Amanda Forbes
“Amanda Forbes's engaging voice and personality flitted effortlessly between Monteverdi and Donizetti, a magical aria from Ambroise Thomas's Mignon, and Gilbert and Sullivan.”
— The Scotsman
“Amanda Forbes's engaging voice and personality flitted effortlessly between Monteverdi and Donizetti, a magical aria from Ambroise Thomas's Mignon, and Gilbert and Sullivan.”
— The Scotsman
Katharine Fuge
"...the delectable soprano Katharine Fuge sang with lip-smacking milky white tone...”
— The Times
Photo: Marco Borggreve
"...the delectable soprano Katharine Fuge sang with lip-smacking milky white tone...”
— The Times
Photo: Marco Borggreve
Sally Harrison
“Sally Harrison was a glorious Fiordiligi, fickle and remorseful with a beautiful singing voice.”
— Munster Express
“Sally Harrison was a glorious Fiordiligi, fickle and remorseful with a beautiful singing voice.”
— Munster Express
Nicki Kennedy
“... exceptional agility, clean diction and articulation, and virtuosity and mercifully good taste in ornamentation when it gets to cadences…delectable to listen to and a pleasure on the ear.”
— International Record Review
“... exceptional agility, clean diction and articulation, and virtuosity and mercifully good taste in ornamentation when it gets to cadences…delectable to listen to and a pleasure on the ear.”
— International Record Review
Denise Leigh
“What followed, tinged with hints of a natural-sounding Baker-Ferrier vibrato, was sparkling, buoyant, engaging… her dynamic range, and imagination, seemed more impressive than her colleagues'. She can surprise you. Most importantly, her voice evinced a love and tenderness towards the music…”
— The Independent
“What followed, tinged with hints of a natural-sounding Baker-Ferrier vibrato, was sparkling, buoyant, engaging… her dynamic range, and imagination, seemed more impressive than her colleagues'. She can surprise you. Most importantly, her voice evinced a love and tenderness towards the music…”
— The Independent
Alwyn Mellor
“Alwyn Mellor, oozing repression and torrential top notes is the superlative Chrysothemis….”
—The Guardian
“Alwyn Mellor, oozing repression and torrential top notes is the superlative Chrysothemis….”
—The Guardian
Mary Nelson
”Mary Nelson’s soprano combined clarity of diction with the ability to float long, florid phrases accurately and beautifully.”
— Chicago Tribune
”Mary Nelson’s soprano combined clarity of diction with the ability to float long, florid phrases accurately and beautifully.”
— Chicago Tribune
Sarah Redgwick
“Sarah Redgwick – a 100 watt light bulb of a voice – a most promising songbird”
— The Times
“Sarah Redgwick – a 100 watt light bulb of a voice – a most promising songbird”
— The Times
Rebecca Ryan
“The happiest discovery was the soprano Rebecca Ryan’s sparkling Angelica, supposedly Orlando’s inamorata but much more attracted by Medoro. Miss Ryan makes a delightful soubrette – and with depths beautifully displayed in the range and variety of her arias here. Everybody should want her as a Susanna for Figaro, or a Despina for Così, or a Zerlina for Don Giovanni: her intelligence, wit and charm would surely triumph”
— The Financial Times
“The happiest discovery was the soprano Rebecca Ryan’s sparkling Angelica, supposedly Orlando’s inamorata but much more attracted by Medoro. Miss Ryan makes a delightful soubrette – and with depths beautifully displayed in the range and variety of her arias here. Everybody should want her as a Susanna for Figaro, or a Despina for Così, or a Zerlina for Don Giovanni: her intelligence, wit and charm would surely triumph”
— The Financial Times
Katherine
Allen
“The sly wit of Ramiro was elegantly served up by Katherine Allen.”
— The Times
Winner of the Towyn Roberts Scholarship at the National Eisteddfod 2006
“The sly wit of Ramiro was elegantly served up by Katherine Allen.”
— The Times
Winner of the Towyn Roberts Scholarship at the National Eisteddfod 2006
Catherine King
“Catherine King has a voice that many singers would die — or even kill for. It is absolutely flawless, stunningly accurate, and its quality has a uniformity across the range that would make any other singer spit.”
