Matthew Rose... is a moving, unusually convincing Sarastro Michael Tanner, The Spectator, May 2013

Written for tenor voice, often sung by a baritone, it acquires - literally - added depth in this beautiful reading by the Grammy-winning British bass Matthew Rose, who sings it mostly a fourth lower that its original key.  Schubert himself called them 'terrifying' songs and confessed to his own emotional exhaustion at having written them.  Rose and Matthewman, while in full, expressive form, convey that sense of being utterly wrung out. Fiona Maddocks, The Observer, 10 February 2013

Matthew Rose's new recording has low-voice novelty value, if nothing else.  Fortunately it has lots more, including emotional intensity, drama, mesmerising variety and subtle accompanying.  The bass sound provides a thought-provoking weight and darkness too. Warwick Thompson, Metro, 22 March 2013

C’est un volume de grande qualité et de belle facture que présente Stone Records avec une nouvelle interprétation du Voyage d’hiver de Schubert par la basse britannique Matthew Rose, accompagné par son jeune compatriote, le pianiste Gary Matthewman. La voix à l’assise solide, dotée d’une rondeur et d’une épaisseur confortables, donnant l’illusion de la facilité, déploie dès le numéro 1 (« Gute Nacht ») un timbre envoûtant sans que soient négligées l’articulation ni la diction, claire et compréhensible. Certains passages établissent une véritable osmose entre le piano et la voix (comme le début de « Der greise Kopf », nº 14, ou encore « Die Krähe », nº 15, très doux, intime, comme chuchoté). Les transitions sont particulièrement réussies au sein des morceaux qui font intervenir des changements de climat, la virtuosité du pianiste épousant la richesse des nuances vocales, avec de très beaux effets de contrastes (particulièrement dans « Rast », nº 10, et au service de la dimension dramatique du nº 11, « Frühlingstraum »).  Les deux talentueux interprètes donnent le meilleur d’eux-mêmes dans la douceur alliée à la fermeté, pourtant capable de suggérer la fragilité (nº 6 par exemple, « Wasserflut », avec des graves magnifiques). La souplesse et la ductilité de la voix de Matthew Rose font merveille dans « Irrlicht » (nº 9), avec un effet renforcé par la transposition pour basse des notes graves qui marquent les mots tiefst (« les plus profondes »), Felsengründe (« ravins), hinab (« vers le bas »), et encore dans « Einsamkeit » qui clôt la première partie du cycle.  Si le réconfort vient de ce qui enveloppe les passions, les couve et finalement les étouffe, la vie pourtant résiste sans cesse tout au long du cycle dans ces agacements d’un piano nerveux et tenace, obstiné dans le soutien qu’il apporte à une voix qui s’arrache constamment au cocon protecteur des notes graves pour exhaler sa plainte dans le medium et l’aigu. Encore trop vivant pour achever le voyage, pense-t-on par moments, et pour céder complètement à l’attrait vertigineux des profondeurs. Fabrice Malkani, Forum Opera, 12 April 2013

Like Hans Hotter, Matthew Rose leaves one with a sense of a vast burden of suffering determinedly endured against appalling odds. Richard Wigmore, Gramophone (Recording of the Month), April 2013

Matthew Rose exudes basso dignity as Talbot. Martin Bernheimer, Financial Times, 02 January 2013

Matthew Rose brings a robust bass voice and dignified presence to the role of George Talbot (Giorgio), the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is loyal to Mary. Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 01 January 2013

Bass Matthew Rose is warmly sympathetic as Mary's confessor, Talbot. Mike Silverman, San Francisco Chronicle, 31 December 2012

Matthew Rose as Talbot acquitted himself best with his alert, great-hearted singing in the long, ever-shifting duet between Mary and her keeper when she learns of her impending death. Marion Lignana Rosenberg, The Classical Review, 01 January 2013

On [Joyce DiDonato's] same level of restrained good taste [was] suave bass Matthew Rose as the courtier Talbot. James Jorden, New York Post, 02 January 2013

Matthew Rose, in handsomely orotund voice as Talbot... George Loomis, Opera, March 2013

Rose embodies the Mephistophelean 'spirit of negation' - the star of the show. Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, 24 June 2012

The triumph was Matthew Rose’s utterly compelling Claggart, sung with immense strength, colour and penetration, and superb in his Iago-like soliloquy explaining to himself why Budd in all his beauty must be destroyed. In fact, Alden’s directing of Rose’s Claggart was as virtuoso as anything he has done… a real tour de force. Tom Sutcliffe, Opera Now, September 2012

