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“It is a funny business”: David Butt Philip on crazy roles and a move into heavier repertoire

David Butt Philip
© Andrew Staples
David Butt Philip
© Andrew Staples
David Butt Philip (Grigory) in Boris Godunov
© ROH | Catherine Ashmore (2016)
David Butt Philip (Narraboth) and Malin Bystrom (Salome)
© ROH | Clive Barda (2018)
Mick Morris Mehnert and David Butt Philip (Der Zwerg) at Deutsche Oper
© Monika Rittershaus
Roderick Williams and David Butt Philip in War Requiem at ENO
© Richard Hubert Smith (2018)
By Mark Pullinger, 14 June 2019
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“a simple change in audition arias can suddenly change your career”
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Mark Pullinger
Mark Pullinger
Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.