"In the title role, American countertenor John Holiday’s performance is marked by extraordinary agility and a resonant timbre that captures Akhnaten’s reformist impulses and spirituality, as well as the character’s androgyny... He sings a robust and glistening “Hymn to the Sun,”... with striking clarity and eloquence."

"Timeless"

"John Holiday... made the role come alive"

"Countertenor John Holiday was a spiteful, swaggering Tolomeo, most impressive in his dazzling high register. He also had the most striking outfit, with a burgundy coat and jeweled, high-heeled Louboutin boots."

"A thing of astonishing beauty"

"John Holiday [had a] compelling turn as Cleopatra’s brother Ptolemy, his countertenor flexible, his ornamentation nimble." ★★★★

"Arrestingly powerful, secure and dramatically high"

"During Holiday’s impressive performance, pain and hope intertwine in the same phrase — a show of skill that also produces a vertiginous, operatic power."

"The countertenor John Holiday was a nasty Tolomeo with a stylish approach to the music. Holiday navigated the role’s demanding shifts in register with grace, even when villainous."

"Holiday imbues everything he sings, regardless of genre, with his warm personal style and opulent voice, making classics from Handel to Thelonious Monk sparkle anew."

"He has a gorgeous, expressive voice, that somehow balances sweetness and power, whether he's singing Baroque, gospel, American songbook or jazz."

"Commanding countertenor John Holiday gave a rapturous account of these florid gems...[and] a bravura account of four Henry Purcell songs in Morris’ 1985 'One Charming Night'... his ample, alluring voice sailed confidently through the hall."

"One of the finest countertenors of his generation."

"His Double was countertenor John Holiday who displayed a fresh sound that melded with Mr. Hopkins seamlessly which was surely the intention."

"As her brother, Tolomeo, countertenor John Holiday’s performance suggested [Cleopatra] wasn’t the only Egyptian royal with theatrical inclinations. Sporting sparkly Louboutins, Holiday’s piqued Pharoah — his vocal line peppered with appropriately excitable extensions — proved an essential part of the mix." ★★★★★

"Exceptional [and] strong...even in its highest range"

"Holiday is a force of nature, no doubt about it. His voice is supple, fierce, exceptionally beautiful, and has the power of the Radio City Music Hall organ. If there's a modern day Farinelli (the 18th century's star singer), he's it. Wonderfully dynamic, possessed of star wattage, somewhat celestial, he sings as if he had iron lungs."

"The performance from an exceptional talent like Holiday, who was on a stage for the first time in a year, was probably the next best thing to attending an opera."