Remarkable intensity: powerful new 1980s-set Peter Grimes from Melly Still at Welsh National Opera with Nicky Spence

Britten: Peter Grimes - Nicky Spence - Welsh National Opera, 2025 (Photo: Dafydd Owen)

Britten: Peter Grimes; Nicky Spence, Sally Matthews, David Kempster, director: Melly Still, conductor:Tomáš Hanus, Welsh National Opera; Wales Millennium Centre
Reviewed: 5 April 2025

Nicky Spence's powerful Peter Grimes at the centre of an intense yet theatrical 1980s-set production in a performance remarkable intensity and sheer communal power

Having caused a stir in 2024 with Olivia Fuchs' production of Britten's final opera, Death in Venice, combining opera with circus arts, Welsh National Opera returned to Britten for its major new production of Britten's first operatic success, Peter Grimes. The opera was something of a marvel when premiered in 1946, and this production had a touch of the miraculous too given the parlous state of WNO's finances, and the final curtain included chorus members in Save WNO t-shirts, as well as including orchestra and technical staff on stage. Whilst the company's new general directors, Sarah Crabtree and Adele Thomas, made a stirring speech [catch it WNO's Twitter feed] though one could net help thinking that with the enthusiastic first night audience they were preaching to the converted and that perhaps the performance should have taken place in the Senedd building next door.

Welsh National Opera's new production of Britten's Peter Grimes opened on Saturday 5 April 2025 at Wales Millennium Centre. Melly Still directed and the company's music director, Tomáš Hanus conducted. Nicky Spence was Peter Grimes with Sally Matthews as Ellen Orford, David Kempster as Balstrode, Dominic Sedgwick as Ned Keene, Oliver Johnston as Bob Boles, Sarah Connolly as Auntie, Fflur Wyn and Eiry Price as the Nieces, Catherine Wyn-Rogers as Mrs Sedley, Sion Goronwy as Swallow, Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts as Reverend Horace Adams, Callum Thorpe as Hobson and Maya Marsh as John. Joseph Alford was associate director, Chiara Stephenson was set designer, Ilona Karas was costume designer and lighting designer was Malcolm Rippeth.

Britten: Peter Grimes - Catherine Wyn-Rogers, David Kempster, Oliver Johnston, Dominic Sedgwick - Welsh National Opera, 2025 (Photo: Dafydd Owen)

Musically this was of a very high order. Tomáš Hanus drew a marvellous performance from the orchestra, full of vivid colours and with a sense of fierce drama that continued with the chorus too.

Music and health: success for Wellness with WNO and expansion for ENO Breathe

WNO Producer April Heade who helped develop Wellness with WNO

The link between music, performance and health is one that performers (both amateur and professional) have largely understood implicitly, but bringing this concept to the wider world remains something of a challenge. As long ago as 2019, the WHO was reporting on arts and health [see Making Music website]

English National Opera launched ENO Breathe in 2020 in response to COVID-19 and now the programme is being rolled out further. Whilst Welsh National Opera has recently announced that a report into its its pilot Wellness with WNO: Managing Persistent Pain Programme shows that the programme has success managing Persistent Pain.

WNO's six-week online singing and breathing pilot programme, running from March 2024 to March 2025, was designed to support people living with persistent pain. Building on the success of WNO’s Wellness with WNO Long COVID Programme, which launched in 2021, the programme includes weekly one-hour sessions and optional fortnightly drop-in sessions. A report, conducted by Milestone Tweed, highlights substantial improvements in pain management, mental and emotional health, and overall quality of life for participants. The five principal findings from the report are:

• Reduced Pain and Improved Functionality
• Emotional and Mental Health Benefits
• High Participant Engagement
• Cost Efficiency
• Additional Benefits

I think that an interesting take-away is the fourth point -  sessions are estimated to cost of £12 per person per hour, compared to £34.30 for an NHS Band 7 Physiotherapist from Chronic Pain Services.

Centralised delivery eliminates the need for individual health boards to establish costly programmes, aligning with NICE guidance and generating savings.

"This programme is a ray of sunshine in this bleak and lonely illness"

    Wellness with WNO participant

Further information from the WNO website.

ENO Breathe is an online programme, developed by ENO in collaboration with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, was developed in 2020 to support people recovering from COVID-19 who continue to suffer from breathlessness and associated anxiety. 

Now, ENO Breathe is exploring whether its approach can benefit those living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma, and other respiratory conditions. By combining breathing techniques with singing, ENO Breathe – described by participants as a 'pocketful of hope' – has already helped over 4,500 people across England regain control of their breathing, reduce anxiety, and improve their quality of life.

Again, the programme has multiple benefits:

• Support respiratory health by empowering individuals to self-manage their symptoms
• Enhance mental wellbeing, reducing anxiety and emotional distress
• Build a supportive community for those living with respiratory conditions
• Address health inequalities by reaching underserved communities

Further information from the ENO website.

Welsh artists and Welsh stories: Welsh National Opera celebrates its 80th birthday with a 2024/25 season that manages to make a stir, even with insufficient funding

Edward Dick's production of Puccini's Tosca with Robert Hayward as Scarpia at Opera North in 2023 (Photo: James Glossop)

Welsh National Opera celebrates its 80th anniversary during the 2024/25 season and whilst the current financial climate in the arts is hardly a reason for blowing balloons and throwing streamers, the company under its new management team of Sarah Crabtree and Adele Thomas, has put together a season that celebrates both Welsh stories and Welsh artists. No, the season is nowhere near as extensive or as experimental as in the past, but includes major Welsh singers in signature roles, a contemporary work telling a very Welsh story and a new production that gives the chorus a chance to shine.

