“Conductor Ben Woodward somehow managed to create the impression of a Strauss orchestra with five (sic., there were 7…) unbelievably Stakhanovite instruments. I won’t forget this in a hurry. 5 stars.”

— Robert Thicknesse, Opera Now, January 2022

“Woodward paced the opera with a fine sense for the need to sustain both mood and momentum, while savouring the episodes of transformation and transcendence. ”

— Opera Magazine, January 2022

“Woodward guided his forces through Wagner’s wise comedy with flair, insight and the fluency of a page-turner. The Meistersinger life-enhancing magic was out in force”

— Die Meistersinger, Peter Reed, Opera Magazine, October 2019

“Woodward, Fulham Opera’s artistic director, paced and shaped the drama to powerful effect…there was real poetry”

— Don Carlo, Yehuda Shapiro, Opera Magazine, January 2019

“Woodward did a marvellous job of shaping instrumental detail, while being unfailingly attentive to his singers, and his sense of pace made the narrative arc of Verdi’s most singular opera crystal clear.”

— Simon Boccanegra, Peter Reed, Opera Magazine April 2016