Beckmesser: Die Meistersinger, 2018
” Warwick Fyfe’s Beckmesser was simply extraordinary and galvanising. As with his incomparable Alberich in The Ring, Fyfe brought the same combination of quirkiness and menace to Nuremberg’s artful Staatschreiber. His performance remained – just – on the right side of caricature, and was properly sung, not bellowed or distorted”
Michael Smith, Australian Book Review, Arts. 14/11/2018
“Acclaimed baritone Warwick Fyfe has the role of his career in vexatious misanthrope Sixtus Beckmesser…. Along with well-judged moments of buffoonery, the comedy is all the more effective for Fyfe’s completely serious focus, and his singing, particularly when Sixtus is actually performing, is nothing short of glorious”
Simon Parris: Man in Chair. 14/11/2018
” As embittered Sixtus Beckmesser, Warwick Fyfe continued his masterclass in the grotesque, employing the repulsive mannerisms he perfect in his portrayal of Alberich in Opera Australia’s Ring Cycle” Eamonn Kelly,
Australian Review. 15/11/2018
“Beckmesser WA splayed as an impotently malevolent schemer by show-stealing Warwick Fyfe, whose comedic gestures and crisp patter-singing made his scenes unforgettable”
David Larkin, Bachtrack. 19/11/2018
“As her hopeless suitor Beckmesser, Warwick Fyfe’s voice was in rock solid voice and on top comic form, never overplaying his hand in his portrayal of this scheming, unimaginative pedant. If it’s not already obvious, the baritone is a boon to the company, scoring a huge round of applause at curtain.”
Justine Nguyen, Limelight. 14/11/2018
“Warwick Fyfe nails Beckmesser’s sleaze and spite, vocally soaring with almost impossible ease over the 100-odd piece orchestra”
Bridget Davies, Sydney Morning Herald. 14/11/2018
“Warwick Fyfe’s outstanding musical and dramatic characterisation of Beckmesser alone makes a ticket worthwhile”
Peter Tregear, The Conversation . 14/11/2018
“The comic seasoning would have been stale without Warwick Fyfe’s sensational turn as the sneering object of ridicule, Beckmesser”
Paul Selar, Herald Sun. 14/11/2018
Don Quichotte, Opera Australia, Sydney Opera House
“Of course, the Don is nothing without his Sancho Panza, here sung by Warwick Fyfe in one of the finest of his many performances for Opera Australia. From Alberich to Sancho seems a vast chasm, but Fyfe’s versatility is on full display. Fully in control of the many textual felicities of the French language, he brings a warm and incisive vocal tone to this musically and dramatically rewarding character. It is a buffo role, but also has several moments of warm lyricism in which Fyfe reveals the full beauty of his voice.”
Parsifal, Opera Australia, Sydney Opera House. March 2018
“Warwick Fyfe’s Klingsor was a dramatic and powerful interpretation.”
Christopher Menz, ABR arts, 11/08/2017
“Australian baritone Warwick Fyfe turned in a malevolent, baleful and superbly sung Klingsor, the perfect doubleton to his award-winning Alberich. Whopping out the decibels, and with some penetratingly inflected text work…”
Clive Paget, Limelight Magazine, 10/08/2017
“Warwick Fyfe as the evil sorcerer Klingsor was simply sensational. He thundered the text, expressing the seething rage underlying Klingsor’s malevolence. His articulation of Wagner’s text was exemplary. Having recently excelled as Alberich in Opera Australia’s Ring Cycle, Fyfe has shown himself to be one of the finest Wagnerian singers Australia has produced.”
Deen Hamaker, Soundslike Sydney , 9/08/2017
“Warwick Fyfe gives full throated villainy as Klingsor whose palace gardens sprout sirens tempting noble knights from the holy search.”
Martin Portus, Stage Whispers, 11/08/2017
“That image is taken further in the figure of the self-castrated Klingsor, to whose impotent malevolence Warwick Fyfe brought terrifying ferocity, a keen-edged incisive voice, madly wandering eye and brilliant character portrayal.”
