"He also summarized the mixed critical reception in the German and Austrian press noting that the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" pronounced it "a triumph" but "Die Presse" described the opera's story as "smothered in operatic sugar-icing", with more than one review describing it as kitsch.Anne Midgette wrote in "The Washington Post" that "the language spoken by Catán's lovely score is universal