Matthew Rose's Claggart was strongly sung on ink-black tone.  The last sentence of his monologue, launched pianissimo, was properly spine-chilling. Rodney Milnes, Opera, August 2012

"[Claggart was] brilliantly acted and sung by the bass Matthew Rose — decades younger than James Morris, the venerable artist who sang the role in the Met’s revival in May — the master-at-arms was pale and wide-eyed, seemingly shellshocked by the trauma of his own secrets. He emanated the anger that arises out of great frustration. Restrained and intense, Mr. Rose’s performance was as powerful and troubling a representation of the enervating effects of the closet — effects demonstrated by the resolute aloofness of Britten’s opera — as Heath Ledger’s in 'Brokeback Mountain'. Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 03 July 2012

The most provocative interpretation was that of Claggart, the corrupt master-of-arms, played by Matthew Rose, winner of the 2012 Critics' Circle exceptional young talent award. Delivering his vocal lines with unsnarling warmth of tone, he added complexity to the role, pacing back and forth in obsessive straight lines and suggesting a terrible, bottled-up hatred. For the first time you could believe that Claggart himself once possessed a similar, Billy-type "handsome sailor" beauty before life, in some unspoken way, betrayed him... Rose's Claggart alone is worth the ticket. Fiona Maddocks, The Observer, 24 June 2012

In an impressive cast, no one is finer than Matthew Rose. As Claggart, one of his biggest roles to date, he present a chilling study in evil, dressed in a long leather coat and all the more powerful for his moon-faced impassivity. He sculpts the words with his dark bass-baritone. John Allison, The Sunday Telegraph, 24 June 2012

[Matthew Rose] brought vocal power and ominous shadings to his performance. Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 25 June 2012

Matthew Rose lends Claggart the impassivity of a sphinx, the physique of a wrestler and the snarl of a devil. Andrew Clark, Financial Times, 20 May 2012

On stage Matthew Rose was the star of the show: a granitic monster of a Claggart, vocalised with chilling authority. Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph, 20 June 2012

...the master-at-arms John Claggart, dominates the stage, especially as chillingly sung by bass Matthew Rose...[his voice] so well-focused and perversely beautiful in tone that we hang on his every word. Mike Silverman, Associated Press, 24 June 2012

Matthew Rose's Claggart is terrifying – not for any obvious malevolence, but for the contained cruelty that his impassive presence projects, delivering his credo towards the end of the first act while fondling the neckerchief he has taken from Budd. Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 19 June 2012

Matthew Rose's Claggart projects a chilling magnificence that steals the show, sung with dark but incisive clarity. Michael White, The Telegraph, 19 June 2012

Matthew Rose’s Claggart is a terrific achievement from this rising bass (winner of the Critics’ Circle award for exceptional young talent). Richard Morrison, The Times, 20 June 2012

Matthew Rose’s indomitably cruel Claggart. Edward Seckerson, 19 June 2012

Praise be for Matthew Rose, the pasty-faced nasty who was last night the saving grace of the leading roles…Rose is a perceptive actor with a richly expressive bass voice, and conveyed his malignant character (a Iago, if you like) with a still concentration in his body and sudden, arresting contortions of his mouth. The performance of the night. Ismene Brown, The Arts Desk, 19 June 2012

Matthew Rose gives a terrifying account of that meaty role; on the whole he is quiet, almost drugged, and he paces the stage slowly to creepy effect. Rose's voice is now richer than ever, so his evil 'Credo' has every colour and a vast dynamic range. Michael Tanner, The Spectator, 30 June 2012

Matthew Rose brought suave musicality to Sparafucile, making him more than the standard rumbling thug. 

