Martin Bernheimer __________________________________________________________ "The Los Angeles Times"

"She manipulates the tone at her command- smoky and occasionally even raspy(...) with conversational nonchalance rather than emphatic force._______________________________________________________________________ _But she knwos what she is doing, and what she does is compelling. This woman is smart. This woman is tough. This woman takes chances..____________________________________ _She exudes earthiness in the manner of Anna Magnani-not Rita Hayworth... Araya's Carmen can be brash and vulgar one moment, innocent and playful the next. She doesn't fake anything, doesn't exagerate, doesn't stoop to charades. She colors the text subtly. Her verismo seductress is a woman, not a girl, and for all her smiling and pouting, a fascinatingly dangerous woman. ____________________________________________________________ _This Carmen certainly isn't bigger than life. It is never altogether clear why all of Seville should be at her feet. Perhaps that doesn't matter She is obviously amused at the prospect of unexplained power, and she makes the most of her fatal opportunities."