The Autumn season consists of Puccini's Tosca and Bernstein's Candide. Tosca is seen in WNO's first showing of Edward Dick's fine production first seen at Opera North in 2018 [see my review of Opera North's 2023 revival]. Natalya Romaniw is Tosca with Andrés Presno as Cavaradossi [returning to the production having sung it in 2023], and conductor Gergely Madaras making his WNO debut. 

Bernstein: Candide - Ed Lyon, Francesca Saracino - WNO, 2023 (Photo: Johan Persson)

James Bonas' production of Bernstein's Candide was first seen at WNO in 2023, and returns with Ed Lyons again in the title role. Joining him are Aled Hall as the Governor and Soraya Mafi as Cunégonde, conducted by Ryan McAdams.

The Summer season features a new production of Wagner's The Flying Dutchman with Welsh director Jack Furness making his WNO debut, and the production is conducted by the company's music director Tomáš Hanus. 

Jack Furness, whose recent work has included a poetic account of Dvorak's Rusalka at Glyndebourne [see my review], Gounod's Faust at Irish National Opera, and an intriguing take on Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel at the Royal Academy of Music [see my review], will be giving contemporary reimagining of the opera. 

David Hackbridge Johnson: Blaze of Glory - Rebecca Evans - WNO, 2023 (Photo: Kirsten Mcternan)

Also in the season is a revival of David Hackbridge Johnson's opera Blaze of Glory! [described in The Stage as 'Utterly thrilling', see the review] which follows a group of Welsh miners as they embark on a musical journey to reform their male voice choir after a local mining disaster. The opera has particular resonance at WNO as not only is a Welsh story, but WNO emerged during the post-War period as a result of the passion for music held by a group of amateur performers from across South Wales, including doctors, miners and teachers. 

Caroline Clegg directs with many of the original cast returning, including Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts, Rebecca Evans, Themba Mvula and Feargal Mostyn-Williams, conducted by James Southall.

WNO's family show, Play Opera LIVE returns with a Shipwrecked! theme, with WNO Orchestra and Chorus, and Tom Redmond as presenter. The WNO Chorus and Orchestra are presenting A Night at the Opera concerts, whilst the orchestra will ring in the New Year with their popular tour of Viennese music which will tour to venues in Wales and the Southwest of England.

WNO’s extensive programme and engagement activity will also continue into this year, which includes regular schools activity and concerts, WNO Youth Opera and the Wellness with WNO programme.  

Autumn 2024 sees performances in Cardiff, Southampton, Llandudno, Bristol and Plymouth, whilst Summer 2025 sees performances in Cardiff, Plymouth, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and Swansea.

Full details from the WNO website.

A special treat: strong individual performances & superb ensemble in WNO's revival of Puccini's Il trittico

Puccini: Il tabarro - Yvonne Howard, Natalya Romaniw - Welsh National Opera (Photo: Craig Fuller)

Puccini: Il trittico, Dario Solari, Natalya Romaniw, Andrés Presno, Anne Mason, Haegee Lee, Trystan Llŷr Griffiths, director David McVicar/Greg Eldridge, conductor Alexander Joel; Welsh National Opera at Wales Millennium Centre
Reviewed 29 September 2024

Partially re-cast, WNO's latest revival of David McVicar's fine production reveals a strong ensemble of singing actors with compelling performances including Natalya Romaniw on top form

David McVicar's production of Puccini's Il Trittico debuted at Scottish Opera last year and was revived by Welsh National Opera (WNO) earlier this year, associate director Greg Eldridge. The production returned to Wales Millennium Centre on Sunday 29 Septemer, conducted by Alexander Joel with significant cast changes from WNO's earlier outing. Newcomers included Natalya Romaniw as Giorgetta and Suor Angelica, Dario Solari as Michele and Gianni Schicchi, Andrés Presno as Luigi, Anne Mason as the Princess and Zita, with Haegee Lee as Sister Genovietta and Lauretta and Trystan Llŷr Griffiths as Rinuccio.

The production remains a remarkable achievement, particularly given the problems besetting the company with leaflets being distributed outside the Millennium Centre by Equity in support of the WNO orchestra and chorus, and the chorus taking their final bow (after Suor Angelica) in support WNO t-shirts.

McVicar and designers Charles Edwards and Hannah Clark set the operas in the mid-20th century, creating similar solutions to the opera's challenges as Richard Jones did in his 2011 production for Covent Garden [see my review of the 2016 revival]

Puccini: Il tabarro - Dario Solare, Andrés Presno - Welsh National Opera (Photo: Craig Fuller)

Dynamic duo: director Adele Thomas and creative producer Sarah Crabtree to take over as WNO's General Director and CEO

Adele Thomas

Welsh National Opera has announced that opera and theatre director Adele Thomas and creative producer Sarah Crabtree will jointly take up the role of WNO's General Director and CEO in January 2025, following on from Aidan Lang who stepped down at the end of 2023.

Welsh-born Adele Thomas is directing WNO's new production of Verdi's Rigoletto (for which plans were already in place) which premieres at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff this September before touring to Llandudno, Plymouth, Oxford and Southampton. 

Thomas' opera directing has included Handel's Semele at Glyndebourne, Verdi's Il Trovatore at the Royal Opera House, a vividly theatrical production Vivaldi's Bajazet for Irish National Opera in 2022 [see my review] and a brilliant re-invention of Handel's Berenice for London Handel Festival and the Royal Opera in 2019 [see my review].

Sarah Crabtree is Creative Producer and head of Linbury Theatre (opera) at The Royal Opera House, where highlights include overseeing the world premieres of Mark Anthony Turnage’s Coraline [see our review] at the Barbican, Philip Venable’s 4.48 Psychosis [see my review], Laura Bowler's The Blue Woman and Oliver Leith’s Last Days. 

Sarah Crabtree (© 2023 ROH. Photographed by Charlie Clift)

Many will remember Sarah Crabtree from her time at Opera Holland Park where she worked from 2006 to 2015, becoming Associate Producer to James Clutton there in 2012; she commissioned Opera Holland Park’s first ever new work, Will Todd’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 2012.

