WNO’s belated 75th birthday party gets off to a triumphant start

By Simon Cummings, 11 September 2021

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“Tomáš Hanus... driving home the happy ending with more than the usual amount of élan”

Reviewed at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff on 9 September 2021

Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Sung in English)

Welsh National Opera

Tomáš Hanus, Conductor

Frederick Brown, Conductor

Giles Havergal, Director

Russell Craig, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Davy Cunningham, Lighting Designer

Nico Darmanin, Count Almaviva

Heather Lowe, Rosina

Nicholas Lester, Figaro

Andrew Shore, Dr Bartolo

Keel Watson, Don Basilio

Isabelle Peters, Berta

Howard Kirk, Fiorello

Simon Crosby Buttle, Ambrogio

Martin Lloyd, Officer

Welsh National Opera Chorus

Welsh National Opera Orchestra

A magnificent Tosca from Welsh National Opera at the Mayflower

David Truslove, 3rd October

WNO imports Edward Dick’s exceptionally fine production, which benefits from from superb casting and outstanding performances led by Natalya Romaniw.

*****

Bancroft and BBCNOW at the Proms: a deeply satisfying Mahler 3

David Karlin, 11th August

Bancroft and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales provide a Mahler 3 of exceptional clarity and forward momentum, with terrific posthorn solos from Corey Morris and Beth Taylor an outstanding soloist.

****1

A dark and disturbing Rigoletto from WNO at the Mayflower

David Truslove, 14th November

Fine performances in a punchy new production that coats this tragic opera in a large dollop of debauchery.

****1

WNO stages Death in Venice for the first time and it’s a triumph

Mark Valencia, 7th March

Olivia Fuchs solves the problems of Britten's thorny opera in a brilliant new production that hits the heights, featuring Mark Le Brocq as earthbound scholar, Gustav von Aschenbach.

*****

Musical performances keep WNO's new Così afloat

Mark Valencia, 6th March

Max Hoehn takes Così‘s subtitle, La scuola degli amanti (The School for Lovers), and connects it to Monty Python’s sex education sketch in The Meaning of Life. What larks, eh?

***11

Stacey Alleaume leads WNO's emotionally-charged Traviata

David Truslove, 24th November

Leading an international cast in a still-sumptuous revival in Southampton's Mayflower, Stacey Alleaume gives a sovereign performance as the ill-fated courtesan Violetta.

****1

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Simon Cummings

Simon Cummings is a composer, writer and researcher based in the Cotswolds. He composes instrumental and electronic music, exploring aspects of algorithmic composition, and has recently completed a Ph.D. in composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire under the supervision of Richard Causton and Howard Skempton. His musical tastes are ludicrously broad but are focused most on contemporary/avant-garde classical and electronic music. When not composing, he writes regularly about new music; Simon is the author of the contemporary music blog 5:4 (5against4.com), and regularly contributes articles for a variety of books, journals and websites. Follow him on Twitter @5against4.

Rossini gets Welsh National Opera’s belated 75th birthday party off to a triumphant start