Directing Kiss Me, Kate is to direct two shows at the same time. The first – the backstage romance of…
Merchant of Venice, Welsh National Opera
September 18, 2016Shakespeare’s Portia may be right that the quality of mercy is not strained but by curtain call the audience was…
Keith Warner: Directing Merchant of Venice, WNO
September 14, 2016The very story of The Merchant of Venice is controversial. Anyone touching the material would seem to tip-toe through…
Bold British debut to popular musical for Bard-themed season from WNO
September 1, 2016Welsh National Opera continues its themed season of programme from Artistic Director David Pountney with three very different Shakespeare inspired works….
Kommilitonen! WNO Youth Opera, Barry Memo
July 30, 2016It is an interesting juxtaposition – the late Peter Maxwell Davies’ interwoven stories of young people who make a stand against conforming, convention and…
La Voix Humaine, Welsh National Opera, Festival of Voice, Penarth
June 12, 2016It is much to the credit of singer Claire Booth that she had her audience totally in her grip in…
Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, WNO
May 29, 2016I suspect the singers in Mascagni’s Cavalleria and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci when first performed in Wales when WNO was formed 70…
In Parenthesis, WNO
May 15, 2016Iain Bell’s score in the seemingly impossible adaptation of David Jones’ In Parenthesis is theatrical and vigorous while as a…
Marriage of Figaro, Welsh National Opera
February 19, 2016We have reached the midpoint of WNO’s Figaro Fiesta that started with the Barber, now the Marriage and that will…
Barber of Seville, WNO
February 14, 2016My teenage nephew looked puzzled when I told him we had been to a really funny opera. Clearly, having a…