Full details from the WNO website.

Something astonishing: Olivia Fuchs' new production of Britten's Death in Venice for Welsh National Opera involved a collaboration with circus arts, NoFit State

Britten: Death in Venice - Mark Le Brocq, Antony César
Welsh National Opera (Photo Johann Persson)

Britten: Death in Venice; Mark Le Brocq, Roderick Williams, Alexander Chance, Antony César, Diana Salles, director: Olivia Fuchs, conductor: Leo Hussain; Welsh National Opera in collaboration with NotFit State; Wales Millennium Centre
Reviewed 9 March 2024

Bringing music drama and circus arts together in Britten's last opera to create something unforgettable anchored by Mark Le Brocq's assumption of the title role

Britten's Death in Venice involves the interaction between two worlds, those of Aschenbach and Tadzio, sung music drama and dance. A metaphor for Aschenbach's artistic and personal journey, the exact nature of these two worlds helps govern our perception of whether Aschenbach's relationship with Tazio is entirely in the older man's head or something rooted in reality.

For Olivia Fuchs' new production of Britten's Death in Venice, presented by Welsh National Opera at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff (seen 9 March 2024), and then on tour, WNO collaborated with circus arts company NoFit State, so that Tadzio and his family were all played by circus artists. Mark Le Brocq was Aschenbach, with Roderick Williams in the baritone roles, Alexander Chance as Apollo, Gareth Brynmor John as the English Clerk, and Peter Van Hulle as the Hotel Porter. The circus artists were Antony César as Tadzio, Diana Salles as the Polish Mother, Vilhelmiina Sinervo and Selma Hellmann as the daughters, and Riccardo Saggese as the Governess and Jaschiu. The remaining roles were taken by two WNO Associate Artists and 19 members of WNO Chorus. The designer was Nicola Turner, the lighting designer was Robbie Butler, and the video designer was Sam Sharples. The circus consultant was Tom Rack, and the circus designer and director was Firenza Guidi, both from NoFit State. The conductor was Leo Hussain. 

Nicola Turner's set was simple, a basic black space with four pillars used by the circus artists for climbing, but occasionally used by Roderick Williams and Alexander Chance. This was a production that took things upwards. There was a small amount of set dressing, Aschenbach's desk, the hotel lobby, but largely atmosphere came from Sam Sharples' videos, projected onto the rear wall. These were largely evocative details, an oar moving in the water, fragments of Venice, the sea, even a mouth eating a strawberry; they created both setting and atmosphere. Costumes were traditional, early 20th century, and the chorus' physical presence contributed to the look and feel of the ensemble scenes.

Britten: Death in Venice - Antony César, Frederico Saggese - Welsh National Opera (Photo Johann Persson)

Tair Llythyren | La mamma morta | Three Letters

To mark World AIDS Day 2023, Welsh National Opera has released a special new version of La mamma morta, featuring WNO Orchestra, soprano Camilla Roberts and Nathaniel Hall from Channel 4's It’s a Sin. 

A famous scene from the Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington movie Philadelphia (1993) has been readdressed in La mamma morta.A brand-new recording of the aria plays over recreated scenes that better encapsulate the perspectives of people living with HIV today and reflect on the remarkable developments around HIV that have occurred over the last three decades since Philadelphia was first released.

Nathanial J Hall said: 'Philadelphia exists in a canon of work about HIV and AIDS - along with Angels in America and Rent – and whilst these are all incredible pieces of work, they focus on HIV as life-limiting because of the time-period they cover. It's important now to use storytelling and music to celebrate how far we've come and raise awareness of the modern-day realities of living with HIV. Sadly, people still face stigma, discrimination and rejection from others because of this virus and there's absolutely no reason why they should.’

Released as part of the last rendition in our Three Letters project, this film aims to tackle societal stigma around HIV. See on YouTube.

The Pied Piper & The Crab: WNO Youth Opera in double bill by Jonathan Willocks & Paul Ayres

The 80-strong voices of WNO Youth Opera will be back on stage at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on 27 and 28 May 2023 with a double bill featuring two contemporary, story-based operas, Jonathan Willcocks' The Pied Piper of Hamelin and Paul Ayres' The Crab the Played with the Sea. 

The two are directed by Angharad Lee, with Dan Perkin conducting an instrumental ensemble, whilst Céleste Langrée's designs are inspired by the youth camps of Llangrannog and Glan-Llyn and the vibrancy of village playgrounds.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is Jonathan Willcocks' musical adaptation of the familiar legend using a text by Robert Browning. The Crab that Played with the Sea is Paul Ayres' mini opera-musical for all ages based on the story by Rudyard Kipling.

Full details from the WNO website.

Imagination and belief in a hostile climate: new seasons from Welsh National Opera and Opera North

Golijov's Ainadamar at Scottish Opera, a production coming to Welsh National Opera
(Photo James Glossop)

New seasons from Welsh National Opera and Opera North. Both WNO and Opera North have released details of forthcoming 2023/24 seasons, and both companies seem determined to make the most of opportunities despite funding cuts and a generally hostile climate for the arts. New productions at WNO will be Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar, the company's first-ever production of Britten's Death in Venice, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Puccini's Il Trittico. Opera North presents new productions of Verdi's Falstaff, Puccini's La Rondine, a new masque based on Purcell's music, and Rachmaninoff's Aleko, with the company's Autumn season being fully sustainable. 

WNO's Autumn season features Golijov's Ainadamar, in a production shared with Scottish Opera who gave the work's UK premiere last year. Ainadamar is directed by choreographer Deborah Colker and conducted by Matthew Kofi Waldren, with Argentinian soprano Jaquelina Livieri, Julieth Lozano, and Alfredo Tejada. There is a revival of David McVicar's production of Verdi's La Traviata conducted by Alexander Joel with Olga Pudova, David Junghoon Kim and Mark S Doss. The operas will tour to Cardiff, Llandudno, Bristol, Plymouth, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and Southampton.

