“...special mention must go to Jack Ridley and The Glyndebourne Tour orchestral ensemble.” ★★★★★ The Reviews Hub

“Conductor Jack Ridley wrings every note of Wagner’s majestic score out of the Central England Camerata so that simply listening to the music is a joy. He is…a torrent of energy” ★★★★ Diane Parkes, What’s On Live

“Conductor, Jack Ridley, gives us a suitably fluid reading in this semi-staged production by Persona Arts. His is a dramatically compelling interpretation, full of detail, dynamic contrast and expansive phrasing.” David Gray & Paul Gray, ReviewsGate

“Conductor Jack Ridley…not only brings out a brilliant performance from the Central England Camerata but also constantly encourages the singers.” ★★★★ CultureBab

“The Central England Camerata, ably conducted by Jack Ridley, gives all the singers superb support, and at times sounds more like an orchestra of seventy players rather than the actual 41” David Fletcher, Birmingham Festival Choral Society

“When conductor Jack Ridley led the orchestra into Wagner’s score, there was a palpable shift in energy, and lift in the quality of playing.” Dexter Drown, The Wagner Journal 18.3

Publicity for Der fliegende Holländer, Jessica Murray, The Guardian

“This is a young and upcoming conductor with a career to watch.” David Gray & Paul Gray, ReviewsGate

“Jack Ridley...got playing of outstanding quality and punchy rhythmic elan from the London Philharmonic, along with memorable singing from a carefully chosen cast and the excellent Glyndebourne chorus.” Hugh Canning, Opera (£), October 2023

“This must be a tricky show to take on at short notice … Ridley managed it very well indeed, and was enthusiastically applauded not only by the audience, but by the cast, chorus and orchestra as well.” Hugh Canning, Opera (£), October 2023

“De voltallige orkestuitvoering geeft het verhaal een dromerige inslag, perfect voor dit sprookje... De muziek, de zang en de scenografie zijn prachtig.” Iris Spanbroek, TheaterKrant

“Het Noord Nederlands Orkest speelt geweldig, de regie is familyproof.” ★★★★ Mischa Spel, NRC

“De veelkleurigheid op het toneel kreeg in het instrumentale spel royale aanvulling.” Franz Straatman, Place de l’Opera

“I can’t remember when I last heard a new opera – for any age-group – which gave me such unalloyed pleasure…The fact that the show had to be prepared under lockdown, and the performers had to rehearse in distanced isolation – in a space nothing like the stage they were due to appear on – was a minor miracle.” Michael Church

“Has a special resonance” ★★★★ Inge Kjemtrup, The Stage (£)

“Scored for a small group and played by a six-piece band drawn from the Philharmonia and conducted by Jack Ridley, every note conveys a message.” Susan Elkin, Lark Reviews

“This new Scottish Opera production - the work’s European première - struck operatic gold.” ★★★★★ Ken Walton, The Scotsman

"Breaking the Waves is a brave but harrowing opera in a smart production, finely sung and played” ★★★★ David Smythe, Bachtrack

“Gripping: a tightly constructed drama … a deeply compelling piece of theatre … This is a piece to restore your faith in opera as an art form.” Simon Thompson, Seen and Heard International

“A forceful production” Daniel Perks, Broadway World

“This opera does make waves, and at full flow the roar is spine-tingling.” ★★★★ Neil Fisher, The Times (£)

“Conductor Jack Ridley waved his own magic wand in the pit, relishing Massenet’s delicacy and daintiness ... Ridley successfully blended the magic and the comic mayhem into a gratifying whole.” Claire Seymour, Opera Today

“The production is a delight.” ★★★★½ Melanie Eskenazi, Music OMH

“An intoxicating riot.” ★★★★ Rebecca Franks, The Times (£)

“Glyndebourne’s Cendrillon sprinkles its magic.” ★★★★ Richard Fairman, Financial Times (£)

“Immensely artful.” ★★★★ Rupert Christansen, The Telegraph

“A Glyndebourne success? You bet … Shaw’s Glyndebourne Tour team are stars for giving it to us full-frontal.” Roderick Dunnett, Seen and Heard International

"A nonstop hour-long drama that is cinematic in its scope and fluidity." ★★★★ Richard Morrison, The Times (£)

"For its cohorts of community singers and dancers...this was a real achievement." ★★★★ Richard Fairman, Financial Times (£)

"A work that is having an impact on performers and audiences alike, and which stands as one of the very best examples of this type of opera." ★★★★★ Sam Smith, Music OMH

"Everything about this project was special." Virginia Burges, rhap.so.dy in words

