Press

• Britten Peter Grimes

  Dutch National Opera

  Oct 2024

  • John Findon is the young tenor who replaced the ailing Issachah Savage in the title role. Findon stepped into the role last minute, which fits him like a glove. A rare type of tenor, he manifests a deep baritonal treasure trove right down to the pianissimo. From the dark depths jump up illuminated color accents: a Caravaggian chiaroscuro! A fine actor he is, too. His bipolar tormented Grimes, alternately adrift and out of control (after which he beats himself up), then manically driven or dreamy, is utterly believable.

    • Esther Chayes, Opera Gazet
    • 09 October 2024

  • In any case, for the dress rehearsal and the premiere, the English tenor John Findon was called upon, who had recently played the role elsewhere and had managed to master the direction in half a day. He pulled out all the stops to make the premiere a great success and received a huge ovation.

    • Peter Franken, Place de l'Opera
    • 07 October 2024

  • John Findon [had] the Herculean task of memorising a staging that had taken five weeks to make in just one night. He does so commendably, delivering a moving Grimes with a capacity to express both the brutality and the poetry inherent to his character.

    • Shirley Apthorp, Financial Times
    • 08 October 2024

  • It is instead British tenor John Findon, who is not a stranger to Grimes stand-ins, having stepped in almost exactly a year ago at English National Opera. … what’s for sure is that his resonant voice and humble embodiment of this complex figure is one that makes its mark.

    • Hattie Butterworth, Gramophone
    • 06 October 2024

• Bizet Carmen

  Glyndebourne

  May 2024

  • he found a breathtaking intensity, with a high-octane vibrato and gleaming ring in his confrontations with Escamillo and Carmen at the smugglers’ encampment, feeding off Chaieb’s defiance. In the final scene, the voice still shone, but found some added snarls and rasps, as the animal violence of the scene came out. On his knees, after strangling her – “You can arrest me now” – there was a rare moment of tenderness with a sob in the voice. One to watch.

    • Benjamin Poore, Operawire
    • 28 May 2024

  • He makes it his own, with a voice that grows in power as the character grows in confidence, and a stage presence that unfolds from detachment and diffidence to lethal passion.

    • Claudia Pritchard, Culture Whisper
    • 27 May 2024

• Janáček Jenůfa

  English National Opera, London Coliseum

  Mar 2024 - Mar 2024

  • The voice of John Findon, great Wagner tenor in the making, rings out in the vast space.

    • David Nice, The Arts Desk
    • 14 March 2024

  • John Findon had a whale of a time as bad-boy Števa, entitled and irredeemably self-regarding, Findon's rather over-the-top antics fitted admirably into Alden's distorted world, whilst Findon's singing in Act One rightly held focus, this Števa knew how to be liked. In Act Two, Findon gave us a sight of the weak man underneath, unable to deal with Jenůfa's pregnancy, and unable to deal with the Kostelnička's fierceness.

    • Robert Hugill, Planet Hugill
    • 15 March 2024

  • John Findon as Števa asserts his immensely powerful tenor to brilliant effect, as he immerses himself in playing the brash popular guy who is actually such a coward that he will attempt to deflect criticism by blaming others for how they have treated him.

    • Sam Smith, Opera Online
    • 16 March 2024

  • Števa, was sung by John Findon with a swagger in the voice and a thrust in his step. Findon’s easy tenor and sleazy manner was an ideal contrast to Smagur’s awkward outcast.

    • Dominic Lowe, BachTrack
    • 14 March 2024

  • Števa is brutishly sung by tenor John Findon, who can turn on romantic charm like a tap

    • Claudia Pritchard, Culture Whisper
    • 14 March 2024

• Britten Peter Grimes

  English National Opera

  Sep 2023 - Oct 2023

  • The role of Peter Grimes fell to British tenor, John Findon...plunging himself wholeheartedly into this lonesome and anguished character in a telling and surefooted performance... Go there!’ (act 2, scene 2) is a lovely and inviting aria and thoughtfully sung with intensity and feeling by Findon. He looked the part of Grimes through and through and was suspiciously alert to all the hypocrites and gossips of the Borough he shuns.

    • Tony Cooper, Planet Hugill
    • 06 October 2023

  • With a strong supporting cast of Simon Bailey’s reassuring presence as Balstrode, John Findon as an Bob Boles the Methodist, and Anne-Marie Owens as Mrs Sedley, this led to a terrific performance.

    • Mark Ronan, The Article
    • 24 September 2023

• Smetana The Bartered Bride

  Garsington Opera

  Jun 2023 - Jul 2023

  • As the naïve, hapless and socially inept younger brother Vašek, he was in fine voice and brought his talent for nuanced characterisation to the production.

    • Adrian York, London Unattached
    • 06 July 2023

  • John Findon’s portrayal was both ridiculous and touching as appropriate, his tenor suitably self-pitying to distance it from that of Jeník.

    • Roy Westbrook, Bachtrack
    • 01 July 2023