"Schmidt and Johann, were here sung to (largely unmerited) perfection this time by François Piolino... and the vocally sumptuous Yuriy Yurchuk, as good a bass-baritone as I’ve ever heard (and I’ve heard a fair few)"
"Yuriy Yurchuk and François Piolino did a nice double act as the bibulous comic relief"
"François Piolino and Yuriy Yurchuk entertained with gusto as the two drinking buddies in the comic relief episode at the start of Act II"
"Yuriy Yurchuk and François Piolino maximise the potential of village drunks Johann and Schmidt"
"And an excellent vocal pairing of François Piolino and Yuriy Yurchuk flesh out the thankless Schmidt and Johann, early-day exposition ciphers, with some expressive 'back-acting' at the start of act two"
"François Piolino and Yuriy Yurchuk were excellent as the boozy ‘Little and Large’ pairing of Schmidt and Johann"
"There are also strong turns from drunken duo Johann and Schmidt (Yuriy Yurchuk and Francois Piolino)"
"François Piolino and Yuriy Yurchuk are class acts as Schmidt and Johann respectively"