Hugo Shirley, Opera, June 2012

There was superb in-depth casting in the roles of Sparafucile and Maddalena: Matthew Rose was, as always, an electrifying presence. Michael Tanner, Spectator, 14 April 2012

Matthew Rose shone in the murky role of Sparafucile. Fiona Maddocks, Observer 15 April 2012

Matthew Rose, fondling his knife with psychopathic intensity, gives really ominous weight to Sparafucile's deep dark lines. Richard Morrison, The Times, 01 April 2012

Christine Rice’s seductive Maddalena and Matthew Rose’s morose Sparafucile are both near ideal.  Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph, 02 April 2012

Matthew Rose as the assassin Sparafucile and Christine Rice as his sister Maddalena also deserve honourable mention. Barry Millington, Evening Standard, 02 April 2012

As Sparafucile, Matthew Rose brings his typically authoritative deep voice to the role. Colin Anderson, The Opera Critic, 30 March 2012

Matthew Rose was a suitably menacing Sparafucile. Jim Pritchard, Seen and Heard, 31 March 2012

By chance I had been to a recital by [Matthew Rose] in Cambridge of Schubert's 'Schwanengesang', the most impressive account I have heard of that difficult non-cycle for a long while.  Rose is a true bass, who surely has a great future in the black Wagner roles, among others. Michael Tanner, The Spectator, 03 March 2012

The finely-sung Leporello of Matthew Rose. David Gutman, The Stage, 23 May 2011

...personality, persuasive acting, a sparkle of panache [are] qualities always visible in Matthew Rose’s servant Leporello, fussing, capering and moaning alongside [Giovanni]. Geoff Brown, The Times, 25 May 2011

Matthew Rose is an excellent Leporello. Stephen Walsh, The Arts Desk, 23 May 2011

Matthew Rose’s engaging, boyish Leporello. Fiona Maddocks, The Observer, 29 May 2011

Matthew Rose's lightly comic Leporello finds space for a great deal of subtlety amidst the buffo bluster. Hugo Shirley, Musical Criticism, 02 June 2011

Lucas Meacham’s Giovanni and Matthew Rose’s Leporello engage in the kind of crackling repartee we expect from native Italian speakers. Andrew Clark, Financial Times, 25 May 2011

Matthew Rose, as the Don’s sidekick Leporello, infuses that picaresque figure with an unaccustomed gravitas, thus showing him in an interesting new light. Michael Church, The Independent, 23 May 2011

The casting is virtually ideal, with the stupendously malevolent, terrifying Nick of Matthew Rose towering above all of them and all of us. This young artist is already great, and will be greater. Michael Tanner, The Spectator, September 2010

Matthew Rose sang Shadow lovingly, his rich bass lyrical and free of overdone demonic acridity. Kate Molleson, Opera, October 2010

Matthew Rose’s solid Nick Shadow is a winner. George Hall, The Stage, 09 August 2010

Matthew Rose's beautifully sung Nick Shadow. Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 09 August 2010

Matthew Rose was a vocal and physical presence from the moment the Trulove's garden gate swung open to reveal him, black and cross-hatched as if literally cut out of the shadows. Edward Seckerson, The Arts Desk, 09 August 2010

Matthew Rose is an imposing Nick Shadow, with a whiff of sulphur under the bonhomie. Clare Colvin, Sunday Express, 15 August 2010

…the sootily-clad Nick Shadow, played with devilish sang-froid by Matthew Rose. Fiona Maddocks, The Observer, 15 August 2010

The soloists were outstanding… [including] Matthew Rose, the bass singer as Herod and the Ishmaelite Father whose voice has a beautiful, rich tone. Barbara Bryan, Edinburgh Guide, 05 February 2010

Matthew Rose’s Herod / Ishmaelite Father demonstrated how fast this young bass is maturing Andrew Clark, Financial Times, 08 February

Matthew Rose’s Herod had a terrifying humanity, his lament of the woes of power laved with vulnerability and suggestive of mania induced by sleepless nights. Sarah Unwin Jones, The Times, 09 February 2010

By far the most memorable performance of the evening, however, was the fantastic Matthew Rose. His Herod was no ranting tyrant but a figure of humanity and even sympathy. Rose’s honeyed bass caressed beautifully the phrases of his first great aria, evoking a feeling of profound vulnerability which did not entirely vanish, even during the scene when he ordered the massacre of the innocents. His Ishmaelite Father was warm and appealing, instantly dispelling the gloom of the preceding scene when Mary and Joseph are turned away from every house they try. Rose is one of the most successful graduates of the Royal Opera House’s Young Artists scheme and it is remarkable just how far he has come in the early years of his career. Simon Thompson, Seen and Heard, February 2010

…as Simon, the bass Matthew Rose was stentorian and imposing when appropriate, but also elegant and noble. Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 16 October 2009

…four terrific vocal soloists (Measha Brueggergosman, Michelle DeYoung, Toby Spence and Matthew Rose) reached possible record levels of exhilaration. Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 03 October 2009