musicomh.com, King Arthur, June 2007
The greatest pleasure, for me, was to see how director (and bass) Thomas Guthrie manipulated the music to fit his scheme. Numbers were removed and the order was altered; the Act Four Passacaglia (Purcell's homage to Lully) was successfully transformed from a spirit temptation to a wedding ritual at the end of Act One. Hither this way, normally an antiphony of sprite calls, became the haunting accompaniment to a shivering, torch lit trek across the battlefield.

..I enjoyed the production immensely for its balance of realism and Expressionism... the tight, rhythmic choreography of the soldiers and, subsequently, the nurses made sure to interest the eye. To contrast the formalised movement of the men (it made sense, they are soldiers after all), two acrobatic figures opened and closed the act with flowing limbs and sexually suggestive bodily contortions. At one point, their gravity-defying movement continued after the music had ended: I was reminded of an equally captivating moment at the end of Christopher Wheeldon's Danse à grande vitesse, one of the more memorable dance premieres in London last year.

Independent , King Arthur , June 2007
...this concept works brilliantly. The extraordinary aria by the Cold Genius, where the music shudders and creaks like the ice-bound earth it describes, is here turned into an event of great pathos, as the character becomes a hunched figure in a greatcoat who staggers out of a trench, to be tended by the nurses...music and movement meld perfectly, and the choreography of the masques is charming throughout.

Brighton Argus , Magic Flute , May 2007
If you were anywhere in the vicinity of New Road, Brighton, at the weekend, you would have heard some squeals of laughter and some childish giggling.

Have no fear - it was the gentle spirit of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart being hugely amused at a new production of his last opera, The Magic Flute.

Written for the Theater an der Wien, a popular musical run by Emanuel Schikanader, who was a friend of Mozart and the librettist of this work, it received its premiere on September 30, 1791, just weeks before the composer's death. It is a rich mixture of solemnity and playfulness, a send-up of freemasonry, a celebration of The Enlightenment and of the ordinary public of suburban Vienna.

And in this new production by the Armonico Consort and the Orchestra of the Baroque from Warwickshire, the balance of that blend is captured to perfection. Indeed, I would go so far as to say this was a hugely enjoyable and satisfying production and one of the best Magic Flutes I have ever seen.

This company brought Purcell's The Fairy Queen to the Brighton Festival last year and the same composers performed King Arthur earlier last week.

Through director Thomas Guthrie the company has become a by-word for freshness, innovation and the sheer joy of opera. This Magic Flute has served only to enhance this reputation.

Guthrie has assembled a talented troupe of singers and musicians and I could not help but fall in love with the Princess Pamina of Elin Manahan Thomas, a fine soprano who sang of love and yearning with tremendous feeling and a heart-melting quality. Mark Wilde's Prince Tamino did the same excellent work in the male role.

Guthrie himself took on the role of Papageno and gave his audience a blustery, blokey bird-catcher, full of jokes, cracker-barrel philosophy and general down-to-earthness.

The singing was generally of a very high standard, to a beautifully witty and sparkling English text and sung with a clarity which would put to shame many English National Opera productions.

This was as near a perfect Magic Flute as you could wish for and would serve as the perfect introduction to opera for newcomers. It would also satisfy buffs as well.

The Times , King Arthur , May 2007
Full marks for ambition

Telegraph, Fauré Requiem, February 2007
'An exquisite, eloquently voiced and profoundly touching performance of Fauré's Requiem. At one extreme there was the hushed singing of the "Sanctus", at the other was the powerful, wrathful attack on "Dies illa, dies irae", prefaced by the sense of foreboding that the baritone Thomas Guthrie instilled into the "Libera me". This was a performance of perfectly poised fluency, quiet intensity and consolatory contemplation.'

Independent on Sunday, Magic Flute, January 2007
'Thomas Guthrie's deft production, with puppetry, fire-eating, some excellent singing and dancing from the young pupils of the Allesley School of Dance, a sharp-witted translation by Kit Hesketh Harvey, and lovely designs by Roger Butlin, was as remarkable for the easy fluidity of the dialogue as it was for its clever use of space, innovative presentation of the trials by fire and water, and highly entertaining introduction to Papagena (Arabella Nathan). Mark Wilde, a consummate Mozartian, led the cast as Tamino, with Elin Manahan Thomas as a touchingly delicate Pamina, Ronald Nairne a sonorous Sarastro, and Guthrie himself ad-libbing with easy charm as Papageno. Under Christopher Monks, a trim chamber orchestra sped merrily along, while the trios, quartets and quintets were delightfully balanced. Diary permitting, I look forward to seeing their King Arthur this summer.'.