Peter Mc Callum, Sydney Morning Herald, 10/08/2017
“…the hard-edged timbre of fellow baritone Warwick Fyfe created a gripping portrayal as the evil sorcerer Klingsor.”
Murray Black, The Australian, 11/08/2017
“As the magician Klingsor, who was expelled by the Grail knights for his impure desires and established himself in the valley outside Montsalvat, Warwick Fyfe brought his unique combination of vocal and performance style to his villainous character (with Vincent Price coming to mind) in a magnificent display. With powerfully heated stentorian might, as if delivered from a smelter within, the energy that Fyfe delivered came skilfully forged and phrased, adding further weight to the heights he can reach after his excellent Alberich in Opera Australia’s Ring.”
BLUEBEARD: BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE / MONASH ACADEMY ORCHESTRA
“Relaxed and measured in a voice of sand and fire, Warwick Fyfe planted Bluebeard firmly, hands clasped or at his sides. Hauntingly cryptic eyes mirrored both a loveless injured soul and the slimy murderer of three former wives. Wispily bearded and attired in black, with unbuttoned collar and suit jacket, Fyfe created intrigue and unpredictably in his character. The voice was smooth, grounded, aptly phrased and at its best in the chesty middle range. Fyfe’s performance was artistically complete and mystifying. Increasingly impressive is Fyfe’s ability to inhabit his role and add nuance to his characters.”
AussieTheatre.com
TONIO: PAGLIACCI / NBR NEW ZEALAND OPERA
“Warwick Fyfe’s eerily baleful Tonio introduces the second opera with the irony of cabaret, warning us that the stage and real life are very different stories.”
The New Zealand Herald
LEPORELLO: DON GIOVANNI / NZ OPERA
“Warwick Fyfe, who made a notably intense and tormented Rigoletto in Auckland a few years ago, showed a very different side as Leporello. Along with Berry, he was the most natural stage animal, creepily stealing locks of women’s hair and snatching hidden selfies of them. The byplay between servant and master seemed genuinely tense with more than undercurrent of danger; one really sensed Leporello’s fear of his master.”
Bachtrack
“Australian Warwick Fyfe, well-known to local audiences, played the Don’s lecherous side-kick Leoporello with a fine blend of cynicism and bemusement, ever the opportunist, and ready to bend in the direction the wind blew – as for his singing, Fyfe began as he intended to go on, forcefully and sonorously voicing his opening complaint as to his treatment by his employer; while his presentation of the famous “Catalogue Aria” was a voyeuristic and confidently-delivered tour-de-force, complete with amusing cyber-assistance.”
Seen and Heard International
THE VILLAINS: THE TALES OF HOFFMANN / ENGLISH TOURING OPERA
“If the evening belongs to any one singer, though, it’s Warwick Fyfe as Lindorf and his triple alter-egos. Lurching about the stage with a sonorous, velvet-black baritone and a nice line in reptilian hisses and cackles, he brings an eerie chill with each entry, even before (with help from Mark Howland’s strikingly imaginative lighting) he morphs into a full-blown creature of the night.”
The Arts Desk
“Warwick Fyfe’s rich baritone needs to be as good as it is to keep pace with his Arthur Rackham inspired crooked man with long fingers turn as The Devil, Hoffmann’s nemesis, a villain whom we love to hate.”
Broadway World
“…the sinister nemesis that erodes (Hoffmann’s) mind is effectively Murnau’s Nosferatu, chillingly embodied by Warwick Fyfe.”
The Guardian
“Warwick Fyfe shines as Lindorf, Coppélius, Dr Miracle and Dappertutto as his firm baritone voice cuts through the air with clarity and menace.”
Music OMH
“Warwick Fyfe, a prizewinner for his Alberich in Melbourne, looked slimily cadaverous, (but) left us in no doubt of his firm baritone’s robust good health.”
Opera
“(Warwick Fyfe’s) superb diction, strongly characterised voice and wonderful sense of timing were all apparent in his Lindorf and the villains.”
Planet Hugill
“…with his grandiose acting and incisive baritone Warwick Fyfe creates an indelible impression as the four villains.”
