"Elisabeth Smalt's bronzed viola tones are a true delight" — Maria Nockin, Fanfare

“In the Brahms sonata, with their refined ensemble playing, Smalt and Brackman invited the audience to follow them into a heavenly world. Tenderness, beauty of tone and melodic richness lead to a well-balanced climax. Such music and such musicians are the reason one goes to a concert"

—  Henk Pruijsen, Wieringer Courant 2 april 2010; about concert March 28 in Hyppolitushoef

 “Take Woman, Viola and Crow, wherein top musician Elisabeth Smalt with a vulnerable voice sings along with the sparse tones on her viola. There sound footsteps, the rattling of a string of shells, and the calling of crows. All very miraculous and enchanting.”
— Anthony Fiumara, TROUW, 22 November 2008

"For example, in Woman, Viola and Crow, the most direct and impressive work on the disc, Denyer clothes the viola soloist in special shoes, to amplify her footsteps, and in a coat of rattles, which she shakes to punctuate her fragile melodies and vocalisations. Elisabeth Smalt gives a hugely impressive performance of utter conviction Elisabeth Smalt gives a hugely impressive performance of utter conviction – something entirely necessary in this fragile, evanescent music which often exists on the borders of silence. Smalt plays with immense subtlety and control, bringing purpose to often barely audible harmonics, brittle pizzicatos and breathy, whispered notes, which she combines with singing, humming or whistling. It seems as if some kind of abstract theatre or ritual is taking place – a feeling only emphasised by the sinister crow calls that Smalt sporadically emits.

—David Kettle, The Strad, 2008 , about Woman, Viola and Crow -Frank Denyer

“Willing to play the “my favorites” game, I’d go with Elisabeth Smalt’s heartbroken phrasing in Music For Viola” — Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes;  about Yannis Kyriakides’s Music For Viola, 2017

“Composed over a period of 19 years, this 32-minute sonata, though, is for viola, not piano. On a darkened stage, the exceptional Elisabeth Smalt moved to six different music stands, one of them behind a curtain surrounded by strings of blue lights on the floor. A vase of irises on stage represented the dead. The opposition was in the music, mournful and distant when the soloist was hidden or had her back to the audience, prophetic when she faced her listeners”

—Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times 2015; about Patrick Ozzard-Low’s Sonata in Opposition

"The flighty viola part is superbly rendered by Elisabeth Smalt" 

—Colin Clarke, Tempo Magazine; about Christopher Fox’s Natural Science

“This is another stretch for the player, and Elisabeth Smalt is magnificent throughout, with perfect control, remarkable technique and the kind of musical flair that makes such a work convincing at every corner and as a whole”

—Dominy Clemens, MusicWeb International; about Patrick Ozzard-Low’s Sonata in Opposition

 "The playing of Elisabeth Smalt is perfection itself" —Paul Corfield Godfrey, MusicWeb International