*** This is a no-holds barred nightmare of red velvet and megalomania. It is the story of what happens to a family after the death of its head, its Master, Richard Wagner, in attempting to maintain and fulfil his legacy against a backdrop of the darkest days in modern European history. At its core is…
With directors jostling to reinterpret Puccini, Ellen Kent’s Madama Butterfly at the New Theatre, Cardiff was a breath of fresh air—traditional, heartfelt, and free of gimmickry. At a time when many stagings feel the need to modernise, deconstruct, or appease contemporary anxieties, Kent offers something increasingly rare: an unembellished, faithful telling that allows Puccini’s haunting…
WNO Youth Opera New Theatre, Cardiff Hats off to the large (very) number of young people who formed two casts to give two polished performances of this feelgood show. The bilingual production takes the trope of two different groups who have been separated, try to a come together, are divided by what they see as…
I start with a confession: I am no longer a Britten virgin. Despite all my years of going to WNO productions I had never seen a Britten, not even their recently acclaimed Death in Venice. In part this was because Britten did not appeal to me, so I was both curious and trepidatious to see…
The beautiful thing about The Marriage of Figaro is that, a couple centuries after it was written, it still holds up. Indeed – and differently from many other opera comedies, whose hijinks can feel forced and outdated to a contemporary audience – it can easily read as commentary on a number of topics our modern sensitivities are…
Opera Favourites At The Movies, WNO It is time for a concert showcase at the WNO – an excellent opportunity to leave to the side any concerns with how to visually narrate a storyline or express the deeper themes of a work through staging, and simply entertain the audience with a pure display of technical…
Wales’ musical knight Bryn Terfel tells me he is always looking for another feather for his cap and there will be plenty to add in 2025. Launching a new singing competition with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama; working as a coach on Yr Llais, S4C’s Welsh language version of The Voice, being…
Touring across Wales and the Borders, visiting 12 local venues which are rooted in their community, the Mid Wales Opera 2024 SmallStages tour of Pagliacci saw a 37% increase in average ticket sales per venue compared to the previous year. After receiving a lifeline in the form of a grant from Powys County Council’s Shared…
Abergavenny Borough Theatre Mid Wales Opera is like many other touring companies in scaling down for relatively small venues those works written to fill out bigger ones; but, unlike most of them, it has made an art and a virtue of miniaturisation. Given reasonable parameters, most operas can be reduced to basics: with a few…
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