Neil Fisher (The Times) on Albert Herring:

"...draw[s] out a series of vivid cameos from a young cast, nearly all of whom relish the chance to drop the hauteur of grand opera for something more subtle. Katherine Broderick leads the pack as the insufferable Lady Billows, appropriately billowing out in Edwardian brocade and magisterial voice. But close behind is Ben Johnson’s raptly sensitive rendition of the title role, Benedict Nelson’s engaging Sid, and a particularly effective Miss Wordsworth, twittering away in Emma Jayakumar’s silvery soprano. Peter Robinson conducts the Southbank Sinfonia with alacrity."

Michael Tanner (The Spectator) on The Magic Flute & Albert Herring:

"[For The Magic Flute] BYO is fortunate to have the conductor Michael Lloyd steering them through: his conception of the work is traditional, and the size of the Southbank Sinfonia, just under 40 players, ensures that the sound is fairly full but transparent…

…Amar Muchala, originally from Bombay, who performs Tamino in a way that puts him, as he should be, but almost never is, at the centre of the audience’s interest. Tamino tends, thanks to the deficiencies of the text, to alternate between being a wimp and a prig, but Muchala, with his handsome looks, romantic acting and eloquent, free singing, gives us a character who develops from being primarily conscious of his royal status to being concerned to discover the fullest potential of being human…

…the Queen of the Night [is] taken with ferocious intensity by Emily Rowley Jones. I’d be surprised if we don’t see and hear a lot more of her and Muchala…

… the Three Ladies are as fine a set as you would see anywhere, their characters subtly differentiated in a way they almost never are…

Albert Herring grows in stature, for me, each time I see it. BYO’s production does it proud by taking it as seriously as Britten intended, with no hamming on the part of anyone, so no condescending mirth and no false pathos … I wish I had space to do justice to this production, which was uniformly excellent, and conducted to a T by Peter Robinson."

Simon Thomas (Music OMH) on Albert Herring:

"Founded in 1987, British Youth Opera celebrates its 21st Birthday this year with productions of The Magic Flute and Albert Herring and, if the opening night of Britten's comic opera is anything to go by, this is an organisation that has really come of age. And age is a crucial factor in this work, with the cast having to span the whole range from maturity to childhood.

Make no mistake, this is no ordinary youth group but, with most of the cast at the end of their formal training and some on the brink of significant operatic careers, they achieve an incredibly high standard. If it takes a while to get used to the crusty burghers of Loxford being played by performers in their twenties, this is soon forgotten because of the precise and colourful characterisations served up by the talented cast. Not surprisingly, because she's already a young professional of note, Katherine Broderick shines as the matriarchal Lady Billows, whose waste bin overflows with the sins of the parish.

At the other end of the age range, singers are required to play the ball-bouncing scamps of the village, although young Adam Rollingson's lively contribution adds an authentic note. Where the singers are playing closest to their own ages, we get the strongest performances of the evening. Benedict Nelson and Tania Mandzy are a sexy couple as Sid and Nancy, basking in the glow of their coveted peches (both peaches and sins in French) and defying their elders at every turn.

Ben Johnson's Albert Herring is quite outstanding. This young tenor, a prize-winner in last week's Wigmore Hall International Song Competition, is enormously appealing as the virginal mummy's boy who breaks out to find his true self somewhere beyond the bounds of a narrow-minded and oppressive society. The exact nature of Albert's escapade is not revealed but surely what Britten and librettist Eric Crozier intended would have more than made Lady Billows blush. Even in a work of this nature Britten's oft-repeated and heavily-disguised preoccupations can be found lurking.

William Kerley's brilliantly observed direction can hardly be faulted. Word-pointing could be punchier at times; when you have three rhymes together (even though many are curiously half-rhymes), it pays to drive them home and here there is a tendency for them to trail away. That apart, Kerley and conductor Peter Robinson pay heed to the wealth of details that Britten and Crozier give them, the latter steering the Southbank Sinfonia with characteristic relish and tremendous precision.

Not to give a complete cast list is not to denigrate the contributions of the rest of the company. This is a wonderful ensemble performance, full of technical proficiency.

Albert Herring may be Britten's only comedy but this is a score of such deftness and invention that the piece is bound to leave you wishing he'd ventured into the territory more often. It is both genuinely funny and, like so much of the composer's output, hauntingly beautiful. The ensembles, particularly the last act Threnody mourning the death of Albert, only to be broken by his jaunty return, are sublime.

With Britten's opera performed rarely (ok, Glyndebourne is touring it this autumn), I can only advise you to hurry along to the Peacock and snap up the remaining tickets for the two final performances of the British Youth Opera's all too short run."

Serena Fenwick (Musical Pointers) on The Magic Flute:

“Emily Rowley Jones successfully negotiated the high coloratura of the Queen of Night (a role she will repeat for GSMD in the coming term).   Her Three Ladies (Alinka Kozari, Sigridur Osk Kristjansdottir and Emma Carrington, in gorgeous period ball gowns in shades of red and sinister glow-in-the-dark eye makeup, were as good a singing trio as I have heard in these roles.

Sarastro (Philip Gerrard) and his followers had elegantly gold trimmed robes and deliver their lines with the gravest clarity.  Nicholas Lester (Speaker) and Adam Tunnicliffe and John Savournin (Priests) deserve special mention in this context.

With several hundred singers auditioning to take part in their performances, BYO can cast from strength down to the smallest role and the chorus sung with the force of the group of soloists that they were.

It was like a delicious dream which for once ended happily."

Michael Church (The Independent) on Albert Herring:

“In this drama, every voice must be that of a soloist, and when the principal characters take their turn in the spotlight for the opening debate, it's clear these young singers are up to the job. After Lady Billows (Katherine Broderick) has made her entrance with splendid gravitas, the vicar (David Butt-Philip), the housekeeper (Kristen Darragh), the headmistress (Emma Jayakumar), and the mayor (Gareth John) all step forward to deliver their pieces, like characters in a Cruikshank cartoon. […]

When Ben Johnson made his entry as Albert, bustling round his shop while Sid and Nancy (Benedict Nelson and Tania Mandzy) pushed him around, we had the full roster, and events could start to unfold. This is a tale of an oppressed young man who is made to get drunk and thus finds himself, and Johnson's portrayal of this development was masterly. There was no whiff of suppressed homosexuality: just a boy needing to say no to his domineering mother, and yes to a paid-for roll in the hay … an exemplary show.”

AUDIENCE COMMENTS:

"a fresh entertaining production"

"It was a lovely production, very well sung and acted.   The young singers and musicians in this country - who give us so much pleasure - are fortunate indeed to have your unstinting support."

"I was astonished by the quality of the performances.   Among a company of highly talented performers it is not fair to single out people, but I thought David Butt Philip stood out for the beauty and control of his voice. Katherine Broderick, who made an excellent Tatania last year, was highly convincing...  Ben Johnson and the make-up people did a great job on making him seem slightly simple, and he was totally convincing and moving."

"the most enjoyable Magic Flute I can recall, one that contained many features as fine as anything I have heard in 45 years of Flutes."

"Magnificent - Albert Herring was gorgeous and the production was fabulous"