Opera North's Autumn is devoted to its Green Season, its first fully sustainable season which will use shared scenic elements, designed by Leslie Travers, to create three interlinked yet distinctive designs, enabling Opera North to reduce its use of materials and its carbon footprint. All sets, props and costumes in the season are sourced from previous productions or purchased second-hand. A new production of Verdi's Falstaff is directed by Jo Davies, conducted by Garry Walker with Henry Waddington in the title role. Sir David Pountney has created the Masque of Might using Purcell's music reimagining the 17th-century form of the masque with modern technology to create a biting yet humorous contemporary satire, billed as an ‘eco-entertainment’. The conductor is Harry Bickett with Andri Björn Róbertsson, James Laing and Anna Dennis. Puccini's La Rondine is directed by James Hurley, conducted by Kerem Hasan, with Galina Averina, Claire Lees, Sébastien Guèze and Elgan Llŷr Thomas. The operas will tour to Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham, and Salford.

WNO's Spring season features two new productions. Music director Tomáš Hanus conducts Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, directed by Max Hoehn, with Sophie Bevan, Kayleigh Decker, Egor Zhuravskii and James Atkinson. Olivia Fuchs directs Britten's Death in Venice, conducted by Leo Hussain, with Mark LeBrocq, making his role debut as Aschenbach, Roderick Williams and Alexander Chance. The Spring operas tour to Cardiff, Llandudno, Southampton, Oxford, Bristol and Plymouth.

Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana at Opera North in 2017
the production is revived in 2024 (Photo Robert Workman)

Opera North's Spring Season features a revival of Giles Havergal's production of Britten's Albert Herring, conducted by Garry Walker with Josephine Barstow as Lady Billows, plus Katie Bray, William Dazeley, Amy Freston, Richard Mosley-Evans, Claire Pascoe, Dominic Sedgwick, and Heather Shipp. Tim Albery's production of Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte is revived with Alexandra Lowe, Heather Lowe, Anthony Gregory and Henry Neill as the lovers, conducted by Clemens Schuldt and Chloe Rooke, each making their Opera North debuts. A double bill features a new production of Rachminoff's rarely-performed Aleko, directed by Karolina Sofulak with a revival of her production of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, conducted by Antony Hermus. Many of the cast take roles in both works with Robert Hayward, Giselle Allen, Andrés Presno, Elin Pritchard and Anne-Marie Owens. The operas will tour to Leeds, Nottingham, Salford and Hull. 

WNO's Summer seaon features David McVicar's new production of Puccini's Il Trittico which debuts in Scotland this month. The conductor is Carlo Rizzi and the cast includes Justina Gringytė, Vuvu Mpofu, and Alexia Voulgaridou. The production will not tour and is only being performed in Cardiff.

Throughout the year, the WNO Orchestra will be giving a programme of concerts including St David's Hall, and two concert tours, whilst the Orchestra of Opera North will be appearing at the Kirklees Concert Season

Finalists announced for the Voice of Black Opera Competition

Monday 5 December 2022 sees the final of the Voice of Black Opera Competition at Birmingham Town Hall. The five finalists are:

• Rachel Duckett - soprano (British Jamaican)
• Chantelle Grant - mezzo-soprano (Canadian)
• Thando Mjandana - tenor (South African)
• Yolisa Ngwexana - soprano (South African)
• Isabelle Peters - soprano (British)  

They will be accompanied by the Welsh National Opera (WNO) Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Kofi Waldren. Each singer’s repertoire at the concert will include a performance of at least one contemporary song or aria by a Black or South Asian composer and finalists will also perform a duet with other professional singers.

The finalists were selected from the semi-final rounds featuring artists from throughout the Commonwealth held in Birmingham on 24 and 25 November. At the final, the judging panel will include Tom Randle (tenor), Aiden Lang (general director of Welsh National Opera), Simon Meier (artistic director of BCMG), Jean Ronald La Fond (tenor and vocal coach), Philip Herbert (composer), Rupert Christiansen (writer and critic), and Odaline de la Martinez (conductor and composer).

Each singer will be fitted with a bespoke fashion item to wear at the final, designed by students of Birmingham City University (BCU) School of Fashion & Textiles, Bespoke jewellery will also be made for the singers by students of the BCU Birmingham School of Jewellery.

The Voice of Black Opera Competition is organised by Black British Classical Foundation in collaboration with Welsh National Opera, to showcase the finest Black and South Asian singers as they launch international operatic careers.

Full details from the BMusic website.

A hugely ambitious company achievement: Will Todd's Migrations from Welsh National Opera

Will Todd: Migrations - Jamal Zulfiqar, Natasha Agarwal, Bollywood Ensemble in This is the Life - Welsh National Opera (Photo Craig Fuller)

Will Todd: Migrations; director David Pountney, conductor Mattew Kofi Waldren; Welsh National Opera at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
Reviewed 26 November 2022

Will Todd's new opera - six different stories ranging from 17th century to the present day, a huge ensemble combining professional and community, superbly engaged performances and a wonderfully ambitious musical score

Will Todd's opera Migrations is a hugely ambitious project commissioned by Welsh National Opera (WNO) to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the sailing of The Mayflower from Plymouth (one of the places that WNO visits) in 1620. The work finally made its debut in Cardiff in June 2022 and was revived for the company's Autumn 2022 tour where I caught the final performance at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton on Saturday 26 November 2022.

Migrations uses a libretto by six writers - Edson Burton, Miles Chambers, Eric Ngalle Charles, David Pountney, Shreya Sen-Handley, Sarah Woods - based on an original concept by David Pountney, to tell six interlocking story lines, thus setting the sailing of The Mayflower against other tales of migration and colonisation - the contemporary Cree people's struggle against the government of Canada, displaced people in an English class, the story of a house slave in 18th century Bristol, Indian doctors coming to work in the NHS in the 1960s and migratory birds.

