Welsh National Opera
A conservative and beautiful La Traviata, Welsh National Opera, Wales Millennium Centre
What else can be done with La Traviata that has not been done already? Giuseppe Verdi’s most famous work, the one many regard as the quintessential opera, has been through such a huge number of incarnations, revisitations and reimaginings – some more fortunate than others – that one would be truly hard pressed to think…
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?…
A delightful, enlightening Candide, Welsh National Opera
**** It has been a while since I can remember Welsh National Opera getting a (well-deserved) standing ovation and while it is a pity it is for a fun musical rather than “serious opera” at least the company is pleasing people again. Similarly, the previous crowd-pleaser was Blaze of Glory, another witty and laugh-out-loud lighter…
Magic Flute with chaotic youth energy
** I have a huge fondness for the Magic Flute, Mozart’s fantastical operatic quest, as it was the first opera I ever watched. Daisy Evans’ new production of the Magic Flute has clearly tried to do something a bit different and her production does have a chaotic youthful energy. Julia Sitkovetsky For me, the highpoint…
WNO Blaze of Glory! mines a deep musical seam
I have to confess to not really looking forward to an opera about Welsh choirs and coal mines. What next, a contemporary dance about rugby? Oh, we’ve had that. I was very pleasantly surprised by Blaze of Glory!, although I think the name and the supporting artwork really does not do this entertaining musical justice….
Welsh singers make Royal Opera history
Operatic history has been made this week with two Welsh singers taking the leading roles in Puccini’s Tosca at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, for the first time. Gwyn Hughes Jones, from Llanbedrgoch, Anglesey and Natalya Romaniw, from Swansea, sang the doomed lovers Mario Cavaradossi and Floria Tosca in the ever popular opera. The run…
WNO boss explains why Liverpool has been immediately axed – and more cuts will follow
November 24, 2022 by Mike Smith Welsh National Opera general director Aidan Lang has explained why the company has immediately pulled out of touring to Liverpool – and raised concerns further venue cancellations will follow. The move follows Arts Council of England announced a more than a third of its funding to the Cardiff-based touring company was…
A earthy La Boheme that throws away the chocolate box wrapping
Annabel Arden’s 2012 production of La Boheme, now revived by Welsh National Opera for the second offering of its 2022 autumn season, gives its audience a largely straightforward telling of the doomed love affair of Mimi and Rodolfo. The only real “take” on the work is setting the opera in the early 20th century, perhaps…
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…
Welsh National Opera’s innovative Migrations project
June is barely over, and already this is proving to be a very interesting Summer for new operas. This is especially exciting given the existing rhetoric around the idea that opera is an old and dusty artform, incapable of representing the contemporary world, and so it is a special delight to see an increasingly broad…