"Donnie Ray Albert. The Porgy of the Calgary Opera’s 1988 Porgy and Bess, plainly was the near-ideal man to fulfill the dramatic and musical challenges Strauss set his John the Baptist. His is truly the voice of a prophet, a pillar of sound. Once out of the cistern, he was a terrifying presence. John does nothing but stand and sing, with economical but pointed movement, Albert made him appear a vibrant, active participant in the drama."

Eric Dawson, CALGARY HERALD [Salome]

"Albert wasted no time establishing himself as the man of the hour. The program touted him as ‘the definitive Porgy’ – no small claim – but even those slanted editorial paragraphs written by publicity agents failed to mention that he may be a definitive baritone-period,"

Michael Frazier, THE OAK RIDGER [Porgy and Bess]

 "Donnie Ray Albert was an Iago as powerful in voice as he was sinister in character. The depth of Albert’s baritone and variety of its timbres vividly colored his splendid singing. An accident the previous week had put his right knee in a walking cast, compelling him to carry a walking stick and limp. This physical disability added another interesting facet, another reason for Otello’s resentment and malevolence. And it caused a distinctive quality of movement and presence – as when the large man, off-balance, would lean over his victims or when he fetched up, sprawled across a bench for the climax of Iago’s hate-filled ‘Credo’."

Robert Commanday, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE [Otello]

"Albert’s debut portrayal of Iago was extraordinarily well drawn. His handsome bass-baritone voice projected strongly, always with just the right amount of cynicism. His rendering of the Credo (when Iago expresses belief in cruel god) was one of the evening’s finest moments."

Robert A. Masullo, THE SCARAMENT BEE [Otello]

"Rigoletto, however, got a definite upgrade September 3, when Donnie Ray Albert stepped into the title part. The years since his mid-’70 Porgy in Houston Grand Opera’s widely traveled and well recorded Porgy and Bess have seen his talent develop and gain polish. And his Rigoletto the other night was acted truthfully and sung with an open, Italianate warmth that reminded me of Cornell MacNeil in his prime."

Leighton Kerner, VILLAGE VOICE [Rigoletto]

"Donnie Ray Albert was Riccardo’s lieutenant governor and romantic rival. The baritone earned one of the evening’s biggest ‘bravos’ with his third-act soliloquy, which brings to mind Otello’s famous ‘Ora e per sempre addio’ aria."

Catherine Reese, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE [Un Ballo In Maschera]

"The Calgary Opera’s first staging of Verdi’s 1812 drama Nabuccu is happy confirmation that the grand opera voice, however rare in these times, is not extinct, simply more difficult to come by than it was in past generations. In the title role, baritone Donnie Ray Albert demonstrates further aspects of an imposing talent. Albert has already appeared on the Jubilee stage as an ingratiating Porgy in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and a statuesque Jokanaan in Strauss’s Salome. Nabucco calls on entirely different musical and dramatic styles, and Albert’s responses are always fresh, natural and pleasing."

Eric Dawson, CALGARY HERALD [Nabucco]

"Donnie Ray Albert made a commanding Amonasro."

Tim Smith, OPERA NEWS [Aida]

"Albert is a spectacular singer who combined a capacious stage presence with a voice that could capture the pathos and vulnerability of the Dutchman as well as his force and fury."

Kyle MacMillan, OMAHA WORLD HERALD [Der Fliegende Hollander]

"The strongest overall performance came from Donnie Ray Albert in the title role. The role of Nabucco is neither very grateful nor sympathetic for the singer. Albert performed the difficult part with genuine vocal heft and a strong, uncomplicated stage presence, bringing to the role as much as Verdi’s aggressively loud score permits."

 Kenneth DeLong, OPERA CANADA [Nabucco]

"I have heard all the great Porgys starting with the creator of the role, Todd Duncan, and none has been better than Donnie Ray Albert."

John Ardoin, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS [Porgy and Bess]

"As Nabucco, Donnie Ray Albert offered a robust baritone, with a bit of a burr at the top of the voice that was ideal for the role. He lent humanity to this sometimes one-dimensional character, and his Act III duet with Flanigan was the high point of the evening."

Craig Zeichner, OPERA NEWS [Nabucco]

"Ability verged in greatness in the case of baritone Donnie Ray Albert, who played the servant-turned-revolutionary Gerard in the Friday/Sunday cast. His was stirring, heroic, laser-straight voice. His Act II soliloquy was masterfully delivered. Albert earned an ovation as huge as his instrument."

Mike Greenberg, THE SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS [Andrea Chenier]

"The three principal singers, all Americans, acquit themselves capably. Deborah Voigt is a plaintive Bianca, …, while Donnie Ray Albert dominates the performance musically and dramatically as an authoritative Simone, the avenging cuckold."

John von Rhein, CHICAGO TRIBUNE [Zemlinsky: A Florentine Tragedy, EMI recording]

"… the devilish atmosphere… by Donnie Ray Albert’s villains … was convincing in all four parts … as Hoffmann’s evil opponent…"

Carl H. Hiller, OPERA [Tales of Hoffmann]

“From his first, world-weary appearance on stage as the overture concluded, Albert bore not only the hunchback jester’s physical pain but his total transformation from mocking tool of the duke to blood-thirsty seeker of vengeance. His commanding baritone won the audience.”

Daniel Buckley, Tucson Citizen [Rigoletto]

“The role of bad-guy Sheriff Jack Rance fell to Donnie Ray Albert, whose powerful, lucid baritone dominated his every scene, He also used his commanding stage presence to make his character a little less hateful, but no less menacing.”

Kenneth La Fave, Opera News [La Fanciulla del West]

“Dressed like an Old Testament patriarch, Donnie Ray Albert made a magisterial, sorrowful Wotan.”

Willard Spiegelman, Opera News [Die Walküre]