The resulting work had around two hours of music, with Will Todd working with Jasdeep Singh Degun on the Indian-inspired music for the Bollywood scenes. The production involved a huge number of performers, the WNO Chorus and Orchestra, the Renewal Community Chorus of Bristol, as well as children's chorus, a guest artist ensemble of Parvathi Subbiah, Julia Daramy-Williams, Chike Akrwarandu, Oscar Castellino and Christin Joel, plus soloists Marion Newman, David Shipley, Kenneth Overton, Tom Randle, Grace Nyandoro, Michael Anthony McGee, Felix Kemp, Meeta Raval, Natash Agarwal and Jamal Zulfiqar. The original director was David Pountney with Sarah Crisp as director for this revival. Set designs were by Loren Elstein with costumes by April Dalton. Matthew Kofi Waldren conducted.

Will Todd: Migrations - WNO Chorus, Renewal Community Chorus in The Mayflower - Welsh National Opera (Photo Craig Fuller)

I want to live forever: Angeles Blancas Gulin is mesmerising as Emilia Marty in Olivia Fuchs terrific new production of The Makropulos Affair at WNO

Janacek: The Makropulos Affair - Angeles Blancas Gulin in Act Three - Welsh National Opera (Photo Richard Hubert Smith)

Janacek: The Makropulos Affair; Angeles Blancas Gulin, Nicky Spence, Gustav Belacek, Mark Le Brocq, Harriet Eyley, David Stout, Alexander Sprague, Alan Oke, director: Olivia Fuchs, conductor: Tomáš Hanus; Welsh National Opera at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
Reviewed 25 November 2022 (★★★★½)

A mesmerising performance in the title role is at the centre of this richly detailed and wonderfully musical account of one of Janacek's most fascinating works

In some ways Janacek's The Makropulos Affair is the operatic equivalent to bleak house, both works examine the fall out from a long running court case, but in the case of the opera it has a meditation on eternal life mixed in. Janacek based his opera The Makropulos Affair on Karel Čapek's 1922 play of the same name, a thought experiment about a woman who was 300 years old and was constantly reinventing herself. But when Janacek saw the play it was Emilia Marty the woman who fascinated him, what would it mean to be 300 years old. In her introductory article for the programme for Welsh National Opera's new production of Janacek's opera, director Olivia Fuchs comments about Čapek's play resonating with Janacek's view of the cyclical nature of life and death, 

I finally caught up with Fuchs' new production of The Makropulos Affair at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton (built as The Empire Theatre just five years after the opera premiered) at the final performance of the run on 25 November 2022. Angeles Blancas Gulin was Emilia Marty with Nicky Spence as Albert Gregor, Gustav Belacek as Dr Kolenaty, Mark Le Brocq as Vitek, Harriet Eyley as Krista, David Stout as Baron Prus, Alexander Sprague as Janek and Alan Oke as Count Hauk-Sendorf. The conductor was Tomáš Hanus, designs were by Nicola Turner.

Janacek: The Makropulos Affair - Nicky Spence, Gustav Belacek, Angeles Blancas Gulin in Act One - Welsh National Opera (Photo Richard Hubert Smith

Though the setting was firmly period, there was an element of freedom to Nicola Turner's designs, an element of the surreal, particularly in the second act. And for each scene, there was a sense of over the top accumulation, mirroring the way Emilia Marty's life had gone on too long and got too much stuff in it. So, the solicitor's office in Act One was all papers and filing cabinets, the theatre in Act Two featured a huge mound of red roses from bouquets given to the singer, and in the final act Emilia Marty's luggage strewn all over the hotel bedroom. And a clock was also a big feature of the designs, the different layers of time are important in this opera.

2117 / Hedd Wyn: Stephen McNeff & Gruff Rhys' Welsh-language music theatre piece for WNO to be released on Tŷ Cerdd Records

2117 / Hedd Wyn is a Welsh-language music theatre piece by composer Stephen McNeff and librettist Gruff Rhys (best known as a member of Super Furry Animals) that was originally commissioned by Welsh National Opera (WNO) in 2017 for cinematic distribution followed by TV broadcast. An audio recording was made but plans for the film were put on hold. Now 2117 / Hedd Wyn is being released on Tŷ Cerdd Records in partnership with WNO.

2117 / Hedd Wyn celebrates the death of the Welsh bard Hedd Wyn. Hedd Wyn was the nom de plume of Ellis Evans who was killed in the World War I trenches and posthumously awarded the Chair at the 1917 National Eisteddfod. Born in the village of Trawsfynydd, Wales, he wrote much of his poetry while working as a shepherd on his family's hill farm. His style, which was influenced by romantic poetry, was dominated by themes of nature and religion. He also wrote several war poems following the outbreak of war on the Western Front in 1914. 

The music theatre piece takes place in 2117, 200 years after Hedd Wyn's death. A nuclear disaster at the Trawsfynydd power station has displaced communities. An intense dose of radiation has blurred the distinction between past, present and future, and the Welsh language faces extinction. The drama instils a dystopian future with Welsh mythology and Hedd Wyn’s own verse.

Hedd Wyn (Ellis Evans) in 1910

Stephen McNeff conducts the WNO Orchestra, with members of members of WNO Youth Opera and Only Boys Aloud, plus Steffan Lloyd Owen (baritone), Meinir Wyn Roberts (soprano), Paul Carey Jones (bass baritone), Llio Evans (soprano), Alys Mererid Roberts (soprano), Craig Yates (baritone), Laurence Kilsby (tenor) and William Rennie (tenor).

