Helden Bass Baritone

In theory, the final learning phase comes after pushing through to the end of the up close memorisation phase. That final phase is the grand sweeps through long sections or even the whole role if possible. This has to happen as often as possible. Hopefully this can be timed so that one is thoroughly ready for the first day of rehearsals. 

With Sachs, complacency is the enemy and I’ve seen people come a cropper and fall short, like trying to leap a ravine and not making it, because they thought it was just another role. But even this is not the end. One has to sing it in and work out how on earth to sustain vocally a role which, sung without stopping, lasts two and a half hours.

“Australian bass-baritone Warwick Fyfe’s performance of a part that has been taken by actors like Werner Klemperer (son of the conductor, Otto) or by ex-singers (Schoenberg apparently mulled over the idea of a retired tenor) was magisterial – full of illuminating gesture and direct communication (helping us to ‘see’, for example, the web that the summer wind tore away). Toward the end it was if Fyfe was longing to sing, a moving yearning that led logically into a powerful choral conclusion, testament to music’s ability to deliver the most decisively powerful climaxes.” Gordon Williams, Operawire. 24/03/2024

https://operawire.com/sydney-symphony-orchestra-2024-review-gurrelieder/#google_vignette

"Warwick Fyfe as the evil sorcerer Klingsor was simply sensational. He thundered the text, expressing the seething rage underlying Klingsor’s malevolence. His articulation of Wagner’s text was exemplary. Having recently excelled as Alberich in Opera Australia’s Ring Cycle, Fyfe has shown himself to be one of the finest Wagnerian singers Australia has produced." Deen Hamaker, Soundslike Sydney , 9/08/2017 

"The image Wagner created of the open bleeding wound to represent a self-inflicted fall from grace, brings to mind the art of Francis Bacon. That image is taken further in the figure of the self-castrated Klingsor, to whose impotent malevolence Warwick Fyfe brought terrifying ferocity, a keen-edged incisive voice, madly wandering eye and brilliant character portrayal." Peter McCallum, Sydney Morning Herald, 10/08/2017

Under the baton of Maestro Ascher Fisch, with the West Australian Symphon Orchestra. 

“Warwick Fyfe is impassioned as the evil prison governor, joined by the 40-strong male members of the WASO chorus in his rousing introduction. His is a visceral performance. From the thump of his footsteps as he enters the stage, Fyfe’s performance supersedes the concert form, giving a peek into how this character could be played in a full production” Leah Mercer, The Conversation, 3//03/2020