The Stage
“The singing is of exceptional quality…an Australian bass-baritone making his British debut, Warwick Fyfe wields a powerful voice, not perfectly controlled but darkly impressive nevertheless. He is a terrific actor, and it’s no surprise to learn from the programme that he is a past winner of the Robert Helpmann Award.”
The Telegraph
“…the powerful and charismatic Australian baritone Warwick Fyfe.”
What’s On Stage
FANINAL: DER ROSENKAVALIER / OPERA AUSTRALIA
“Warwick Fyfe created a persuasive impression of wounded parvenu respectability as the merchant Faninal, reduced to impotent incoherence when the world he has obsequiously courted self-destructs so spectacularly under the scrutiny of impertinent young love.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
AMONASRO: AÏDA / OPERA AUSTRALIA
“Warwick Fyfe, as Amonasro, the Ethiopian leader, boils with vengeful urgency and rich dark colours…”
The Sydney Morning Herald
FALSTAFF / OPERA AUSTRALIA
“Warwick Fyfe’s fat knight gave a sterling, soulful performance, avoiding farce and maintaining dignity.”
The Age
“This past year has been a great one for stalwart Australian baritone Warwick Fyfe. Only a year ago we heard him take up Wagner’s Alberich for the Melbourne Ring, in the autumn season, he gave Rigoletto and now this outstanding showpiece as the fat knight of Verdi’s beloved final opera. Mr Fyfe continues to demonstrate that his voice is a pillar of strength for the company and one by which many future performances will no doubt be anchored.”
Concerto Net
“Dramatically and vocally, Fyfe is perfectly suited to the role.”
Herald Sun
RIGOLETTO / NZ OPERA
“It is too easy to have Rigoletto portrayed as a twisted character who is obviously deformed physically as well as mentally, and Fyfe carefully avoids this. His “Pari siamo” (How alike we are) when singing of the assassin Sparafucile is haunting in its exposure of Rigoletto’s awareness of his own wretchedness. His voice catches with shuddering emotion at just the right point. Then he superbly transitions to his singing as devoted father of Gilda. This ability to capture his two personalities, the heartless and the warm, in just a couple minutes showed a singer able to convey deep psychological states with exquisite refinement.”
National Business Review
“If Warwick Fyfe’s Rigoletto is more crumpled clerk than traditional jester, his magnificently sung arias lose none of their power; the closing reunion with his dying daughter is almost unbearably poignant.”
New Zealand Herald
RIGOLETTO: OPERA AUSTRALIA
“Warwick Fyfe is a tortured, convincing Rigoletto, overwhelmed by the disdain he has suffered all his life for his deformity. The jokes he has played on the Duke’s court in his position as the court jester turn back on him in the most sinister, destructive way. This is a world where the harm you do to others returns tenfold.”
Herald Sun
“If you want to see real drama-in-action, go and see this production and marvel at Warwick Fyfe’s interpretation of Verdi’s eponymous buffoon. Fyfe’s hunch-backed jester is a controlled study in sociopathic behaviour, partially ameliorated by his ingenuous, albeit stlfling, love for his daughter Gilda. It has a detached coldness about it that is mesmerising to watch unfold over two-and-a-half hours. The interpretation is a courageous choice, which pays off in Rigoletto’s soliloquy Pari siamo in the second scene of Act One. Fyfe’s performance is consummate and chillingly mesmerising. And then it gets better.”
Limelight
DALAND: DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER / VICTORIAN OPERA
“Warwick Fyfe sang the role of Daland with a beautiful tone and rock-solid delivery.”
Limelight
“Warwick Fyfe’s Daland was sung well…”
The Sydney Morning Herald
ALBERICH: DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN / OPERA AUSTRALIA ‘THE MELBOURNE RING’
“There was some wonderful singing (among the finest performers, Warwick Fyfe’s Alberich, Stuart Skelton’s Siegmund, Terje Stensvold’s Walküre and Siegfried Wotans, Stefan Vinke’s indestructible Siegfried, Deborah Humble’s Erda and Waltraute and Jacqueline Dark’s Walküre Fricka).”
The Age
“Warwick Fyfe is an astoundingly good Alberich, a dumpy nerd whose grubby motives are revealed as those of a pathetic, rather tragic little man, unfairly mocked by a world engrossed in its own gorgeous superficiality.”