The recording is released on 5 August 2022, and it will be launched with an event on the #Encore stage at the National Eisteddfod on Friday 5 August at 3pm, where Gruff Rhys will be interviewed by Sioned Webb, and soprano Ellen Williams, baritone Dafydd Allen and répétiteur Rhiannon Pritchard will perform excerpts from the work.

Stephen McNeff commented, "The release of 2117 / Hedd Wyn is a milestone in the development of this opera, a project I have wanted to fulfil for over ten years. Working with Welsh National Opera – a company I grew up with and watched since my earliest interest in opera began – has been an ideal outcome, as has collaborating with such a range of unique and diverse creative talents and the cream of young Welsh singers."

Full details from the Tŷ Cerdd website.

Will Todd's Migrations reaches the stage at Welsh National Opera later this month

The premiere of Will Todd's new opera Migrations has been a long time in coming. Planned for 2020, the project is finally coming to fruition at the end of this month when Welsh National Opera gives the work's premiere at the Millennium Centre on 29 June 2022. Conducted by Matthew Kofi Waldren and directed by David Pountney, Migrations is a complex, large-scale work which looks at stories of migration by weaving together six different narratives, each told by a different librettist and each inspired by real life experiences.

Sir David Pountney worked with writers Shreya Sen Handley, Edson Burton and Miles Chambers, Eric Ngalle Charles, and Sarah Woods to create the libretto, each writer or writing partnership responsible for one strand. The migration stories told are diverse, the Pilgrims on The Mayflower settling in America, the 'first nation' Cree people, Afro-Caribbean slaves in the 18th century, the migration of birds, refugees attending an English lesson and Indian doctors in the NHS in the 1960s.

Will Todd's music will reflect this diversity of stories with a mix of musical styles to tell each story, from classical music to epic cinema and musical theatre styles and a collaboration with sitar player Jasdeep Singh Degun on the music for story of the Indian doctors in the NHS. 

But the opera is not just a selection of engaging narratives. The desire to broaden our horizons is a natural one, but for many, it is a necessity to improve on circumstances, and the stories explore how the result of such migrations often have unintended consequences.

Migrations is an ambitious, large-scale piece involving over 100 performers including Tom Randle, Meeta Raval, David Shipley and Peter Brathwaite amongst other artists, along with the Bristol-based Renewal Choir Community Chorus, a Bollywood Ensemble and a children’s chorus including members of WNO’s Youth Opera, joining the forces of Welsh National Opera’s Orchestra and Chorus. 

The opera is also part of a five-year partnership with the Welsh Refugee Council working with groups in the community through composition, music and performance projects.

After its performances in Cardiff in June and July 2022, there are further performances in Cardiff, Llandudno, Plymouth, Birmingham and Southampton in the Autumn.

Full details from the WNO website.

Young Talent showcased in Welsh National Opera's Summer & Autumn productions

WNO Youth Opera in Brundibár in 2019 (Photo Johan Persson)

Welsh National Opera has a busy Summer planned for members of the company's Youth Opera, with two new productions, and participation in one of WNO's main stage productions.

WNO Youth Opera (10-18 years) will perform the creepy, comic opera, The Black Spider, written by composer Judith Weir, at the Weston Studio, Wales Millennium Centre. The production will be performed by a company of 50 singers aged 10 to 18, reuniting for their first live production since Brundibár in 2019. Based on Jeremias Gotthelf’s dark medieval tale Die Schwarze Spinn. Judith Weir created The Black Spider specifically for young people, combining, history, horror and comedy and the production will be directed by Rhian Hutchings and conducted by Dan Perkin.

WNO Youth Opera (18-25 years) will be presenting a new production of Shostakovich’s Cheryomushki, on the main stage of the Donald Gordon Theatre as part of WNO's Autumn Season. The work is a satirical, light-hearted operetta focuses on the housing shortage and the challenge of securing habitable conditions in 1950s Soviet Russia. It will be presented as Cherry Town, Moscow,  directed by Daisy Evans and conducted by Alice Farnham.

Will Todd's Migrations receives its premiere as part of WNO's Summer Season and returns as part of the Autumn Season. Directed by Sir David Pountney, the opera will feature the forces of WNO’s orchestra and Chorus combined with The Renewal Gospel Choir, Bollywood dancers and traditional Indian musicians, plus a children's chorus featuring members of WNO Youth Opera (10-14).

The young people of WNO’s Youth Opera gain a fully professional and unique training experience working with WNO’s orchestra, designers, stage managers and technicians, helping develop and support their professional skills. The aspiring singers also receive mentoring and guidance from top industry professionals.

More about WNO Youth Opera at the WNO website, plus details of performances.

WNO's Arralleirio | Rearrange

Welsh National Opera (WNO) is releasing a new series of online films. Arralleirio | Rearrange features older, well-known operatic arias reinterpreted by four directors, Rebbecca Hemmings, Daisy Evans, Mathilde Lopez and Abdul Shayek, to highlight how themes echoed in the stories are still relevant today.

For the first, Tu Se Morta, tenor Tom Randle perform's Orfeo's aria on Eurydice's death from Monteverdi's opera L'Orfeo, yet given an alarmingly contemporary spin by director Mathilde Lopez which highlights how Monteverdi's music matters so much still. 

The films are being released on WNO's YouTube channel.

WNO returns to large-scale touring with a new look at Madam Butterfly and plans for the premiere of Will Todd's Migrations

Welsh National Opera will be returning to large-scale touring this Autumn as part of its recently announced plans for the 2021/22 season. Autumn will see the return of Rossini's The Barber of Seville alongside a new production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly which will aim to create socially relevant telling of the classic tale. 2022 will features Mozart's Don Giovanni and Katie Mitchell's new production of Janáček's Jenůfa which will be conducted by the company's music director Tomáš Hanus. Will Todd's Migrations which was due to be premiered in 2021 will be premiered in Cardiff in June/July 2022 and will tour in Autumn 2022.

