THE DEMON, CHELSEA OPERA GROUP 2019 (Assistant Chorus Master and Language Coach)

“...choral singing was thrilling”

1. -Tim Ashley (The Guardian)
   

“The chorus was also in fine form, as over the opera its members played infernal and heavenly spirits, courtiers and guests, Sinodal’s men and even attacking Tatars. One of the most beautiful elements to the score was the way in which the chorus often ‘accompanied’ the soloist as they sang the same words, and one can certainly hope that the Chelsea Opera Group’s magnificent performance sparks a renewed interest in a work that really deserves to be heard a lot more.”

1. -Sam Smith (Music OMH)
   

THE QUEEN OF SPADES, OPERA HOLLAND PARK 2016 (Chorus Master & Assistant Conductor)

“It was the Opera Holland Park Chorus, though, which so often stole the show. Expertly trained, not just musically but in its Russian too (in so far as I could tel!), by Philip Voldman.”

- Mark Berry (Boulezian Blogspot and Opera Today) Click for full review and full review

“For the superb choir, singing with vocal production worthy of the Bolshoi Theatre ensemble in Moscow in its best years under music director Rozhdzhestvensky, I shall spare no compliments.”

-  Dorota Kozinska (Upior w operze) Click for full review

“...Really I have no complaints: Great noises and absolutely chisel-edged force were generated both from them (orchestra) and the tip-top chorus. This was one of OHP’s best ever shows, reaching a bar that has become impressively high.”

1. -Robert Thicknesse (Opera Now)
   

“The chorus was amazing, particularly in the masked ball, where the ensemble with the orchestra was astonishing. But wherever and whenever they sang, they stole the show.”

- Colin Clarke (Seen and Heard International) Click for full review

“Terrific chorus singing with generally good diction all round”

- Mark Ronan (MarkRonan.com) Click for full review

“In what is a chorus opera with few equals from the late-nineteenth-century, the OHP Chorus acquits its collective self with thrilling immediacy – not least in its greeting of Catherine the Great, whose meretricious overkill makes for a suitable climax prior to the interval.”

- Richard Whitehouse (Classical Source) Click for full review

“The choral singing is outstanding.”

- Tim Ashley (The Guardian) Click for full review

“The chorus sang with thrilling robustness.”

- Rupert Christiansen (The Telegraph) Click for full review

“Meanwhile the chorus are superb: they deliver all the gutsiness and grace one could wish for in this Russian-language production.”

- Michael Church (The Independent) Click for full review

“But as so often at Opera Holland Park, the star of the show is the chorus, conjuring up the bracing air of St Petersburg. The men in the dizzying last act gambling scene, with the assistance of some very eye-catching minor characters, roared into a frenzy of impetuosity and recklessness.”

- Claudia Pritchard (Culture Whisper) Click for full review

“The masked ball (marvellous costumes here and indeed throughout), the Countess’s bedroom and the gambling den are superbly visualised, with the Opera Holland Park Chorus once again giving us exceptional collective singing and finely detailed individual performances.”

- George Hall (The Stage) Click for full review

“The chorus, despite a couple of moments where they parted company from the pit, were as strong as they have been all season and thrilled with the act-closing greeting to the Empress and the raucous gamblers’ song. Several members also contributed with confidently voiced solo lines. It continues to be heartening to note how strong this chorus has become and a tribute to chorus master, Philip Voldman.”

- Sebastian Petit (Opera Britannia UK) Click for full review

SCOTTISH OPERA HIGHLIGHTS TOUR 2016 (Music Director and Repetiteur)

"What an evening! Thank all four of you for a really delightful evening with one familiar favourite after another, and sung superbly. The Pianist was so talented and fluent, I feel anything I say in praise about him will be inadequate."

