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‘The choice was fully vindicated by a talented cast which responded with obvious enthusiasm and no little accomplishment. These were young artists who could not only sing modern opera to the manner born but act convincingly...There was not a weak link...The Royal Academy Sinfonia played not just with confidence but with utter conviction and the audience left buzzing after a Night to remember.’
Opera Now, July 2006
(Royal Academy Opera: Judith Weir A Night at the Chinese Opera)

‘The frighteningly good Academy Symphonic Wind conducted by Keith Bragg… get every tricky corner of
Strauss’s lush Sonatina No.1 for 16 wind instruments just right.’
Metro, June 2006

The Royal Academy of Music staged only the second UK production of A Night at the Chinese Opera, and it was an evening of music-theatre magic.’
Sunday Times, June 2006

‘The show is stunningly delivered by students who seem not only to understand the hybrid medium but to revel in its startling changes of tone. If the casts of major opera houses acted with half the panache my life would be much improved.’
The Times, March 2006
‘A must-see music-theatrical event.’
The Stage, March 2006
(Royal Academy Opera: Judith Weir A Night at the Chinese Opera)

No allowances needed to be made for the performers’ student status... overall the standard of performance deserves nothing but praise.’
Opera, June 2006
(Royal Academy Opera: Judith Weir A Night at the Chinese Opera)

‘The playing is impeccable.’
The Guardian, June 2006
(Symphonic Wind perform Strauss, Messiaen and Stravinsky)

‘This release on the Royal Academy of Music’s new label makes it untenable to draw a distinction between student and professional ensembles. The account of Strauss’s Sonatina No 1 is sheer tonal, phrasal, orchestral dazzlement…The austere ritual of Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments comes across in all its elliptical grandeur. For Messiaen’s monumental ritual Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum, the gongtormented last few minutes are spectacular.’
Sunday Times, June 2006

‘This was a rip-roaring, side-splitting show: one of the funniest, wittiest productions mounted by any music college in recent years. The orchestral playing was out of this world.’
Opera Now, March 2006
(Royal Academy Opera: Judith Weir A Night at the Chinese Opera)

‘This is as virtuosically scored a work as anything in Handel, and all the instrumental details were beautifully delivered… his fine solo singers... delivered their numbers with beautifully schooled elegance. It must have been as fabulous an experience for all those involved as it was for the audience.’
The Guardian, June 2006
‘A glorious performance.’
Evening Standard, June 2006
(Handel’s L’Allegro with William Christie at Spitalfields Festival)

‘Musically, everything is first rate. Conductor Dominic Wheeler clearly knows this is a score in which every strand of the orchestration is vital. And the solo performances are wonderfully assured too.’
The Guardian, March 2006
‘A night at the opera to be recommended.’
Metro, March 2006
(Royal Academy Opera: Judith Weir A Night at the Chinese Opera)

‘Immensely refreshing... the whole cast delivered recitative and arias as if they actually understood what they were singing, and meant it too ... what made this show doubly uplifting was the calibre of the playing from the Royal Academy Sinfonia. Here was period-style delivery with real punch and flair... this production had a real spark of inspiration, and never lost it.’
Opera, February 2006
(Royal Academy Opera: Mozart La Finta Giardiniera)