La Traviata - West Green House Opera
There was a wealth of nuance in Eddie Wade’s interpretation of [the] father; with his pithy baritone, distinguished presence and alert acting he captured Germont’s ambivalence with skill and subtlety.
Yehuda Shapiro – Opera, October 2016
In his assumption of Giorgio Germont, Eddie Wade sang with a classic Verdi baritone; expressively and majestically delivered with rich, full phrases. His Germont started with a hardened worldliness – cynical about love, practical about familial prospects – and Wade’s transformation of his character, through minute but obvious facial and physical adjustments was impressive. Vocally, that slight haughtiness of the second act dissipated into colours of burden and grief.
Dominic Lowe – Bachtrack, July 2016
Macbeth - Iford Arts Festival
Eddie Wade was a fine Macbeth, articulating with intelligence the words of Andrew Porter’s English translation, with it’s instinctive balancing of the needs of both Shakespeare and Verdi. Wade used his baritonal colour with the same expressive instinct, bringing a believable aura of delusional torment to his singing, his manipulation by Lady Macbeth all too plausible.
Rian Evans – Opera, August 2016
Eddie Wade makes a strong, charismatic Macbeth, who begins as a sensible, rational soldier and caring husband, but falls deeper and deeper into self-loathing, anxiety and finally despairing madness. Verdi gives Macbeth some of his most gloriously rational harmonies, and it is a privilege to hear them so perfectly handled by Wade, whose vocal judgement and acting get it right time after time. Wade establishes a vivid interior life for Macbeth with masterly quickness in his first few bars.
Charlotte Valori – Bachtrack, June 2016
Baritone Eddie Wade is a fine Macbeth and a convincing pawn in Lady Macbeth’s game of power, while both he and the steely-looking Laura Parfitt clearly enjoy encouraging the audience to swing between feelings of pity and loathing for them as the drama unfolds. The nature of the seating means that you feel as though your eye is permanently glued to the keyhole and what a fascinating watch (and listen) it is. Wade and Parfitt are fine actors who vocalise the immense emotional spectrum these characters live through in the days following Macbeth’s murder of the King – for the price of the crown, as we all know, will cost them dear.
Rebecca Lipkin – The Arbuturian, June 2016
Eddie Wade as Macbeth had a gruff lyricism and awareness
Robert Thicknesse – Opera Now September 2016
La Traviata – Glyndebourne Tour
There were execellent comprimarios in Eddie Wade (Douphol).
Hugh Canning, Opera
La Fanciulla del West - Opera North
Eddie Wade’s Sonora lent colour to the three principals.
Martin Dreyer, Opera
The smaller roles – especially Eddie Wade’s Sonora – are just as sharply defined.
Andrew Clements, The Guardian
Among cameos, notably, Eddie Wade as the good guy Sonora stood out.
Fiona Maddox – The Observer 2014
Eddie Wade makes an excellent company debut as Sonora.
Ron Simpson, Whatsonstage.com
There are several striking individual performances – Eddie Wade’s Sonora is nicely characterised and beautifully sung
Graham Rickson – Tha Arts Desk 2014
…Eddie Wade’s Sonora make his mark among the motley crew of dreamers and losers…
Rupert Christiansen – The Telegraph 2014
Lesser roles are finely taken too…Eddie Wade’s authoritative Sonora, a leading miner…
Martin Dreyer – York Press 2014
L'assedio di Calais - English Touring Opera
But I have no complaints about the excellent cast: Eddie Wade as the mayor… sang with style and panache.
Rupert Christiansen – The Telegraph 2013
What saves the evening is some fine singing, from Eddie Wade, centred and stoical as Eustachio, the mayor of Calais.
George Hall – The Guardian 2013
Good support, too, from Eddie Wade as the doughty Calais mayor
Richard Morrison – The Times 2013
Götterdämmerung - Longborough Festival Opera
Eddie Wade, too, is outstanding as the faux-disabled Gunther
Hugh Canning – Sunday Times 2012
An interesting twist was the handling of Hagen’s thuggish and vain half-brother Gunther, sharply sung and characterised by Eddie Wade
Fiona Maddocks – The Observer 2012
…Eddie Wade’s strongly defined Gunther…
Rupert Christiansen – The Telegraph 2012
…together with Eddie Wade’s stern, yet suitably venal, Gunther these were two performances that would grace any international stage.
