“Peter Strummer carries the show as an endearingly flummoxed Don Pasquale. His bass-baritone is expressive and full, but it is his sure-footed physical acting that brings many of the evening’s laughs, as when he arthritically suits up for his big date with youth and beauty, or later when he rolls himself onto the stage in a wheelchair, pathetically broken by his foray into married life.”
“The Calgary Opera bounced back with a sparkling and witty production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola. The production was greatly helped by the outstanding performance of Peter Strummer, a veteran basso steeped in the Italian buffo tradition, whose every move as Don Magnifico served to enhance the comic drive and pacing of the show.”
La Cenerentola, Calgary Opera
“...the brightest stars of the evening were baritone Peter Strummer as Kecal, the marriage broker and [Vasek]. Bombastic, cocky, comically self-assured, Mr. Strummer’s character kept the plot in motion.”
Bartered Bride, Washington Opera
“Unfortunately, as with the Barber of Seville during the fall season, the singers in La Bohème failed to meet the standards required for a suitable rendering of this work by a first-rank international opera company. With two exceptions the brilliant baritone Marius Kwiecien, who sang the role of Marcello with opulent voice and vibrant stage presence, and the bass Peter Strummer in the comic roles of Benoit and Alcindoro.”
La Bohème, San Francisco Opera
“The best voices and the most effective acting must be credited to the two comic characters, Peter Strummer as the marriage broker Kecal and [Vasek].”
Bartered Bride, Washington Opera
“Veteran bass-baritone Peter Strummer was a hysterically funny Bartolo who actually thought he could get his young ward to marry him. He sang his patter aria at lightening speed but the words were always intelligible.”
The Barber of Seville, Opera Las Vegas
“Kecal, the marriage broker, was artfully done by bass-baritone Peter Strummer. Strummer’s light touch was particularly appropriate for this manipulative gentleman.”
Bartered Bride, Washington Opera
“Bass Peter Strummer’s fussily detailed Faninal proved consistently amusing.”
La Forza Del Destino, Opera Colorado
“Baritone Peter Strummer plays a crusty, easily deceived Don Pasquale, projecting a humanness into the part.”
Don Pasquale, Central City Opera
“Peter Strummer, as the aged Don who would marry to spite Ernesto, his rebellious heir and nephew, did as much as anyone could with bad-toupee and aching-back sight gags. Some clever makeup gave him a jowly, baggy-eyed, world-weary face he could work with. The Don has a lot of spoken dialogue, much of it in soliloquies and letter-reading, and Strummer was brilliant with that. His phrasing and body language made the meaning clear even through the Italian. Even in the forte-fortissimo first act, the singers displayed consistently attractive voices. Strummer, Johnson, tenor Bradley Williams (Ernesto) and baritone Mel Ulrich (Malatesta) held pitch, projected and phrased nicely throughout the evening. Pleasure was to be had in their singing.”
Don Pasquale, Florentine Opera
“Peter Strummer contributed a believable, nicely complex Geronte.”
Manon Lescaut, Opera Pacific
“…the young Austrian approached the role with welcome security throughout his range, a genuine trill, a chuckle in his eye and a Zero Mostel-like leer on his face.”
Bartered Bride, Washington Opera
“Another pleasure was seeing acclaimed character bass-baritone, Peter Strummer in the title role, last heard three years ago as Dr. Bartolo during MO’s The Barber of Seville. After a few balance problems with the orchestra resolved during opening ‘Ah, un foco insolito,’ his booming voice and fearless buffo comedy always entertained.”
Don Pasquale, Manitoba Opera
“ Peter Strummer played Don Alfonso with just the right air of aristocratic subtlety supporting cynical superiority. He also offered a telling lesson in how to magnetize attention.”
Cosí fan tutte, San Diego Opera
“Peter Strummer has perfected Don Pasquale, the ideal role for his grand sense of character and his rich baritone. He is the lovable old gentleman who in a crisis of advanced years determines he will take a young wife. In the prologue, before he had even sung a note, he established himself firmly and lovingly with the audience. Hardly a reticent performer, he plays Pasquale to the teeth.”
Don Pasquale, Central City Opera
“Bass-baritone Peter Strummer sparkled, leading the rest of the small cast in a vocally spot-on show, especially considering Rossini’s challenging score.”
The Barber of Seville, Austin Lyric Opera
“Peter Strummer is a delightfully pompous Dr. Bartolo…”
Il Barbiere di Siviglia, L’Opéra de Montréal
“Peter Strummer is an agile and aggressive Melitone with all the right musical accents.”
La Forza Del Destino, Washington Opera
“...while Peter Strummer as Geronte transformed the rather stereotypical role of the spurned older lover into a living, breathing character.”
L’Opéra de Montréal
“The acceptance of Peter Strummer’s Mustafa was effortless. His bass voice mixed the great weight of Mustafa’s imagined dignity with the buoyant lightness of his actual flightiness. His acting was a clinic in buffo style, loaded with neatly timed business big enough to be legible but small enough to stay within the frame. No bug-eyed bluster, just fleeting, expressive reaction to the confusion around and within the character.”