Interviews
Mark Doss talks about his career and singing Giorgio Germont in La Traviata with Welsh National Opera
Mark Doss sings Giorgio Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata which opens at Wales Millennium Centre on September 21 and tours to Llandudno, Bristol, Plymouth, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Southampton Mike Smith: Can you tell me how you first came to work with WNO and what was that experience like compared to, say, work in the US?…
Artistic Director & CEO Guy Withers talks about Waterperry Opera Festival 2023
Waterperry Opera Festival, based at the stunning Waterperry House & Gardens in Oxfordshire, is soon approaching its sixth festival as a company. When we founded the company, with a short 3-day festival in 2018, we would never have imagined the scale to which we have grown. In 5 festivals we have produced 26 new productions…
A magical L’elisir from Longborough Festival Opera
Watching Longborough Festival Opera’s L’elisir d’amore within 48 hours of attending Tristan und Isolde at Grange Opera made this genuinely funny production even more delightful. Delightful as Donizetti took the love potion straight from Wagner’s tragic masterpiece and turned into the heart of a comic romp that is quite the antidote to the demanding, and wonderful,…
Longborough Festival Opera cast for its 2023 production of Götterdämmerung
Götterdämmerung (29 May – 6 June 2023). A new production for the 2023 festival, Götterdämmerung marks the epic conclusion to Longborough’s new Ring cycle, following acclaimed productions of Das Rheingold in 2019 , Die Walküre in 2021 and Siegfried in 2022. All productions in the cycle are created especially for Longborough by Amy Lane, Artistic Director…
Natalya Romaniw to make Royal Opera debut
Natalya Romaniw makes her Royal Opera debut in the title role of Tosca this coming week. It may be a daunting prospect for any singer but the Swansea-born soprano feels the time is right and says she is more excited than nervous. “I used to watch performances at Covent Garden when I was a student…
Anthony Hermus returns to conduct Opera North for Ariadne auf Naxos
Antony Hermus launched his 2022-23 season with his inaugural concert as Chief Conductor Designate ofthe Belgian National Orchestra on 9 September 2022 and returns to Opera North as Principal GuestConductor for new production of Ariadne auf Naxos (18 February – 24 March 2023) Conductor’s schedule this season includes world premieres of works by Unsuk Chin…
Ukrainian opera star Yuriy Yurchuk leads a special one-off fundraising concert in support of Ukraine.
Royal Opera House principal artist and Ukrainian baritone Yuriy Yurchuk will be joined by a host of international singers including Armenian soprano Anush Hovhannisyan and American soprano Alexandria Wregglesworth, accompanied by pianist Ed Batting, for an evening of world-class music in this special one-off fundraising concert. The night will feature a programme of much-loved arias…
Mid Wales Opera announces Fairy Tale season
Mid Wales Opera are inviting audiences to join them in a Fairy Tale world of magic and myth with their new season launched at Gregynog Hall on Sunday. Launching their Fairy Tales season at the annual Friends of MWO Gala, Executive Director Lydia Bassett said, “Lots of people are struggling at the moment, and there’s…
Michael McCarthy’s 40 years of new opera at Music Theatre Wales
Michael McCarthy is Director of Music Theatre Wales and has staged over 30 productions for the company. Productions include Richard the Lionheart by Telemann and Handel in Germany, large-scale outdoor staging’s of Tosca and Nabucco in Norway, and productions of La Traviata, Cosi fan Tutte, Il Re Pastore, Fidelio and Don Giovanni. Also, Cinderella for…
Tom Coults first opera, Violet opens at Aldeburgh Festival
Composer Tom Coult, 33, is one of the most distinctive and admired composers of his generation. In 2021, he was made Composer-in-Association with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and he has enjoyed further associations with ensembles such as Britten Sinfonia and London Sinfonietta. Violet is Tom’s first opera, which he created with acclaimed writer Alice Birch….