Jim Pritchard – Seen and Heard 2012
Gunther (was) very well performed by Eddie Wade
Mark Ronan’s Theatre Reviews 2012
Handel’s Messiah, English Chamber Orchestra,
Leeds Town Hall
…the rich tone and powerful projection of Royal Opera House stalwart Eddie Wade, who brought great strength and depth to the three bass arias
Laura Kate Wilson – Bachtrack, December 2011
Rigoletto for Scottish Opera
Eddie Wade’s gruff, dour Rigoletto was marked by rich tone and breadth of phrasing
Rupert Christiansen – The Daily Telegraph 2011
Eddie Wade’s coarse, self-loathing Rigoletto is part music-hall entertainer, part Shakespearean fool, pushing his daughter away with his impotent desire to keep her safe…
Sarah Urwin Jones – Times 2011
Eddie Wade’s sturdy and supple baritone makes for a compelling Rigoletto
Kate Molleson – The Guardian 2011
(Eddie Wade’s) acting as much as his singing was compelling
Neil Jones – Opera Now
Baritone Eddie Wade…invests the tormented fool of the title with a mesmerising palette of emotions, engagingly acted and resourcefully sung… [Nadine] Livingston’s solos and duets, especially with Wade, are quite sublime…
Keith Aitken – Scottish Daily Express 2011
The cast is superb…[Eddie Wade’s] stage presence and penetrating characterisation of the tormented hunchback probe all the ambiguities of the character
Michael Tumelty – The Herald 2011
…Rigoletto was played by Eddie Wade – and here was a brilliant performance. Wade’s unfortunate hunchback ran the whole gamut of emotions before our eyes and explored an extraordinary palette of vocal colours as he did so. His duets with Nadine Livingston (Gilda) were wonderfully tender and the contrast between that tenderness and the bitter agony of the last act was one of the things which left the greatest impression of the evening. Pure and clear when playing the over-protective parent and a shocking nasal rage when he later discovered that he had been betrayed and had lost his daughter after all…
…Wade’s Rigoletto was completely creepy and possessed of a horrifying darkness, whether jigging around at court in the manner of a deranged Max Wall or skulking around hiring others to play out his own inner violence…
…The closing duets from Wade and Miss Livingston reconfirmed, lest there have been any doubt from their performances earlier in the evening that they had been perfectly cast together. Though Wade’s Rigoletto had been deeply unpleasant, somewhere in his agony over his daughter, it was possible to find a sense of compassion for him. This was a complex, rich and dark Rigoletto completely believable in his pain and completely satisfying to listen to…
Kelvin Holdsworth – Opera Britannia
Scottish Opera’s new production delves into these deep psychological waters with Eddie Wade portraying a tragic but all too human Rigoletto and in – as far as opera will allow – a contained performance Wade used his powerful baritone voice to sound out the pain instead of relying on any over the top histrionics.
Over the last few years we’ve found out more about the inner life of our favourite clowns such as Frankie Howerd or Tony Hancock and this dichotomous existence is at the heart of Wade’s portrayal. The double life led by the jester is sharply drawn not simply by changes of costume or set but in Wade’s face and gait where the burden of his secret life seems to physically weigh him down.
Neil McEwan – TVBomb 2011
Peter – Hansel and Gretel for WNO
As the Father, Eddie Wade was very strong, seeming to point up bits of the role with an extra gleam.
Rian Evans – Opera, August 2008
Eddie Wade is a rough-hewn Father
Richard Morrison – The Times
Scottish Opera Concert Tour
Baritone Eddie Wade gets the evening going with a suitably intimate rendition of the Prologue from Pagliacci. The richness of his voice in no way hinders the lightness of tone in the words.
Thom Dibdin – The Stage
Elijah for Oxford Harmonic Society
Eddie Wade gave an authoritative account of the title role, singing with conviction and assurance. The dramatic urgency was well-sustained, yet there was great sensitivity in the poignant ‘It is enough’.
Nicola Lisle – Oxford Times
Foreman – Jenufa for ETO
…I particularly liked Eddie Wade’s admirably sung Mill Foreman…
Roderic Dunnett – The Independent Online