SELECTED PRESS REVIEWS (Gregory Massingham)
"Brisbane has become a kind of nodal point for Britten performances in Australia, principally due to the advocacy of the Con's Head of opera, Gregory Massingham, who studied with tenor Peter Pears, Britten's muse and lifelong partner. It was especially fitting that Massingham should reprise the role written for Pears in the War Requiem, the old English soldier who comforts a younger German counterpart, here the baritone Shaun Brown. They made an especially poignant pair, painting the vivid lines of Wilfred Owen with the darkest of Turner-like hues."
The Australian, April 2013 War Requiem (Britten). Brisbane Chorale, Conservatorium Orchestra and Chorus, Nichloas Braithwaite (Conductor)
“Tenor Gregory Massingham showed that age and experience can be marvellous assets when you are singing the Evangelist role.... Massingham knows his work and delivers the goods with authority and mature insight, giving attention to dramatic detail that is an object lesson younger artists would do well to follow.”
Opera Opera, May 2007 Johannes Passion (JS Bach). The Queensland Orchestra, Richard Gill (Conductor)
“Tenor Gregory Massingham excels at roles such as Orfeo, a versatile performer, keenly musical, sharply intelligent, a natural player.”
Opera Opera, September 2007. L’Orfeo (Monteverdi). Queensland Music Festival, Marshall McGuire (Conductor)
“Furthermore the precision with which Gregory Massingham delivered the prologue made me wonder why James nor Britten felt that the counter-balance of a postlude was called for.”
Opera Magazine (London), December 2005. The Turn of the Screw (Britten). Opera Queensland, Stanhope (Conductor)
“... Winter Songs – an intriguing piece setting shivery poems by e.e. cummings which was impressively realised by Gregory Massingham, whose partnership with the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet was impeccable and whose affinity with, and mastery of, the sometimes tortuous vocal requirements of Dean’s music was quite gripping .... he never seemed fazed; and perceptibly broadened in the process the scope of his tenor musicianship.”
Opera Opera, March 2005. Winter Songs (Brett Dean). Sydney Festival/ Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet.
“Australian tenor Gregory Massingham ... combined intelligence and a clear tenor. He thrilled in Nigra sum and, in the final Gloria, pushed his florid line to the border of cantillation.”
New Zealand Herald, December 2004. Verspers of 1610 (Monterverdi). Bach Musica NZ, Paczian (Conductor)
“Britten’s Serenade inspired tenor Gregory Massingham ... to near transcendent musicality.”
Australian, September 2002. Serenade for Tenor Horn and Strings (Britten) Bangalow Festival.
“Gregory Massingham’s Evangelist was always clear and expressive, his lithe and accurate tenor providing the narrative backbone for the whole work.”
Australian, April 2000. Johannes Passion (JS Bach). Sydney Philharmonia, Matts Nielson (Conductor)
“Tenor Gregory Masssingham was a fine Gerontius, giving an intense realisation and singing with a consistently clear and ringing tonal quality.”
Canberra Times, July 1997. The Dream of Gerontius (Elgar) Canberra Symphony Orchestra & Choir, Braithwaite (conductor)
“Gregory Massingham’s Evangelist grew in stature as the work progressed; no mere onlooker, this was a narrator who shares in the events with increasing passion. Massingham’s flexible tenor negotiated the twists and turns of the recitative with ease and expressive power.”
Sydney Moring Herald, April 1997. Matthaeus Passion (JS Bach). Sydney Philharmonia, Walker (Conductor)
“If test it was, then Gregory Massingham came through with distinction, for he scarcely faltered throughout a long night’s work, his voice carrying clearly and eloquently in the large expanses of the Concert Hall.”
Australian, April 1996. Matthaeus Passion (JS Bach), Sydney Opera House Orchestra, Jane Glover (Conductor)
“Apart from Sir Charles though, the individual amazement of this Creation was tenor Gregory Massingham .... he sang with power, inspirational fervor and great beauty.”
Opera Opera, April 1995. The Creation (Haydn) Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras (Conductor)
“(The Magic Flute) has already been seen in many guises in recent times. How could it possibly come up fresh again? Well it did. It came up bright and fresh, uncluttered and economic .... professional companies could well emulate it. “
Opera Opera, October 2004. The Magic Flute (Mozart) Queensland Conservatorium Opera School, Gregory Massingham (Director)
“This operatic production succeeds in taking the audience on a believable journey into the 21st century, where many do not, because an originally clever concept has been developed thoroughly and consistently. When coupled with the technical expertise of Gregory Massingham (Director)... the journey becomes not only believable but absorbing as well.”
MC Reviews, October 2003. Semele (Handel) Queensland Conservatorium Opera School, Greggory Massingham (Director)
“My doubts about whether Brisbane really needed another Magic Flute so soon after the 2001 Opera Queensland production were dispelled by the first moments of this engaging show, which is an object lesson in how much can be achieved with enthusiasm, imagination and a relatively small budget. This ensemble approach to one of opera’s sacred texts was built vocally on a solid chorus rather than stellar soloists, and dramatically and visually on a few simple variations on a clear overall theme rather than ponderous sets and meretricious stagecraft. The evening was a welcome reminder that opera need not be the exclusive property of a handful of subsidised companies with the resources to mount fully-fledged ‘professional’ productions. Director Gregory Massingham and all involved in this production are to be congratulated on an imaginative approach to an old warhorse. We look to the con for more spice in what has become a rather limited and stodgy operatic menu in Brisbane.”
MC Reviews, October 2004. The Magic Flute (Mozart) Queensland Conservatorium Opera School, Gregory Massingham (Director)
“I have said it before but it bears repeating. Over the years Brisbane audiences have been blessed with an interesting and wonderful array of alternative opera productions from Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University Opera School. The Opera School’s double-bill of one-act operas by Poulenc and Ravel was in the fine tradition of such presentations over many years.”
Opera Opera, October 2006. Les Mamelles de Tiresias (Poulenc) & L’Enfant et les Sortileges (Ravel) Queensland Conservatorium Opera School, Gregory Massingham (Director)