— Early Music Review
Photo: Steve Mitchell
“Catherine King has a voice that many singers would die — or even kill for. It is absolutely flawless, stunningly accurate, and its quality has a uniformity across the range that would make any other singer spit.”
— Early Music Review
Photo: Steve Mitchell
Juliette Pochin
“Juliette Pochin’s charming mezzo maid…galvanised the plot and delighted the eye.”
— The Independent
“Juliette Pochin’s charming mezzo maid…galvanised the plot and delighted the eye.”
— The Independent
Claire Wilkinson
“Clare Wilkinson’s personification of Music has a magical quality which leaves no room for doubt that her art does indeed have the power to inspire and reflect all human emotions…”
— Early Music Review
Photo: Stefan Schweiger
“Clare Wilkinson’s personification of Music has a magical quality which leaves no room for doubt that her art does indeed have the power to inspire and reflect all human emotions…”
— Early Music Review
Photo: Stefan Schweiger
James
Laing
“The compelling young countertenor James Laing is becoming quite a master of sinister, ethereally pitched roles: he was outstanding as the Fox in Opera North's recent Pinocchio and is no less compelling here as an androgynously alien Oberon, his voice as sharp and scintillating as the diamante sarong and skull cap he is given to wear.”
— The Guardian
“The compelling young countertenor James Laing is becoming quite a master of sinister, ethereally pitched roles: he was outstanding as the Fox in Opera North's recent Pinocchio and is no less compelling here as an androgynously alien Oberon, his voice as sharp and scintillating as the diamante sarong and skull cap he is given to wear.”
— The Guardian
Michael Bracegirdle
“Michael Bracegirdle was a magnificently imperious Judge Danforth…”
— New York Times
“Michael Bracegirdle was a magnificently imperious Judge Danforth…”
— New York Times
Sean Clayton
“Sean Clayton, a tenor, has a lovely sound and a lively, flexible acting style that helped him move easily from a soulful account of “Vi ricorda o boschi ombrosi” from Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” to a more comic turn in Campra’s “Fêtes Vénitiennes.”
—New York Times
“Sean Clayton, a tenor, has a lovely sound and a lively, flexible acting style that helped him move easily from a soulful account of “Vi ricorda o boschi ombrosi” from Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” to a more comic turn in Campra’s “Fêtes Vénitiennes.”
—New York Times
Joseph Cornwell
“The star of the cast is without doubt Joseph Cornwell (Tamese), who complements clarity of tone and text with glorious expressiveness in that memorable first aria. For a tenor in Baroque repertoire, nothing exceeds the technical demands of Tamese’s two coloratura numbers (written for Annibale Pio Fabri, perhaps opera's first tenor to achieve the status of legend.) Cornwell handles them with staggering confidence.”
— International Record Review
“The star of the cast is without doubt Joseph Cornwell (Tamese), who complements clarity of tone and text with glorious expressiveness in that memorable first aria. For a tenor in Baroque repertoire, nothing exceeds the technical demands of Tamese’s two coloratura numbers (written for Annibale Pio Fabri, perhaps opera's first tenor to achieve the status of legend.) Cornwell handles them with staggering confidence.”
— International Record Review
James Edwards
"James Edwards’s Hoffmann was robust of tone, but generally well-controlled and with plenty of expressive phrasing, a good combination of attributes.”
—Opera
Photo: Clive Barda
"James Edwards’s Hoffmann was robust of tone, but generally well-controlled and with plenty of expressive phrasing, a good combination of attributes.”
—Opera
Photo: Clive Barda
Nicholas Ransley
“Nicholas Ransley’s Ramiro benefited from the best voice and technique heard to advantage in Rossini’s decorative lines.”
— Opera
Photo: Christoher Reece–Bowen
“Nicholas Ransley’s Ramiro benefited from the best voice and technique heard to advantage in Rossini’s decorative lines.”
— Opera
Photo: Christoher Reece–Bowen
Richard Roberts
“There was a particularly engaging Steersman from Richard Roberts, lyrically sung and attractively presented.”
— Opera
Photo: Lisa Kohler
“There was a particularly engaging Steersman from Richard Roberts, lyrically sung and attractively presented.”
