Nicky Spence

An ungimmicky and elegant The Makropolus Affair from Welsh National Opera

Welsh National Opera was a groundbreaker in bringing Janáček’s operas to UK audiences, thanks to remarkable musical and artistic leadership in its younger days. Now, the company is sensibly building on the specialism of its music director Tomáš Hanus to introduce the works to new audience members.  Thus, a short cycle of revivals ending with…

Singers and orchestra save this show from being a ring of dire

I sometimes wonder whether Wagner sets some sort of challenge from beyond the grave on the Ring Cycle to test its strength. The challenge being: who can make such a pig’s ear of a production to destroy the magnificence of the music and the impact of the story on audiences. This time it was down…

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