reviews

REVIEWS
MusicWeb International
    MusicWeb International

    MusicWeb International

    “The wonderful Chilean-born Valentina Montoya Martínez could have been born to play María. She captures the eponymous heroine’s extremes of strength and vulnerability, her feistiness and sensuality in a reading of great subtlety and perception. Her delivery of the wonderful Yo soy María in Part One (if this was a rock opera, I feel sure this would have been the single) reveals her fearlessness and fragility in four minutes of perfection. As Part One proceeds, Martínez conveys the inevitability of María’s fate with a measured insouciance that convinces at all levels”

    Opera
      Opera

      Opera Magazine Review

      “Valentina Montoya Martínez’ María is a vocal performance of richly nuanced, wholly idiomatic sophistication”

       The Guardian
        The Guardian

        Review – Maria de Buenos aires

        “Valentina Montoya Martínez unflinching as María”

        Gramophone
          Gramophone

          review -maria de buenos aires

          “Montoya Martínez, her voice earthy and lived-in, captures the defiance and vitality that drive María on”

          The Sunday Times
            The Sunday Times

            Feature on Valentina

            “Montoya-Martínez is a voice we should be grateful came north”

            Opera News
              Opera News

              review – La Pasionaria

              • “This is more than just a really good tango disc: it’s a document of fervently expressed personal history…By the time we get to the penultimate “Yo soy María,” in which the title character of Piazzolla’s opera introduces herself in all her multifacetedness, we’re ready to buy Martínez as a noble, passionate, persevering Latin American everywoman who both addresses the tango (in her simultaneously accusing and admiring number “Tango de la espera”) and embodies it ”

              The Scotsman
                The Scotsman

                Live concert at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh

                “There’s something quite extraordinary about the range of sentiment and expression she draws from a set of songs that are intrinsically tango-based, though the reason is obvious when you consider that these are based on stories from her own interesting life, from childhood in Chile to exile in England” (Queen’s Hall, María de Buenos Aires article)

                Three Weeks Reviews
                  Three Weeks Reviews

                  live concert – Valentina and Voces del Sur – Edinburgh Festival

                  “The Latin voices of Central and South America. Songs of exile, love, social defiance and freedom, and a stunning voice that prickles the hairs, Voces Del Sur were wonderful; a small, unpretentious acoustic four-piece group playing various, sometimes politically-charged songs, of ‘freedom and having your wings clipped’. Chilean vocalist Valentina Montoya Martínez was incredible, decked in red poncho and strumming along like some sylvan beauty” (Edinburgh Festival)

                  The Scotsman
                    The Scotsman

                    La Pasionaria review

                    “While the project has been several years in gestation, as singer Valentina Montoya Martínez declared, it was worth the wait. Montoya, although born in Chile, was destined to sing these dramatic songs of the River Plate region that joins Argentina to Uruguay. Gamine and darkly dramatic with an attractive flinty personality, her beautifully expressive voice coupled with her exile background, defined the night”

                    The Jazz Breakfast Review
                      The Jazz Breakfast Review

                      live concert – Valentina and Voces del Sur – el sueno existe festival

                      • “However, the musical highlight for me and I suspect for many of the audience was the appearance of a Chilean singer based in Scotland, Valentina, singing a mix of folk songs and more upbeat numbers with her Voces del Sur group” (El Sueño Existe Festival review)

                      The Artdesk
                        The Artdesk

                        review – La Pasionaria CD

                        “Martínez’s lyrics are superb; these are songs of longing, nostalgia and regret. But they’re always projected via musical settings of incredible vitality and wit. The best have personal resonance – songs about long-forgotten friends, or the lives of Martínez’s own parents. And hers is such an expressive, compelling voice, especially so when she interrupts her cantilena to speak directly to the listener” (La Pasionaria CD review)

                        The Edinburgh Evening News
                          The Edinburgh Evening News

                          live concert, Valentina and Voces del Sur

                          “Russell’s intricate lines wove in and out of the luxuriant melodies that poured out of Montoya-Martínez – her voice potent and emotional”

                          The Sunday Times
                            The Sunday Times

                            Feature on Valentina

                            “In the hands of Martínez music is a gloriously international affair. The bubbly Chilean is the lead singer of the Scottish cult world music band Voces del Sur and happily adopted Scot. Martínez is a woman who it is easy to admire. She has experienced tragedy in her life but has dealt with it with enviable fortitude”

                            BBC music magazine
                              BBC music magazine

                              Maria de buenos aires review

                              “Valentina Montoya Martínez gives the central character a full flavoured vocal embodiment”

                              McAlister Matheson Music
                                McAlister Matheson Music

                                La Pasionaria review

                                “Martínez’s songs, inspired by Chilean folksongs, tell the story of Chile’s changing fortunes. Songs such as Sola were written in response to the death of activist Sola Sierra, whilst the heart-felt Madre selva is a tribute to Martínez’s mother. Notable straight away in the first song, Los paraguas de Buenos Aires, is the richness of Martínez’s voice – she captures the full spectrum of emotions that the music demands” (La Pasionaria CD review)

                                Musical Criticism.Com
                                  Musical Criticism.Com

                                  Valentina with Mr McFall’s Chamber at the Queen’s Hall

                                  “Ms Martínez’s journey to Scotland has been a challenging one since leaving her native Chile in the late 1970s as the daughter of a political refugee. Without being overt or melodramatic, the backstory lends that particular kind of authenticity to her performance that engenders engagement and intimacy with her audience. Whether she was interpreting Piazzolla or her own material, most memorably ‘La Partida/Leaving’, and ‘Sola’, she held the audience’s rapt attention and, after two encores, definitely left them wanting more“. (Mr McFall’s Chamber tango night Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh)

                                  Three Weeks Review
                                    Three Weeks Review

                                    Valentina and Voces del Sur – Edinburgh Festival

                                    “Valentina’s voice is world class – big bold and full of the defiant soul which inspired much of the music from this vibrant region” Three Weeks Review

                                    The Edinburgh Reporter
                                      The Edinburgh Reporter

                                      Valentina and mr mcfall’s chamber concert review

                                      “It helped the authenticity that the ad hoc classical-based ensemble was joined by a few key interlopers – most of all, the wonderfully supple, ringing voice of regular collaborator Valentina Montoya Martínez, a Chilean singer-songwriter (now based in Scotland) who performed a selection of her sensuous songs in the first half. ‘Tango de la espera’ brought out real bite from the five-strong string section to accompany Martínez’s intricate vocal line, and ‘Versos’, her account of the Chilean military abducting her father when she was a young girl, had touching passion”