Giles Havergal's long-running production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville will be conducted by Tomáš Hanus and Frederick Brown and feature a cast including Nico Darmanin, Nicholas Lester, Heather Lowe, Andrew Shore and Keel Watson.

Puccini's Madama Butterfly will be directed by the Australian director Lindy Hume with Carlo Rizzi and James Southall conducting, Leonardo Caimi and Peter Auty as Pinkerton, Joyce El-Khoury and Alexia Voulgaridou as Butterfly, Mark Stone as Sharpless plus Tom Randle, Keel Watson, Anna Harvey, Kezia Bienek, and Neil Balfour. 

With the great beauty of the music, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the essential drama of Puccini's well-loved opera is rather complex in our modern day. I remember WNO's production in the late 1970s (with Eiddwen Harrhy as Butterfly) included rather more of Puccini's first version which emphasised more Pinkerton's racism, and then of course there is the issue of Butterfly's age! The issue of opera's approach to the treatment of women is one that Hume has addressed before. In an interview ahead of Seattle Opera's 2019 performances of her production of Verdi's Rigoletto she said, 'In the most famous and beloved operas—Rigoletto, Don Giovanni, Carmen, Tosca, Madama Butterfly—the tragic heroine is part of the vernacular. Sopranos must rehearse how to fall, be stabbed, brutalized, and thrown across the room, behaviors they would never accept in real life. In 2019, if opera aspires to be a progressive, future-focused art form with relevance in contemporary society, then it must evolve and be responsive to a changing society. The topic of sexual assault and violence against women in opera is right there in front of us, either to explore, or to ignore.' So we look forward with interest to Madama Butterfly.

Will Todd's Migrations explores different elements of migration including the human impact via a text created by five diverse writers, Shreya Sen Handley, Edson Burton and Miles Chambers, Eric Ngalle Charles and Sarah Woods, working with Sir David Poutney. Pountney will direct and Matthew Kofi Waldren conducts, with a cast of 100 including a gospel choir, a children's chorus, Bollywood dancers and soloists from across the world.

WNO Youth Opera will be busy too. In May 2022 they will be performing Judith Weir's The Black Spider at Wales Millennium Centre with South Wales Youth Opera. The Black Spider was premiered in 1985 in Canterbury Cathedral and Weir (who also wrote the text, loosely based on the 1842 novella Die schwarze Spinne by Jeremias Gotthelf) describes the opera's tone as “somewhere between a video nasty and an Ealing comedy”.

And in July 2022, 18–25-year-old members of WNO Youth Opera will present a new production of Shostakovich’s Cheryomushki, directed by Daisy Evans, conducted by Alice Farnham, with members of WNO’s Youth Opera and Youth Opera alumni, the production will also include assisting roles, technical placements and student instrumentalists.

Tomáš Hanus will be taking the WNO Orchestra back onto the concert platform with concerts at St David's Hall, Cardiff in November 2021 and May 2022. There will also be a programme of family concerts and schools concerts.

WNO is aiming to move its community engagement programmes to ‘in person’ sessions from online activity when safe to do so over the coming months, including its activity in schools, its performances in hospitals and care homes and projects in partnership with Oasis Cardiff and Welsh Refugee Council.  WNO’s Cradle Choir for people living with dementia will also continue as part of the broader intergenerational Cradle project, bringing together children from schools in Milford Haven with local people living with the disease in creative activity culminating in Summer 2022.

WNO’s Talent Development Programme, which has been online during the past year, is returning to live engagement, and this will involved WNO Associate Artists Aaron O’Hare, Adam Gilbert and Isabelle Peters, Weston Jerwood Directing Fellow Gareth Chambers, as well as an Associate Conductor role in collaboration with the Donatella Flick-LSO Conducting Competition. 

Full details from the WNO website.

Family opera in Wales and young people's opera in Northern Ireland.

Will Todd: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Fflur Wyn at Opera Holland Park in 2017 (Photo Alex Brenner)

Welsh National Opera is returning to live performance this Summer with Will Todd's delightful family opera Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, whilst Northern Ireland Opera is commissioning a new teen/young adult opera from librettist Fionnuala Kennedy and composed by Neil Martin.

Welsh National Opera is performing Will Todd's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland from 25 June until 3 July at the National Trust’s Dyffryn Gardens near Cardiff in the Vale of Glamorgan. The work will be performed in Martin Duncan's production originally created for Opera Holland Park (who commissioned the opera in 2013, see my review from 2015). The cast includes guest artists Fflur Wyn as Alice (a role she created with Opera Holland Park), Benjamin Bevan, Feargal Mostyn-Williams, Aoife Miskelly, and Kelvin Thomas, along with members of WNO’s Chorus also taking centre stage in leading roles. WNO’s Talent Development programme has also continued online during the past year and the return to live performance will see WNO Associate Artists Aaron O’Hare and Adam Gilbert make their stage debuts in the production and new Weston Jerwood Directing Fellow, Gareth Chambers, joining the directing team. [Welsh National Opera]

Northern Ireland Opera's new opera is being created in collaboration with campaign groups led by young people (who are mostly between the ages of 13 and 19) experiencing housing stress across Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Opera will perform this opera with the young musicians of the Ulster Youth Orchestra, which is another unique element to this project. As the piece is being created specifically for the 13-19 year old age group, it is important for this audience to see themselves reflected on stage in all facets of theatre-making. The work will be premiered in 2022, with workshop versions of the piece being performed at the Belfast Children’s Festival in 2022. 

The company is currently working with opera singer and educator Emma Morwoodon outreach programmes, both during the creating and the presentation stages of the work. These programmes will be open to all participants involved with the production, including collaborators, youth orchestra players and Northern Ireland Opera’s outreach partners in Belfast and beyond. They are also working closely with the Welcome Organisation to ensure that our interactions with young people experiencing housing stress are appropriately and sensitively managed.