The Australian
“…the most astonishing discovery here was the Alberich of Warwick Fyfe…his Alberich was that of a master: the most sympathetic, anguished, and deeply moving I can recall. And the voice is strong and flexible, with perfect intonation.”
Classical Voice North America
“Fyfe stole not just the gold but the show on opening night with his vocal strength and complex characterization. Churning with rage and malevolence, his revengeful greed took a dark edge indeed when his theft involved abducting a child in possession of the shimmering gold.”
The Huffington Post
“Fyfe’s Alberich was the real star of the Ring in an unexaggerated, deft and mercurial performance, sung in a strong and supple baritone…Fyfe’s Alberich was outstanding, and not only inRheingold, but also in his other, briefer appearances in Siegfriedand Götterdämmerung. Other houses should seek him out.”
Opera
“The outstanding singer of this Ring was Warwick Fyfe, a charismatic Alberich.”
Opernwelt
ALBERICH: GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG / OPERA AUSTRALIA ‘THE MELBOURNE RING’
“In his brief and urgent encounter with his son, Hagen, Warwick Fyfe’s Alberich achieved the quintessential smouldering resentment.”
The Age
“Warwick Fyfe, compelling once again…”
The Guardian
“Warwick Fyfe has revealed unexpected, wonderfully effective dark vocal edges as Alberich in this cycle, distilled superbly in the crucial mysterious scene with his son Hagen, one of the pivotal father- rejection episodes in the work.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
ALBERICH: DAS RHEINGOLD / OPERA AUSTRALIA ‘THE MELBOURNE RING’
“Warwick Fyfe’s Alberich, the finest, most complete performance of the night, deservedly received the biggest ovation from the capacity audience. His singing was strong and supple, and his character subtly loaded with concealed malevolence and understated cunning. Somehow, along the way, Fyfe turned this mendacious soul into an object of sympathy, as well as making him a real rival to Wotan.”
The Age
“Fyfe’s vivid, seething Alberich…”
The Guardian
“There were formidable performances, too, from Terje Stensvold as a magisterial Wotan (lord of the Gods), Deborah Humble as an affecting Erda (the earth goddess) and Warwick Fyfe as the villainous dwarf Alberich. Fyfe proves he is not only a world-beating baritone but an actor of considerable skill.”
Herald Sun
“But, let’s face it, it is Warwick Fyfe’s show. Shambling on as the anoraked fat boy from school, hopelessly in lust with the showgirls who prick-tease him then mercilessly mock him, he grows in vocal stature as the scene progresses until we are in no doubt that this nerd’s revenge will be terrifying and vast. The loopy, all-powerful, psychopathic lord of the Nibelungs that he gives us in scene 3 and its chilling, down-but-far-from-out flipside in scene 4 are among the great characterisations of the Australian operatic stage and the powerful, multi-coloured, if at times wild voice is a dominating force in the production.”
Limelight
“Warwick Fyfe played and sung the role with astounding physical and vocal imagination, gloating, snarling and finally raging in despair. This Alberich was also tragic, like a Shakespearean usurper king whose pride causes his downfall. His curse was also tellingly played.”
Performing Arts Hub
“Warwick Fyfe, as Alberich makes the transition from teased fat boy to tyrant, disturbingly rejecting love in favour of children, with convincing psychology that is self-absorbed and vulnerable to both insult and flattery. His curse after Wotan has stolen the ring was the evening’s musical centrepoint and his voice resonated with the indignation of wounded dignity.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
ALBERICH: SIEGFRIED / OPERA AUSTRALIA ‘THE MELBOURNE RING’
“Warwick Fyfe’s Alberich was even finer than he was in Das Rheingold. Even though the dwarf has less to do in Siegfried, his character is even more telling, especially in his confrontation with the Wanderer. Here, Fyfe, with superbly controlled singing, conveyed (sometimes within a single phrase) the inner contradictions and convictions of Alberich’s wretched, vengeful soul. Not for nothing did Wagner call his tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelungen.”
The Age
Hancock Artists 