English National Opera, ‘The Mikado’

Even at its 13th revival, this staging preserves the sharp sting of that satire. It’s there in the arch simpering of Robert Murray’s Nanki-Poo.
Neil Fisher, The Times, February 7, 2008

Robert Murray gives Nanki-Poo a wide-eyed innocence and a fresh, clean tone to match.
George Hall, The Guardian, February 5, 2008

Robert Murray was all wide-eyed innocence in his debut as Nanki-Poo and displayed a well-schooled tenor, camping it up for all it was worth.
Keith McDonnell, Music OMH, February 6, 2008

Robert Murray gave a remarkable performance as Nanki-Poo. Formerly on Covent Garden's Young Artists roster, the tenor has come on leaps and bounds and almost stole the show from his talented colleagues due to his clear diction, full tone and well-rounded phrasing.
Dominic, McHugh, Musical Criticism, February 3, 2008

Royal Opera House, Linbury Theatre concert October 13, 2007: Wagner: 'Männerlist Grösser als Frauenlis'

Robert Murray, a polished young tenor with a very pleasing timbre, already admired in several leading roles, was a delightful Julius....
Andrew Porter, Opera Magazine, December 2007

Glyndebourne on Tour – ‘Albert Herring’, October/ November 2007:

Robert Murray negotiated timid Albert's growing anxiety about the delights and terrors of a bigger, more exciting world beyond the confines of Loxford with considerable skill, and the ferocity of his Act 3 monologue seemed entirely natural. He sang with an attractive warmth that made the occasional, overly poetic flourishes of Eric Crozier's Libretto seem unforced.
Peter Reed, Opera Magazine, December 2007

The intricate web of inter-relationships, which branched from Miranda Keys' upright performance as Lady Billows to Robert Murray's fantastic interpretation of Albert Herring's transformation from repressed village simpleton to confident common man, was confidently portrayed.
Tom Simmons, BBC Norfolk

The acting and singing of Robert Murray as Albert and Jared Holt as Sid were both outstanding, but this is an ensemble work, and the whole cast shared in the triumph.
Chris Ramsden, BBC Stoke and Staffordshire

As Albert himself, Robert Murray would be very difficult to beat - his voice is just right, his face a picture of embarrassment as he attends his coronation.
The Oxford Times, November 14, 2007

Essex lad Robert Murray makes his Glyndebourne debut singing Albert – he doesn't just play the role, he inhabits it.
Crawley Observer

Murray himself rises to the challenge of the personality change following Albert’s night of nameless debauchery with aplomb.
George Hall, The Guardian, October 23, 2007

Robert Murray is particularly strong in Herring’s downtrodden pre-transformation......
Edward Bhesania, The Stage, October 22, 2007

Excellent of voice, [Robert Murray] shows a fine comic side too in his hatching of a personal revolution, spurred on by the effects of laced lemonade.
Simon Thomas, Music OMH, December 5, 2007

 

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden - Fidelio - May 2007

Robert Murray makes something interestingly nasty of the milksop Jaquino.
Richard Morrison, The Times, May 30, 2007

There were strong performances from Eric Halfvarson ... Ailish Tynan ... and Robert Murray as her forgiving Jaquino
Fiona Maddock, Evening Standard, May 29 2007

...convincing performances and fine singing by Ailish Tynen and Robert Murray as Marzelline and Jaquino
Simon Thomas, Music OMH, May 29, 2007

Former Royal Opera Young Artists Ailish Tynen and Robert Murray did themselves credit in the roles of Marzelline and Jacquino ... Murray performing boldly.
Dominic McHugh, MusicalCriticism.com, May 28, 2007


Christ Church Spitalfields - Acis & Galatea with the Gabrieli Consort - April 25, 2007

Three tenors were in play, each of a different vocal colour, with Paul Agnew's wild ardour as Acis balanced by Robert Murray's radiant warmth as "voice of reason" Damon.
Michael Church, The Independent, May 1, 2007


Aldeburgh, Britten Festival Weekend - December 2, 2006

Britten's A Birthday Hansel, a collection of seven songs originally written for Peter Pears and Osian Ellis, were sung with great passion by Murray.
Tony Cooper, Eastern Daily Press



Royal Opera House, Covent Garden - La Finta Giardiniera - September 2006

Robert Murray... taking over from Christoph Strehl in the role only a few weeks ago and putting in a vivid portrayal of the fickle Count. Vocally, he's also impressive, with a nicely tailored legato.
Dominic McHugh, Music OMH, 25 September 2006

... Robert Murray as the two-timing Count Belfiore supplying the evening's most elegant singing.
Richard Morrison, The Times, 23 September 2006

Robert Murray sings well as Belfiore.
The Stage, 23 September 2006

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden - Jette Parker Young Artists Summer Concert
July 23, 2006

The tenor Robert Murray sang with outstanding beauty of tone both as a resolute Ottavio in 'Dalla sua pace' and as a touchingly ardent Nemorino in 'Una furtiva lagrima'.
Margaret Davies, Opera, October 2006

Robert Murray ... launched into 'Una furtiva lagrima' with sensitivity of line and some generosity of tone. The interplay of emotions that was established with Marina Poplavskaya's Adina carried the action forward, aided in equal measure by sureness of acting and voice on both parts. The tremulous nature of human feelings - love, rejection and the fine line in between - was adroitly sketched.

