“Vivid”, “superb”, “riveting”, “powerful”, “decadent”… are just some of the superlatives used to describe Michael Colvin’s recent turn as King Herod in English National Opera’s new production of Salome, directed by Adena Jacobs and conducted by ENO Music Director, Martyn Brabbins.

Colvin as King Herod in ENO’s Salome, October 2018. Photo: (c) Catherine Ashmore

“Colvin, in turn, sang with force and impressive tone as he tore up the stage with his riveting portrayal. He was superb.” – San Francisco Classical Voice, Letter from London

“Colvin and Bickley are superb. She wonderfully suggests Herodias’s fraying dignity. He sounds all the more sinister for singing so elegantly and refusing to shout, like so many Herods.” – Tim Ashley, The Guardian

“Michael Colvin is a vivid Herod” – Richard Fairman, Financial Times

“Presiding over events is Michael Colvin’s Herod clad in an ermine-edged Father Christmas coat and not much else, but his incarnation of paranoid derangement is highly convincing… The negotiating argy-bargy between him (Herod) and his step-daughter (Salome), who exhibits an EU-style inflexibility in her demand for Jokanaan’s head, is beautifully sung.” – Michael Church, The Independent

“Vocally, Michael Colvin is a stylish Herod and shoulders the direction convincingly” – Peter Reed, Classical Source

“Michael Colvin’s Herod, flopping around in puddles of blood, was a study in moral and mental decline, disturbingly lascivious and with a well-crafted repellance to him” – Dominic Lowe, Bachtrack.com

“Michael Colvin’s decadent Herod is excellent” – Barry Millington, The Evening Standard

“Both Susan Bickley and Michael Colvin gave us superbly sung accounts of their roles…” – Robert Hugill, PlanetHugill.com

“…there is no denying that, with his excellent tenor, [Colvin] can fill a stage.” – Sam Smith, Opera-Online

“Michael Colvin’s Herod… is vocally on top of the part” – Larkreviews.co.uk

“Michael Colvin’s Herod is suitably both disturbing and disturbed as he rolls around on the blood-soaked stage. His vocals are tortured and powerful…” – Aliya Al-Hassan, BroadwayWorld.com

“Blood is everywhere; splashed about by Herod (a magnificently disgusting Michael Colvin).” – James Fitzgerald, Londonist.com

“much of the singing is impeccable, notably Allison Cook as Salome and Michael Colvin as Herod.” – Sebastian Taylor, The Camden News Journal

Colvin as King Herod in ENO’s Salome, October 2018. Photo: (c) Catherine Ashmore