Alex Ashworth

"No City of London Festival is complete without some spectacular in St Paul’s Cathedral, though its acoustic can easily turn whatever is performed into the equivalent of mushy peas. What a pleasant shock, then, when the first sung note in Monteverdi’s Vespers rang out like a rifle shot, one piercing enough to have felled those British worthies of land and sea, memorialised in marble all around. This opening blast from Alexander Ashworth’s bass-baritone set the tone of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s presentation. Forthright clarity. Practised skill. Echo be damned."

"A strong bass delivered splendid recitatives –Alex Ashworth certainly entered into Handel’s spirited account of God’s wrath, darkness and fire – eventually being joined by Jonathan Holland’s sparkling triumphant trumpet."

"I can’t recall hearing Alex Ashworth before. I was impressed. He seemed ideal for the role of Christus. Tall and dignified in bearing, he invested his music with dignity. His tone was evenly produced and fell very pleasingly on the ear. He also enunciated the text extremely well. I liked the range of colours he deployed and also the imagination he brought to the role. The poignant dignity and vocal colouring that he brought to the passage where the dying Christ entrusts his mother to the care of St. John made this a very moving moment."

"...in the Quoniam, for instance, exceptional horn player Anneke Scott stood shoulder to shoulder with heroic Bass Alex Ashworth in a totally equal partnership."

Alexander Ashworth, however, brought such security and dramatic conviction to the role that any sense of him as a substitute was forgotten. His physical stature – towering over all the rest of the cast – gave a real pathos to his portrayal of Wozzeck as an overgrown man-child.

"...The singers were individually often a joy – bass Alex Ashworth’s duetting with bassoonist Inga Maria Klaucke in “For he that is mighty” is still resounding in my ear... "