As a very distinguished singer quipped in the interval of this Wales Millennium Centre concert “Its opera pops and very well done” and another added “whether it brings audiences to see full operas is debatable but then does that matter?”
Both astute observations and in the difficult financial position WNO currently finds itself in (yet again) they are very true. It is possible that WNO is in a much worse position than previous frequent financial crises as there is a worrying feeling the great Welsh public does not have the same regard for the importance of this company as has been the case in the past. It also finds itself just one of many public sector funding crises and possibly one of the least dramatic.
As a concert, which this of course was, were it not for the ubiquitous Save Our WNO t-shirts and rather odd waving of Equity trade union flags by the Walkure, we could be forgiven for just settling down and enjoying some fine singing and playing
The opera at the movies is as good enough construct as any for the selection of repertoire (opera at the adverts would be next for just an orchestra evening). Most of the evening was what you would expect, Ride of the Valkyrie from Apocalypse Now (or should we say Die Walkure from Wagner’s Ring Cycle), Te Deum from Puccini’s Tosca (or from Quantum of Solice apparently); Largo al factotum from Rossini’s Barber of Seville (and Mrs Doubtfire and The House of Gucci) and so on.
Less frequently performed perhaps was Catalani’s La Wally and Giordano’s Andrea Chénier.
The evening began and ended with performances from the WNO chorus and orchestra directed by Pietro Rizzo, with O Fortuna from Orff’s Carmina Burana and in the Va, Pensiero chorus from Verdi’s Nabucco. We had a sort of encore with Myfanwy.
This may have been a bums on seats sort of show but the quality of musicianship was just what you would expect from the company.
Sopranos Haegee Lee, Meeta Raval, and associate artist Erin Rossington gave shining performances of arias from La Wally, La Traviata, Le Nozze di Figaro, Andrea Chenier and Rusalka. Dashing baritone Philip Rhodes sang a range of work including the Toreador Song from Carmen and Scarpia from Tosca. Stripping off his black tails, waistcoat and shirt to reveal a save WNO t shirt was a bit unnecessary but his heart was in the right place.
It was also excellent that some of the principal roles were taken by members of the chorus.