Opera Now, Winterreise, November 2005
"wonderfully animated performer, living every nuance of the music in his face and voice... vocally outstanding... Guthrie has the softened vocal grit and pastel timbre of a Wolfgang Holzmair, feeding deep intensity into the merest dusting of the notes... distinguished music-making, superbly supported by Gary Cooper"

Puppet Notebook, Winterreise, November 2005
"Thomas Guthrie manipulates the puppet and, at the same time, sings with great intensity and fluidity - an extraordinary feat of concentration...black and white drawings by illustrator Peter Bailey...a lovely idea that helps to locate each song...puppet and singer breathed as one; there were beautifully handled shifts in focus - a downcast look, a distant gaze - that confirmed how supernaturally expressive puppets can be"

Early Music Review, Winterreise, November 2005
"fascinating.. generated a reflective and philosophical response from this reviewer".

Telegraph, Tavener's Ikon, Chichester Festival, October 2005
"Thomas Guthrie as the baritone soloist was powerfully authoritative".

Independent,  Streetwise Opera's staging of Mahler's Rückert Lieder, Nottingham, September 2005
"Ich atmet einen linden Duft!", sung by the baritone Thomas Guthrie...is entrancing, enrapturing. "

Opera News Online, Fairy Queen, August 2005
"highly inventive staging...worked wonders... with the help of a vocally outstanding cast, Guthrie (widely praised for his staged version of Die Winterreise ) evoked a strange, mysterious netherworld...above all, the sleep sequence was magically staged; nurses and doctors hovered like compassionate demigods, as if external forces were striving to cure the pains and anxieties of distracted human beings...Guthrie’s hilarious depiction of the drunken poet, preceded by a mesmerizing trapeze routine, conjured up memories of the “heavenly” Titania and “earthen” Bottom...every small “hospital” routine — the ritual of making beds, adjusting pillows, checking notes — became a tiny fey ritual, resembling parts of a dance...Guthrie’s treatment of the wedding scene, performed with a pair of eerily lifelike puppets, was hypnotic; and the descent of Phoebus (a life-sized puppet) added yet another arresting effect to an evening that was beguiling from start to finish"

Evening Standard, Messiah, St John's Smith Square, December 2004
"A wonderful performance...Thomas Guthrie sang with ample feeling...bring on Christmas".

Evening Standard, St John Passion, St John's Smith Square, April 2004
"Annual Passion that just goes on getting better... Thomas Guthrie's Pilate was a troubled, baffled man, a subtle reading that shifted the balance of power between judge and prisoner".

Ross-shire Journal
Recital, Invergordon Arts Society, November 2003
"Simply the tops...fine, varied recital...enthralling presentation...overwhelming, sheer brilliance...the Mozart aria amazed all present with the singer's perfectly in tune whistling representing the tootling on the Magic Flute...rousing Toreador Song...a most enjoyable evening's entertainment."

Early Music Review, July 2001
Biber Violin Sonatas, Nisi Dominus, Monica Huggett, Sonnerie, ASV CD GAU 203
"Add to this the beautifully controlled sound of rising star, Thomas Guthrie, and you have a recipe for delight"

The Scotsman
The Seer, September 2001
"Superb"

Opera
The Seer, September 2001
"Thomas Guthrie gave a superb performance"

As the Earl with mezzo-soprano Louise Innes (Lady Seaforth) in Bevan Baker's The Seer, 2001

The Independent
Bampton Classical Opera, July 2001
"None seemed much of an actor-improviser apart from Thomas Guthrie, whose janitor-Lubano, laced with quirky gesture and sidling nuance, produced convincingly good singing in aria and duet alike"

Opera
Bampton Classical Opera, July 2001
"...with co-director Thomas Guthrie, who also sang a mellifluous Lubano, {Bampton} served up a vivacious performance"

The Times
Bampton Classical Opera, July 2001
"Thomas Guthrie's proto-Papageno, Lubano, carried the evening, a natural hangdog comic"

The Times
Bampton Classical Opera, July 2000
"outstanding"

Opera
Bampton Classical Opera, July 2000
"physically and vocally elastic"