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There was another virtuoso performance in the servant's role by Simon Butteriss; he brought off Frantz's number brilliantly, which isn't easy, given the dramatic context. He played Cochenille in smart drag with a fag hanging out of his mouth - simply hilarious.
THE TALES OF HOFFMANN (ENO), Opera Magazine
Simon Butteriss sang the four servant roles with astonishing variety including Cochenille in outrageous drag. Although usually a comic baritone, Butteriss managed the tenor tessitura of the roles with ease.
THE TALES OF HOFFMANN (ENO), Radio 3 Forum
Simon Butteriss is nothing less than virtuoso as Frantz
THE TALES OF HOFFMANN (ENO), Musical Criticism
Simon Butteriss, a baritone, nevertheless makes scene-stealing appearances in the four character tenor roles, especially as the drag, chain-smoking Cochenille - a cameo of genius.
THE TALES OF HOFFMANN (ENO), Sunday Times
This amazing singing actor…everything he does is absolutely riveting …you can hear every word and every word is nuanced.
KoKo THE MIKADO, BBC Radio 3
Simon Butteriss is surely the leading comic baritone of his generation.
KoKo THE MIKADO, Manchester Evening News
Simon Butteriss – favoloso attore, cantante e ballerino.
KoKo THE MIKADO in Rome, Corriere della sera
Simon Butteriss captivated the audience…will remain forever in my memory…beautifully sung...the audience roared its approval.
KoKo THE MIKADO in Sydney, Australian Opera-Opera
The star of the production is unquestionably Simon Butteriss. He brings the house down, generating a kind of theatrical electricity as he romps about the stage. His cavortings and malleable face, which mirrors a comic range of expressions, are frankly inspired; in years I cannot recall enjoying a G&S portrayal as much as this.
KoKo THE MIKADO, Oz Arts Review
Nimble-footed and versatile Simon Butteriss is the best KoKo I've ever seen.
KoKo THE MIKADO, Manchester Evening News
Simon Butteriss’ KoKo was a triumph.
KoKo THE MIKADO, The Times
The indisputable star was Simon Butteriss, a hyperactive KoKo who could do no wrong, imbuing the role with an exhilarating, infectious energy.
KoKo THE MIKADO, Classicalsource.com
Good to see the brilliant Simon Butteriss on another local stage. After his recent sublime KoKo at Chichester, his Jack Point is another masterpiece. Watching his true love torn from him is to see human pain at its most agonizing.
Jack Point THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD, The News
Dazzling musical tour de force
George Grossmith in the film A SALARIED WIT, Time Out
That virtuoso of the musical theatre, Simon Butteriss…his verbal and vocal drive turn it into all but a one man show
Pangloss CANDIDE, The Times
Simon Butteriss is touched with comic genius
Basilio LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, The Independent
Wholly irresistible…Simon Butteriss gets his aria di sorbetto and earns it, suggesting that he could make a formidable Lady Macbeth.
Clorinda LA CENERENTOLA, The Times
The amazing Simon Butteriss
Orlofsky DIE FLEDERMAUS, The Times
The person who really stole the show was Simon Butteriss, and he is really funny, he really glitters
Bobinet LA VIE PARISIENNE D’Oyly Carte, Kaleidoscope, BBC radio 4
Perfect
Bunthorne PATIENCE, Evening Standard
Brilliant
Bunthorne PATIENCE, Opera Magazine
Simon Butteriss was outstanding: agile, tragic-comic (as he should be) and he delivered his role with an astonishing variety of vocal shades
Bunthorne PATIENCE BBC Proms, Musicalcriticism.com
Butteriss was a revelation as Bunthorne. He brought all the right mannerisms to the role but he sang with remarkable depth of tone
Bunthorne PATIENCE BBC Proms, Planet Hugill Classical Music
Simon Butteriss is some kind of comic genius as Bunthorne, sounding like John Reed but sharper-witted.