Robert Murray rounded off the ensemble with fine legato singing in 'Dalla sua pace', finding much in the way of piano shading along the way.
Evan Dickerson, Seen and Heard

 

St Mary's, Haddington  - Schubert Song Cycle with Malcolm Martineau
July 9, 2006

The most complete performance of the day was that of tenor Robert Murray, the only singer to really inhabit his character (a task admittedly easier in Die Schöne Müllerin than the other cycles). From the lusty delight of proclaiming the beloved his, to the anxiety brought on by the arrival of the hunter, to the bitter sadness of betrayal, this miller's emotions were tangible, rendered all the more visceral by Martineau's vivid, extrovert playing.
Rowena Smith, The Guardian, July 21, 2006

Aldeburgh Festival - Britten: 'Our Hunting Fathers'
June 25, 2006

Startlingly, the young tenor Robert Murray had only learnt this music the day before. He stepped in for Lisa Milne, having done the same for Andrew Kennedy, who withdrew from a recital of Auden settings earlier in the festival. If Murray's acquittal of himself on that occasion was impressive, this time he was simply prodigious. Though the work is often graphically direct, it is decidedly cryptic as well, but Murray was never led astray.
Paul Driver, The Sunday Times, July 2, 2006

 

Schumann's Dichterliebe with Graham Johnson - Wigmore Hall, June 2006

...with this Dichterliebe Robert Murray has now firmly established himself as one of the finest of the younger generation of Lieder singers, able to stand comparison with anyone in Europe or America. Murray's teacher is Ryland Davies, and his inspiration is Peter Schreier: no singer could choose better, and these names give an indication of his style of vocal production and recital presentation - unforced, natural, heartfelt yet not overblown, subtle in gesture and in every way conveying a great deal through nuance rather than exaggeration. No embarrassing swaggering here, either vocal or histrionic.

Of course, this will disappoint those who like their Schumann sung with wild-eyed despair and masses of fake bonhomie at the right moments, but I prefer Murray's delicacy of tone, his elegant management of mood and his sincerity. Lines such as 'Die Liebe aufgegangen' in the first song and 'Du trauriger, blasser Mann' in the twelfth, were sung with just the right edge of despair and without any coyness whatsoever, and the difficult final line if 'Allnächtlich im Traume' was taken with complete naturalness rather than the jokey vocal shrug it often receives. As his voice is a light lyric tenor, one might have assumed that he would lack the heft for songs like 'Ich grolle nicht,' but in fact he gave a searing performance of it, ending with a truly biting 'wie sehr du elend bist.' There were a few glitches here and there, but otherwise this was a Dichterliebe to treasure: other highlights were the crucial heimlich in 'Allnächtlich im Traume,' given just enough slight pressure to indicate its special meaning, and a beautiful example of impassioned expression within a fine legato line at 'Ach, könnt ich dorthin kommen, / Und dort mein herz erfreu'n.' Graham Johnson was in complete sympathy with the singing.

Melanie Eskenazi, Seen and Heard, 17th June 2006

 

The Kathleen Ferrier Awards - Wigmore Hall - 2003

Murray was one of the very few singers - no matter how pleasing the voice itself - who sounded so transfixed by what he was singing that he was able to compel the attention of his audience in equal measure.  The opening Narrative from Britten's The Turn of the Screw transported us immediately to the spooky household. And it staked out territory confirmed by Murray's word-lively, sensitively shaped Britten Canticle, My Beloved is mine. And this quintessentially English tenor also proved himself a thrilling performer of Schubert, Rossini and Tchaikovsky.
Hilary Finch, The Times, April 30th 2003

The jury awarded two second prizes, one to the tenor Robert Murray, also 27, who, in my book, might have been placed higher.  He showed a welcome daring in his choices of Britten, Schubert, Rossini and Tchaikovsky, and equal daring in his execution, risking low dynamics as no other singer did.  He makes a beautiful sound, while his feelings for psychologically complex texts, his ability to get inside the music, showed an artist of subtle imagination who will go far.
Stephen Pettit, The Evening Standard, April 28th, 2003

 

Albert Herring (directed by Sir Thomas Allen) - Britten Theatre, Britten International Opera School - 2002

Robert Murray's Albert ("Pretty name, Nancy") capped the lot: terrific singing and canny, stylish underacting; those panicky sidelong glances got Albert's age right; his baptism of fire was utterly credible. A super performance.
Roderic Dunnett, The Independent, December 6, 2002 

I thought Robert Murray's Albert was as good as any I have heard – for he sang really well, especially in his narration of his night of the tiles – and acted most perceptively, showing even in Act 1 that he was ripe for rebellion if someone would light the fuse.  He was also very funny at the tea party.
Michael Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph, December 8, 2002

At the centre of this production's success was the touching Albert Herring of Robert Murray, who spent the first two acts looking as if he could only ever be a repressed mummy's boy, only to burst out of his shell as a completely different person by the end.  Murray's very English tenor sounds made for Britten's music.
Richard Fairman, Financial Times, December 6, 2002

His Albert - Robert Murray, outstanding in every way - was plainly ripe for rebellion from his first appearance, not contented with his lot, certainly not 'simple' but resentful and melancholy.  His face when overhearing Nancy's and Sid's uncomplicated love-making in the second act spoke volumes.
Rodney Milnes, Opera Magazine, January 2003