- Feedback from audience member in Craignish Village Hall, Ardfern

MACBETH, ENGLISH POCKET OPERA COMPANY, CENTRAL ST MARTINS 2015 (Music Director and Repetiteur)

“I enjoyed this performance immensely. The lighting scheme, design details, strong musical qualities and theatrical immediacy made the two hours fly by. Much of this success was undoubtedly due to Musical Director and pianist, Philip Voldman, whose sterling accompaniment was startlingly alert to the dramatic intent and mood of each scene. Voldman needed every ounce of his considerable stamina and skill to galvanise the entire cast to aspire so high”

- Claire Seymour (Opera Today) To see full review: Opera Today

“Philip Voldman is their music director who tirelessly played the piano for nearly two hours and successfully brought out all the many colours of Verdi’s vibrant score”

- Jim Pritchard (Seen and Heard International) To see full review: Seen and Heard

“The EPOC Community Chorus made a strong impression in their chorus contributions, singing with lusty strength and admirable confidence......Philip Voldman coped admirably with the piano reduction of the score, and created some moments of real music, as well as directing the EPOC Community Chorus when necessary”

- Robert Hugill (Planet Hugill) To see full review: Planet Hugill

LA CENERENTOLA, CLAPHAM OPERA FESTIVAL 2014 (Music Director and Repetiteur)

“Philip Voldman’s stylish piano offered the singers just the support they needed”

- Owen Davies (Plays to See) To see full review: Plays to See

“Philip Voldman joined the Clapham Opera Festival for a second year as musical director and embodied the spirit of Rossini’s work through his ability to bring briskness and vitality through the piano keys.”

1. -Mary Grace Nguyen (Flock to the Crown) To see full reviw : Flock to the Crown
   

THREE 4 CONCERT AT RICH MIX (Repetiteur)

“the solid accompaniment by Voldman carried the event along”

- Hilary Glover (Planet Hugill) To see the full review: Planet Hugill

WERTHER, GRIMEBORN OPERA FESTIVAL, ARCOLA THEATRE 2014 (Music Director and Repetiteur)

“Philip Voldman played the piano brilliantly, too, in a roiling, turbid, Romantic reading that excavated all of this music’s many layers......one of the best shows of the year.”

- Robert Thicknesse (Opera Now)

“Voldman’s stylish pianism achieves the near-impossible in allowing the listener to forget the richness of Massenet's orchestrations.”

- Mark Valencia (WhatsOnStage.com) To see the full review: WhatsOnStage.com

“Philip Voldman’s intensity brought a Lisztian dimension to the piano reduction of the score”

- Yehuda Shapiro (Opera Magazine)

“The Musical Director and fervent pianist, Philip Voldman is a delight to watch as he bounces his head up and down to Massenet’s romantic chords.”

- Mary Grace Nguyen (LDN Card.com) To see the full review: LDN Card.com

“Philip Voldman was the Music Director and pianist and his performance was a tour de force. It is a huge score of Lisztian/Wagnerian proportions and to carry this off musically on the piano was amazing.”

- Antony Lewis-Crosby (Arts Council England) To see full performance evaluation: ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND

“Massenet’s music is often dreamlike: rhapsodic and poignant, with mysterious moments of doubt and fear (sometimes at the most counterintuitive moments) implying the tragedy to come. Philip Voldman's expressive piano accompaniment glows with energy, always emotive. Sometimes, I love the pinprick simplicity of a piano accompaniment to opera: what we lose in orchestral sweep, we gain in clarity of line. It should never become the main way we experience opera, but occasionally, the piano can let us see a different side of the score: the beauty of the original negative, instead of the beauty of the full-colour photograph.”

- Charlotte Valori (Bachtrack)  To see the full review: Bachtrack

“The opera was accompanied by Philip Voldman on piano who coped superbly with the fistfuls of notes that the piano reduction contains.”

- Robert Hugill (Planet Hugill) To see the full review: Planet Hugill

“Dealing with an old banger of a piano, Philip Voldman heroically took us through Massenet’s wonderful score, one that curls round the libretto with a perceptiveness Richard Strauss might have envied, with a compelling mix of engagement and authority.”

- Peter Reed (Classical Source) To see the full review: Classical Source

ORPHEUS AND EURIDICE, ENGLISH POCKET OPERA, CENTRAL ST MARTINS 2014

“A piano or keyboard is stationed at each venue; in this opening scene, Music Director and pianist Philip Voldman — who played with unflappable composure and fluency throughout —strikes up, not Gluck’s elegant measures, but the mesmerising melody of Papageno’s ‘Das klinget so herrlich’”

- Claire Seymour (Opera Today) To see the full review: Opera Today

“The heroic pianist/musical director Philip Voldman, assisted by violinist Sivan Traub, really brought those sections of the score performed to life.”

