Don Carlo in DON CARLO

The Metropolitan Opera

“The tenor Russell Thomas is an appealing, emotive Don Carlo; on Thursday, he sounded particularly noble (and ardent) at the higher end of his range. In house-filling phrases, Russell’s bright sound had a brassy, tossed-off assurance, with little sign of strain.”
–New York Times

“There’s no arguing about the beauty of Thomas’ voice and the ease with which it soars through the relatively high tessitura of the role.”
–New York Classical Review

“As the titular antihero, Russell Thomas’ Don Carlo has a robust, darkly burnished tenor…”
–Parterre Box

“From his first entrance, when he moved about the stage with an intense pain in his visage and body, you could tell that tenor Russell Thomas was committed to making as much as he could out of the little on offer from the production. His opening aria, “Io l’ho perduta!” was sung with intensity from the word go…”
–OperaWire

“In plangent voice, Thomas sang stirringly.”
–Opera Magazine

“In the title role—Carlo—was Russell Thomas, the American tenor. He made his Met debut in this opera, in the 2004–5 season—as the Royal Herald. Now he has graduated, and he sings Carlo heartily and well.”
–New Criterion