Welsh National Opera is 75

Yesterday (15 April 2021) marked Welsh National Opera's 75th birthday. The company's first performance was on 5 April 1946 at Prince of Wales Theatre, Cardiff with a double bill of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci (Taking part in the performance was the tenor Robert Tear, who was a schoolboy at the time).

Merthyr-born musician Idloes Owen (1894-1954) initially had the idea to form a national opera company for Wales. Idloes Owen was a composer, conducter and singer, and considered to be one of the finest singing teachers in Wales (Sir Geraint Evans was one of his pupils). In 1943, he led a group of amateur singers from all walks of life including miners, teachers and doctors, to come together through their passion for music and singing. The first meeting and rehearsal of the Welsh National Opera Company took place in a chapel in Crwys Road, Cardiff. Idloes Owen conducted WNO’s first performances in 1946 and continued to be the Company’s musical director until his death in 1954.

Inevitably celebrations are somewhat more muted than planned, but WNO has commissioned a poem, Intermezzo from the National Poet of Wales, Ifor ap Glyn. There are two versions of the poem, one in Welsh [YouTube] the other in English [YouTube], both have been recorded by a series of distinguished Welsh voices  including opera singer Sir Bryn Terfel, Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson, rugby legend Sir Gareth Edwards, harpist Catrin Finch, singer/songwriter Caryl Parry Jones, opera singer Rebecca Evans, Welsh folk singer Dafydd Iwan, Welsh actors Dame Siân Phillips, Mark Lewis Jones and Rakie Ayola. 

WNO Chorus and Orchestra releases a special newly recorded version of 'Easter Hymn' from Cavalleria rusticana [YouTube] takes a walk through history, from the Company’s humble origins in Llandaff, Cardiff to our current home at Wales Millennium Centre, conducted by James Southall with soprano soloist Camilla Roberts.

More information from the WNO website.

Youthful opportunities: musical activities for young people and more from Opera North, the Liverpool Phil and Welsh National Opera

Opera North Orchestra Academy (Photo Justin Slee)

Nowadays, community engagement for professional music ensembles (orchestras, opera companies, choirs, etc.) does not involve simply going into schools talking to and playing to children and coming away again. Many companies have long-term involvement in a myriad of youth projects, providing opportunities for youth music engagement which are often not available to young people in today's climate of poor music provision in state schools. Both Opera North, in Leeds, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic have recently announced opportunities for engagement at a musical level in a variety of projects, whilst Welsh National Opera's community engagement programme has recently been supported by a grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation.

In Leeds, Opera North is preparing to open its redevelopment project the £18 million Howard Opera Centre this Summer, which includes a new Education Studio which will be the home to several initiatives including projects with the Opera North Youth Chorus, the Opera North Children’s Chorus and Opera North Young Voices. Children from the age of 8 to 19 years can join the Opera North Youth Company; no prior knowledge of opera is required to join, simply a love of telling stories through music, a desire to develop skills in singing and stagecraft, and a passion for performance.

Opera North Children's Chorus perform The Spiders' Revenge (Photo Tom Arber)

Intrumental opportunities include a Woodwind and Horn Academy and a Brass Academy at Yeadon Town Hall in Leeds, giving school age orchestral players the chance to learn from, and play with, members of the Orchestra of Opera North and Opera North education specialists. For young string players there is an immersive 4-day Strings Academy in the Howard Opera Centre while, for young musicians playing at grade 7 and above, the Opera North Summer Orchestra Academy will run in August. New this autumn is the Opera North Youth Orchestra which aims to help 16 to 21-year-old orchestral players transition from further education and regional youth orchestras into the professional world of music. Successful applicants will get the chance to be mentored by members of the Orchestra of Opera North and to work regularly in the Howard Opera Centre with professional conductors and soloists.  

Further information from the Opera North website.

Liverpool Philharmonic youth orchestra

In Liverpool, there are eight different ensembles that the Liverpool Philharmonic is recruiting for,  both choirs and orchestras, from the Resonate Youth Philharmonic (for children grade 2 and above) to Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (for ages 13 to 21 at grade 7 and above), from Liverpool Philharmonic Children’s Choir (for children in years 5 to 7) to Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir (for singers ages 18+ who can read music and sight-sing), and not forgetting Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Brass Band (for ages 13 to 21 at grade 7 and above).

And young instrumentalists are invited to “Come and Play” with Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra on Zoom Wednesday 21 April at 6pm to find out more about the orchestra, how you can join, meet current members, and make music together. Register here. 

They are also calling for composers, and there is the Rushworth Young Composers & Songwriters (for aspiring composers aged 14 to 18) and the Rushworth Composition Prize (for Northwest composers aged 18 to 30)

Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir

Further information on all the Liverpool Philharmonic's youth ensembles from their website.

Welsh National Opera (WNO) has an extensive community engagement programme including two youth opera companies, with regional groups for 6 to 18 year olds in South Wales, North Wales and Birmingham, and the Youth Opera Young Company which offers training and performance opportunities to young singers age 18 to 25, plus two Community Chorus programmes (one in Cardiff, one in Llandudno), and choirs for people with dementia and their carers and story-telling activities for refugees and asylum seekers. One such is WNO’s Cradle Choir based in Milford Haven since autumn 2019; working with Torch Theatre, Havenhurst Day Centre, Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services and Pembrokeshire County Council, the group initially met in person weekly, bringing more than 40 people to sing together and now meets online and it has also held dementia friendly training with local schoolchildren.

Welsh National Youth Opera Sing Club (Photo Kirsten McTernan)

WNO has one of the highest levels of participation figures of opera companies in the UK. In 2019/20, pre COVID-19, more than 55,000 people took part in WNO engagement activities. And the teams have successfully maintained many programmes during lockdowns by moving them online.

Full details from WNO's website.