"Silver Birch embodies the power of music to transform lives and communicate a profound, universal message. It’s a community project involving one-hundred-and-eighty singers from different backgrounds, including Primary School children, army veterans and women from a local refuge ... Panufnik and Duchen’s achievement is to synthesise personal and poetic experiences, often harrowing and disturbing, into a work of beauty and hope." ★★★★★ Amanda-Jane Doran, Classical Source

"'Everyone suddenly burst out singing' wrote Siegfried Sassoon in his paean to humanity amidst the horror of war, 'Everyone Sang'. And sing they did, all 180 of them ... a chorus of roof-raising passion and purpose." Helen Wallace, The Arts Desk

“Jack Ridley directs from the keyboard and gets energised performances from everyone.” Mark Valencia, What’sOnStage

“A spirited production” ★★★★ Inge Kjemtrup, The Stage (£)

“This was a good performance all round” Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph

“Every emotion [is] portrayed in a real, honest, and moving way.” Lu Greer, The Reviews Hub

“This was a carefully conceived and beautifully enacted production which succeeded in bringing its characters out of their time-honoured melodramatic roles and placing them before us as real flesh and blood.” John Gilroy, Cambridge-News.co.uk

“Fast-paced, passionate and raw” ★★★★ Richard Bratby, Business Live

“Merci encore de la magnifique prestation de l'Orchestre et du choir du programme. Un public enchanté et heureux nous a fait que des éloges qui vous reviennent sur ce pur moment de bonheur musical ... Vous êtes fantastique. Que du bonheur de vous accueillir.” Philippe Laedermann, Directeur, Théâtre du Pré aux Moines

"The lasting impression is of a strong collective plea for a troubling and troubled work" ★★★★  Anna Picard, The Times (£)

"This is a convincing account with some excellent performances from a group of very talented singers, and confirms Owen Wingrave as a work that has been underestimated." ★★★★  David Truelove, Classical Source

"While Owen Wingrave makes for a gloomy evening, some outstanding singing and spirited playing...gladden the heart. Another plus is the Southend Boys Choir, kept busy with supernumerary business and adding its ghostly offstage calls to haunting effect."  Mark Valencia, What'sOnStage

"A strong cast and stylish production go some way towards rehabilitating this troubled piece."  Alexandra Coghlan, The Arts Desk

“In the pit, conductor Jack Ridley made the most of his moment of opportunity with calm, undemonstrative authority.” Andrew Green

“Glyndebourne at its best.”  Sunday Express

“I couldn't fault it...the time flew past in a blast of youthful energy ★★★★★”  What's on Stage

“Smashing fun for all......a deliciously light-hearted evening. Don't expect to take it too seriously – but do see it and join in the fun.”  Bachtrack

“…the twelve instrumentalists conducted by Jack Ridley responded wonderfully to the transparent ludicities of Britten’s scoring.” Claire Seymour, Opera Today

“This is opera at its most nakedly powerful.” ★★★★★  Rupert Christiansen,  The Daily Telegraph

“brilliantly convincing”  Michael Church, The Independent

“The singers are close to ideal, every one of them...it's an A-list ensemble of exceptional quality” ★★★★★  Mark Valencia, What'sOnStage

“[T]his new production of The Rape of Lucretia, the first at Glyndebourne since Britten’s chamber opera had its premiere there in 1946, is quite the darkest — and possibly the most truthful — you’re likely to see in some time.”  Hilary Finch, The Times (£)

“...searingly beautiful” ★★★★★  Stephen Pritchard, The Observer

“This may be a deeply unsettling evening but it’s a richly rewarding one too.”  Edward Bhesania, The Stage (£)

“…a production that, by refusing to muddy the moral waters, makes more sense of this strange opera than any I have known.” ★★★★  Andrew Clark, The Financial Times (£)

“The performances are terrific.” ★★★★  Tim Ashley, The Guardian

“Jack Ridley … successfully conveyed the intimacy and intensity of this chamber piece and managed to evoke a superb ranges of sonorities.” Robert Beattie, Seen and Heard International

“A delectable 80-minute miniature...a witty perpetuum mobile of bittersweet comedy, whirling this way and that.  Not to be missed.”  Hilary Finch, The Times (£)

“A deliciously musical evening”  Antony Craig, Gramophone

“Glyndebourne have a unique opera on their hands here, one of fado and silence, and of light-hearted sadness, and they seem to know exactly what to do with it.”  Richard Scott, The Arts Desk

“Visually compelling, with strong singing across the board”  Hannah Sander, Classical Source

“...beautifully played by a small band under impossibly young-looking conductor Jack Ridley.” John Wyver, Illuminations Media