— Opera
Photo: Lisa Kohler
Marc
Boucher
“The only thing to say about Boucher is let’s hear more! This singer is not only fabulous as a vocalist for all the right reasons … light as air, rich and deep at the same time. What more can a baritone be?”
— KW Record
Photo: Etienne Boucher–Cazabon
UK & Benelux
“The only thing to say about Boucher is let’s hear more! This singer is not only fabulous as a vocalist for all the right reasons … light as air, rich and deep at the same time. What more can a baritone be?”
— KW Record
Photo: Etienne Boucher–Cazabon
UK & Benelux
Jonathan Gunthorpe
“No one does it better than Jonathan Gunthorpe, whose performance as Papageno has such flair that you'd never guess that he was drafted in at short notice. A natural comic, he's Tommy Cooper one minute, Eric Morecambe the next, but he also sings with genuine charm.”
— Evening Standard
“No one does it better than Jonathan Gunthorpe, whose performance as Papageno has such flair that you'd never guess that he was drafted in at short notice. A natural comic, he's Tommy Cooper one minute, Eric Morecambe the next, but he also sings with genuine charm.”
— Evening Standard
Paul Carey Jones
“...at the 2005 Wexford Festival, Jones proved to be one of the vocal and dramatic highlights of an excellent season.”
— Opera News
“...at the 2005 Wexford Festival, Jones proved to be one of the vocal and dramatic highlights of an excellent season.”
— Opera News
Simon Lobelson
“…a classy performance, his baritone finessed and honed (like a young Gidon Saks) – and a dab hand as an actor.”
— Opera Now
“…a classy performance, his baritone finessed and honed (like a young Gidon Saks) – and a dab hand as an actor.”
— Opera Now
Wyn Pencarreg
“Wyn Pencarreg’s robust Father set standards that all the others should match.”
— The Times
“Wyn Pencarreg’s robust Father set standards that all the others should match.”
— The Times
Adrian Powter
“Well, if all round talent was anything to go by, I would plump for the Guglielmo of Adrian Powter, perfect in articulation, phrasing and ease of deportment.”
— Opera
“Well, if all round talent was anything to go by, I would plump for the Guglielmo of Adrian Powter, perfect in articulation, phrasing and ease of deportment.”
— Opera
Riccardo Simonetti
“...Riccardo Simonetti is every inch the swaggering Italianate baritone as Belcore.”
— The Guardian
“...Riccardo Simonetti is every inch the swaggering Italianate baritone as Belcore.”
— The Guardian
Simon Thorpe
“Simon Thorpe was a commanding Anckarström, moving from loyalist to assassin with complete conviction, and displaying true Verdian style throughout.”
— Opera
“Simon Thorpe was a commanding Anckarström, moving from loyalist to assassin with complete conviction, and displaying true Verdian style throughout.”
— Opera
Jeremy Carnall
“...under Jeremy Carnall’s inspirational baton, the musical standard was amazingly high, especially from the orchestra.”
— The Sunday Times
“...under Jeremy Carnall’s inspirational baton, the musical standard was amazingly high, especially from the orchestra.”
— The Sunday Times
Nicholas Jenkins
“A lively performance. Nicholas Jenkins conducted with authority. The afternoon passed all too quickly.”
— Musical Pointers
“A lively performance. Nicholas Jenkins conducted with authority. The afternoon passed all too quickly.”
— Musical Pointers
Alexander Walker
“It is without doubt that this young conductor will show himself to be a superlative director of the orchestra possessing outstanding musical and conducting qualities.”
— Professor Ilya Musin
“It is without doubt that this young conductor will show himself to be a superlative director of the orchestra possessing outstanding musical and conducting qualities.”
— Professor Ilya Musin
Martin Lloyd-Evans
“…what joy to watch the direct, effective staging of director Martin Lloyd-Evans and designer Bridget Kimak, complete with genuine stage magic as the airport finally dissolves into a sky of stars.”
— The Times
“…what joy to watch the direct, effective staging of director Martin Lloyd-Evans and designer Bridget Kimak, complete with genuine stage magic as the airport finally dissolves into a sky of stars.”
— The Times