- Mark Berry (Boulezian) To see the full review: Boulezian and Seen and Heard

“Indeed Philip Voldman (piano) and Sivan Traub (violin) expertly took care of the live music – with an early contribution from director Mark Tinkler’s accordion – and the small chorus was unexpectedly good.”

- Jim Pritchard (Seen and Heard International) To see the full review: Seen and Heard

PELLEAS ET MELISANDE, GRIMEBORN OPERA FESTIVAL, ARCOLA THEATRE 2013

“Debussy’s music, you won’t be surprised to hear, sounds right on a solo piano, and MD Philip Voldman plays it very finely. Extremely good.

1. -Kieron Quirke (Evening Standard) To see the full review: Evening Standard
   

“With the sensitive and tireless accompaniment of Philip Voldman at the piano this evening became as intense for the public as for the singers on stage.....”

- Eduardo Jacobo Benarroch (The Auditorium) The see the full review: The Auditoirium

“The absence of an orchestra might seem fatal in an opera where colour is more important than melody, but pianist and music director Philip Voldman treats the score like an extended art song, accompanying his singers with exemplary taste and sensitivity....”

- Mark Valencia (WhatsOnStage.com) To see the full review: WhatsOnStage.com

“Philip Voldman, our pianist throughout, played with unstinting passion, energy and delicacy for the entire performance, and deserves the highest praise. The piano was soft, haunting and plangent: full of colours and shadows...”

- Charlotte Valori (One Stop Arts) To see the full review: One Stop Arts . 

“Philip Voldman did wonders on the piano....”

- Robert Hugill (Planet Hugill) To see the full review: Planet Hugill

“...powerfully shaped piano accompaniment...”

- Anna Picard (The Independent) To see full review: The Independent

“ Philip Voldman’s piano rocks...”

- Aleks Sierz (Pirate Dog) To see full review: Pirate Dog

IL TABARRO, GRIMEBORN OPERA FESTIVAL, ARCOLA THEATRE TENT 2012

“From the opera’s Debussian opening to its full-on verismo finale, the production’s music director Philip Voldman did a magnificent job at the piano, turning himself into a one-man orchestra...”

- Yehuda Shapiro (Opera Magazine) To see the full review: Il Tabarro

“.....Philip Voldman was impressively sensitive at the piano and the balance with the singers was never problematic....”

1. -Dr. Brian Hick (Lark Reviews)
   

THE COMPLETE SINGER MAGIC FLUTE 2012

“Mozart’s score was played on two pianos on stage with great skill and panache by Lesley Anne Sammons, the music director, assisted by Philip Voldman....”

- Isabel Smith (Maidenhead Advertiser Theatre Reviews)

ARTSWAVE IRELAND, THE FEAST OF SONG

“.....for posterity, as I am sure all three singers, as well as their accompanist, will become very well known indeed, they were: Ros Evans Soprano, Owen Webb Baritone, Carlos Osuna Tenor and Alison Dunne Mezzo Soprano. The American Philip Voldman played a fiendish piece by Rachmaninov, as well as accompanying the singers, which he did most sympathetically.....”

1. -Cahir News      
   

ESSENTIAL SCOTTISH OPERA TOUR 2009

BATHGATE

“...and in the engine room young American pianist Philip Voldman is dexterous, deft, crisp, rhythmic, never allowing the pace to sag. Not to be missed....” FULL ARTICLE

“....Essential Scottish Opera is the first major company Voldman has worked for, and he’s playing a storm...” FULL ARTICLE

- Michael Tumelty, The Herald

STRATHPEFFER

“.....Pianist (and Musical Director) Philip Voldman was as unobtrusive as a good accompanist must be..

- Jennie Macfie

BANCHORY

‘....Philip Voldman’s control, concentration and stamina were superb...”

- Keith and Sheila Swinscoe

SCARLET OPERA 2009 - GLUCK’S ORFEO ED EURIDICE

“....Philip Voldman,  music director and pianist, held the whole thing together with an admirably tight rein, opting for brisk tempi and declamatory recitatives. It’s never ideal performing classical opera on a modern piano, but he minimised the inevitable school-assembly texture that some of the arias create in reduction, and he also turned his own pages with breathtaking deftness....”

1. -Adam Highbury, operatalent.com