Bunthorne PATIENCE BBC Proms, Davidniceblogspot.com
Fully as good as the legendary Martyn Green
Bunthorne PATIENCE BBC Proms, Berkshire Review of the Arts, USA
Stealing the first act, however, is the clear baritone of Simon Butteriss
Benoit LA BOHEME ENO, Metro
If only every singer enjoyed the clarity of Simon Butteriss, present too briefly as the landlord Benoit
LA BOHEME ENO, The Times
The most polished performance of the evening comes from Simon Butteriss who offers a beautifully observed old fusspot of Benoit
LA BOHEME, ENO, Daily Telegraph
More arresting was Simon Butteriss, whose amusingly lecherous Benoit is a perfectly conceived caricature. Both he and Richard Angas delivered their lines clearly and directly.
LA BOHEME, ENO, Opera Today, USA
The real stars are the veterans: Simon Butteriss a touchingly Wellesian Benoit
LA BOHEME on DVD, ENO, Gramophone
The sharply enunciated, ripely played Benoit of Simon Butteriss is a delight
LA BOHEME on DVD, ENO, Opera News, USA
The name Simon Butteriss is a joyous guarantee of both musical and comic quality and here he was a delight.
Sir Joseph Porter HMS PINAFORE, The News
WRITING/TRANSLATING/PRESENTING
Simon Butteriss’s translation, by all accounts done in about five minutes, is quite brilliant, knowing exactly how risqué to be and then going just a bit further.
FRA DIAVOLO translation, Opera Now
When we say an opera is “funny”, we usually mean “we are very sophisticated people who can appreciate the humour of 200 years ago”, but in a new and very free translation by Simon Butteriss, it really was laugh-out-loud hilarious
FRA DIAVOLO translation, The Guardian
If you wanted your faith in human nature restored, you should have caught Simon Butteriss’s illustrated lecture about Oliver Goldsmith (Sky Arts, Saturday). Butteriss’s talk - interrupted by Butteriss himself, impersonating the doctor/jourmalist/poet/playwright – was brimming with ideas.
A GOOSEBERRY FOOL Sky Arts, The Times
Enchantment may more usually be the province of The Magic Flute, but there were charms at work in the Queen Elizabeth Hall yesterday, conjured principally by Simon Butteriss. Commissioned by the OAE, Butteriss has produced both a new translation and a narration (which he himself performs). The tone is gently and aptly satirical, the pace swift and the effect immediate and deeply comic. This is Jackanory for musically-literate adults and you could hear the pleasure and hush of an audience being willingly bewitched. If a case were to be made then this singspiel could find no more persuasive an advocate than Butteriss. The OAE must be rejoicing in their commission - a work I feel certain will be around long enough to see a turn in the London fortunes of this delightful opera.
DIE ENTFUHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment, QEH, TheArtsDesk.com
Hugely entertaining
A MOTLEY PAIR Sky Arts, Sunday Times
Simon Butteriss hits us between the eyes in A Motley Pair. He will certainly make you think again about the operas, and if he succeeds in bringing a new audience to see them, then a knighthood should follow! All hail, Sir Simon!
A MOTLEY PAIR Gilbert and Sullivan News
Simon Butteriss is as good a presenter as I have seen on TV in many years. He is natural, relaxed, enthusiastic, without going over the top and his speech is absolutely clear. Some of today's celebrity TV presenters could learn a lot by studying his approach. Instructive and highly entertaining. You can hardly ask more of a TV documentary.
A MOTLEY PAIR Sullivan Society magazine
It might be comic opera but The Barber Of Seville usually invites companionable tittering rather than full-on belly laughs. However, Simon Butteriss's English translation gave the rib-cage contingent of Buxton Opera House a healthy work-out. Clever rhymes and witty modernisms drew maximum humour out of the libretto.
THE BARBER OF SEVILLE translation, Opera Now
The English translation by Simon Butteriss - known widely as a genius of the Gilbert and Sullivan comedy roles - is both easy to follow and lively in its adaptation of the story. It certainly makes the opera genuinely funny and the Buxton audience laughed heartily.
BARBER OF SEVILLE translation, Manchester Evening News
With a superb, newly commissioned narration - taut, terse and hard-hitting - written and declaimed by Simon Butteriss, it often felt as though we were experiencing the drama for the very first time.
FIDELIO narration, Brighton Festival/Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Times
It succeeded brilliantly
FIDELIO narration, Brighton Festival/OAE, Daily Telegraph
Extremely touching
FIDELIO narration, Brighton Festival/OAE, The Guardian