Tag Archives: Welsh National Opera

Composer and Libretto: Leoš Janáček Conductor: Tomáš Hanus Director: David Pountney Reviewer: C L Delft Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen had its genesis in a comic-strip printed in a Czech newspaper in the early 1920s: an ongoing tale about the adventures of a clever she-fox.  In creating his opera, the composer transcended this very simple material to produce a multi-faceted work ...

Opera: Giuseppe Verdi Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave Director: James Macdonald Revival director: Caroline Chaney Reviewer: Barbara Michaels Set in the White House during the Kennedy era, James Macdonald’s revival of Verdi’s Rigoletto was first staged by Welsh National Opera seventeen years ago.  There have been a few adjustments since, and, given our present political state, the production keeps pace with ...

Conductor: Frederick Brown  Reviewer: Tim Harding Only four weeks left until the summer holiday starts.  And it turns out that it’s not just school children (and teachers!) who are getting ready for the break; orchestral musicians, it turns out, are already packing up ready for some summer sun.   Fortunately for us, before they fly off the members of the Welsh ...

Writer, music & lyrics: Gian Carlo Menotti Director: Max Hoehn Reviewer: Beth Steer Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Consul, a tale of hopelessness, bureaucracy, and frustration, originally produced in 1950, is restaged by the Welsh National Opera in this recent performance at the Wales Millennium Centre. Running for one night only – and in one single act – as part of ...

Music: Gaetano Donizetti Libretto: Salvadore Cammarano Director: Alessandro Talevi Reviewer: Barbara Michaels A stunning revival for Welsh National Opera’s take on Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux – one of the least known of the great composer’s operatic works (over seventy in total).  Definitely a case of “last is best” for WNO’s presentation of the third of the so-called ‘Tudor Trilogy’, despite being ...

Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto: Emanuel Schikaneder English translation: Jeremy Sams Director Dominic Cooke Reviewer: Barbara Michaels Mozart’s sardonic fairy-tale The Magic Flute, with its contending forces of good and evil, has more than a hint of the pantomimic, but is none the worse for that, consisting as it does of some of the composer’s most memorable arias and lyrical ...

Music: Giuseppe Verdi Libretto: Antonio Somma  Director: David Pountney Reviewer: Barbara Michaels It would seem appropriate, give its close proximity to Valentine’s Day, for Welsh National Opera’s Spring Season to kick off with David Pountney’s new production of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, although, possibly, the assassination of mine host at said ball could hardly be termed desirable. Based loosely ...

Composer: Rossini Director: Joan Font Revival Director: Xevi Dorca Conductor: Thomas Hanus Reviewer: Emily Pearce WNO ends its Autumn season with La Cenerentola, the retelling of the fairytale Cinderella through Rossini’s challenging and sparkling score. Thomas Hanus’ orchestra is on excellent, and lively form – Rossini’s virtuosic music is played with precision and verve. Even better, the cast are uniformly ...