Adorno in SIMON BOCCANEGRA

Royal Opera House Covent Garden

"Thomas, who made his debut at the Royal Opera, sang an electrifying Adorno: he has a rich and clarion tone that is colored with a deep reddish hue, but moves along the scale vividly and with passion. He recalls a young Domingo, actually."
–Michael Migliore, Musical Criticism

“And, making a remarkable debut with the Royal Opera, is the American tenor Russell Thomas as Amelia’s beloved Adorno. As the orchestral strings rage up and down, a formidable power of ardour and of frustrated fury is unleashed, together with a wounded wail of grief. All this within a voice that will surely in time make an outstanding Otello.”
–Hilary Finch, The Times

"As house debuts go, the Adorno of tenor Russell Thomas is an especial triumph: the young American has a ringing timbre that is as attractive as it is powerful, and his searing impact as the impetuous nobleman will linger long in the memory... The prospect of hearing him in years to come singing roles like Florestan or Otello provokes tingles."
–Mark Valencia, What's On Stage

“A sterling new tenor voice coming from the American Russell Thomas… As Amelia’s lover Adorno, Thomas has an outstandingly clean, stentorian tenor tone…”
–Ismene Brown, The Arts Desk

“Most striking of the principals is the American tenor Russell Thomas, in his Royal Opera debut, who rises to considerable heights in his second-act aria…”
–George Hall, The Stage

“As Gabriele Adorno, [Thomas’s] voice is ringing and true, and his singing is distinguished by a high level of musicality.”
–Richard Fairman, Financial Times

“With hugely impressive performances from Furlanetto, Platanias, and Russell Thomas as Adorno, whose relationship with Boccanegra's daughter provides the love interest, this adds up to a quartet of leading male roles that drive the production forward, both musically and dramatically, to magnificent effect.”
–WIlliam Hartston, Daily Express

"Making his Royal Opera debut as Gabriele Adorno, Russell Thomas showed himself to be a dramatic tenor of the old school: a big man with a big voice that he throws around with abandon, generating real excitement as he hits the high notes hard but able to become more delicate in pianissimi."
–David Karlin, Bachtrack

“As Gabriele Adorno, the American newcomer Russell Thomas made himself welcome with a healthy, steely tenor. His voice gained strength as it ascended the scale, with none of the bleating that the tessitura of this role sometimes encourages.”
–Russ McDonald, Opera Magazine

"Making his Covent Garden debut as Adorno, Russell Thomas' voice is similarly expansive, powerful and impassioned..."
–Sam Smith, musicOMH

"Russell Thomas, making his Royal Opera debut, easily rose to the challenge. I first heard him last year in a concert performance of Donizetti's Belisario and was hugely impressed, and now even more so by his Adorno. Singing with effortlessly heroic tone and graced with ringing top notes, he transformed what can seem an underwritten role into one of thrilling vitality and passion, and any doubts that he'd have problems transferring his bel canto skills to virile, Verdian heft were quickly dispelled. He's quite something."
–Peter Reed, Classical Source