend from whom parents want their children to steer clear, as in her aria “A graceful young man,” which beckons Beauty away from the path of righteousness.…[their] duet was astonishing as the two youthful characters joined in thrilling parallel cascading scales. All of Opera Neo’s singers understand the dramatic details of Handel’s vocal writing, in which melismas become emotional flourishes, alternatively celebratory, spiteful, pathetic.”
San Diego Union-Tribune
Rigoletto
Maddalena | Florida Grand Opera | March-April 2022
“As Maddalena, Stephanie Doche was sexy and alluring with the warm, smoky mezzo to entice the Duke and listeners alike. (Doche did double duty, also playing Giovanna, Rigoletto’s servant, ably.) In the Act IV storm scene, as Sparafucile and Maddalena debate whether to kill the Duke, the tension between Boehler and Doche generated sparks.”
South Florida Classical Review
Serse
Serse | Opera Neo | August 2021
“In the title role, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Doche confidently sailed through acres of fioritura, either expressing intense ardor for Romilda or explosive anger facing her rejection. In addition to such facility, she revealed a stunning, bright upper range that should make most sopranos jealous.”
San Diego Story
Trouble in Tahiti
Toledo | Opera Memphis | April 2019
“Stephanie Doche conveyed Dinah’s despair at the loving warmth she once felt slipping away. Her smoky mezzo and luxuriant lower register radiated the sadness and hope of Dinah’s soliloquy in her analyst’s office. Her rendition of “Island Magic…” was delivered with the vociferous panache of a belter on the Great White Way.” …
“Simpson and Doche’s voices blended in melting tones at the conclusion as Sam and Dinah searched for a way to connect again.”
South Florida Classical Review
The Falling and the Rising
Toledo | Opera Memphis | April 2019
“Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Doche is explosively eloquent as Toledo, the tough-as-nails “grown-ass woman” who reveals her past to the Army psychiatrist.”
Memphis Flyer
La Cenerentola
Angelina | Opera Neo | August 2019
“In Stephanie Doche, Artistic Director Peter Kozma found an admirable Cinderella. Her beautifully modulated mezzo-soprano with its surprisingly brilliant top adapted to every requirement, from the doleful simplicity of Rossini’s imitation folk song “Una volta, c’era un re”…to the glorious pyrotechnics of her stunning victory aria, “Nacqui all’affanno e al pianto.”
San Diego Story
Agrippina
Narciso | Florida Grand Opera | May 2022
“Stephanie Doche’s richly colored mezzo made the most of Narciso’s brief interjections.”
South Florida Classical Review
In Concert
Opera Neo | February and July 2019
“Her Carmen flashed dramatic hauteur, and her darkly shaded voice exuded allure.”
“Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Doche lit the fire with her bold, smoldering “Habanera” from Bizet’s Carmen, and I was ready to call 911 when tenor Dane Suarez as Don José reacted with equal zeal to Doche’s impassioned, seductive “Seguidilla” from the same act of Carmen.” …
“…Doche sang “Non piu mesta” with triumphant grandeur, unleashing cascades of thrilling fioritura, a clear indication that in this title role, Doche will prove an excellent choice for Rossini’s bel canto Cinderella.”
San Diego Story
A Streetcar Named Desire
Eunice Hubbell | Florida Grand Opera | January - February 2022
“Stephanie Doche etched a sympathetic portrait of the Kowalskis’ neighbor Eunice with the dusky mezzo to match.”
South Florida Classical Review
Idomeneo
Idamante | Opera Neo | August 2018
“In her boldly convincing trouser role, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Doche’s Idamante communicated the prince’s love for Ilia as well as his loyalty to his father with fervent, commanding vocal prowess.”
San Diego Story
American Composers Series
Florida Grand Opera | February - March 2021
“As the all-knowing maid Rosine who sorts everything out, Doche mixed nimble vocalism with deft comic timing.”
“As Pamela, Stephanie Doche was alternately nervous, poignant and funny with a richly colored mezzo to make the heroine’s outbursts take flight.”
South Florida Classical Review
Così fan tutte
Dorabella | Opera Neo | August 2017
“…mezzo Stephanie Doche (Dorabella) started strong and ended in triumph, with stops at honeyed duets and high-powered arias along the way.”