Welsh National Opera 
continues its exploration of opera with themed seasons in 2013/14, turning the spotlight on to an infamous royal dynasty, women behaving badly and religion. Eight new productions including a World premiere and a British premiere will be performed as well as a special Welsh National Youth Opera celebration of Benjamin Britten’s centenary year. The Orchestra of WNO will also perform in the International Concert Series at St David’s Hall in Cardiff and at residencies at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Highlights include:
- The Tudors - a trilogy of Donizetti works based on the lives of Anne Boleyn, Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth I. New productions of Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux will be realised by young directors Alessandro Talevi and Rudolf Frey.
- Fallen Women - this theme focuses on the intense struggle and subsequent downfall of women who dared seek the least vestige of independence. Both new productions of Manon Lescaut and Henze’s Boulevard Solitude are by the acclaimed Polish film, theatre and opera director Mariusz Trelinski.
- Faith - the power, the meaning and the consequence of religious belief will be explored in a new production of Nabucco directed by Rudolf Frey. The UK premiere of Stuttgart Opera’s production of Moses und Aron will be performed in Cardiff, Birmingham and at the Royal Opera House in London.
- British Firsts – WNO’s series of contemporary new opera will continue with the British Premiere of Usher House, Gordon Getty’s interpretation of Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. This will be performed together with Debussy’s La Chute de la Maison Usher. Both productions will be directed by David Pountney.
- Benjamin Britten’s centenary year will be marked with a new production of Paul Bunyan by Welsh National Youth Opera featuring Only Boys Aloud.
- WNO’s Music Director Lothar Koenigs will conduct the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera in three concerts at St David’s Hall in Cardiff. The concerts will feature music inspired by this season’s themes including works by Vaughan Williams, Britten, Berg, Wagner, Bruckner and Messiaen. The orchestra will be joined by mezzo soprano Sarah Connolly for the concert on Friday 17 January.
- Singers in the 13/14 season include Katharine Goeldner, Judith Howarth, Bruce Sledge, Christine Rice, Gary Griffiths, Alexandra Deshorties, David Kempster, Chiara Taigi, Rainer Trost and Mary Elizabeth Williams.
Donizetti: Anna Bolena
- Anne Boleyn Serena Farnocchia / Linda Richardson
- Lord Percy Robert McPherson
- Jane Seymour Katharine Goeldner
- Henry VIII Alastair Miles
- Conductor Daniele Rustioni /Andrew Greenwood
- Director Alessandro Talevi
Donizetti: Maria Stuarda
- Mary Stuart Christine Rice
- Queen Elizabeth Judith Howarth
- Leicester Bruce Sledge
- Talbot Alastair Miles
- Conductor Graeme Jenkins/Robin Newton
- Director Rudolf Frey
Donizetti: Roberto Devereux
- Roberto Devereux Leonardo Capalbo
- Queen Elizabeth Alexandra Deshorties
- Sara, Duchess of Nottingham Leah-Marian Jones
- Duke of Nottingham David Kempster
- Conductor Daniele Rustioni /Christian Capocaccia
- Director Alessandro Talevi
Puccini: Tosca
- Floria Tosca Mary Elizabeth Williams
- Mario Cavaradossi Gwyn Hughes Jones
- Scarpia Claudio Otelli
- Conductor Lothar Koenigs /Simon Phillippo
- Director Michael Blakemore
Puccini: Manon Lescaut
- Manon Lescaut Chiara Taigi
- Chevalier des Grieux Gwyn Hughes Jones
- Lescaut David Kempster
- Conductor Lothar Koenigs
- Director Mariusz Trelinski
Henze: Boulevard Solitude
- Manon Lescaut Sarah Tynan
- Armand des Grieux Peter Wedd
- Lescaut Benjamin Bevan
- Conductor Lothar Koenigs
- Director Mariusz Trelinski
Verdi: La traviata
- Violetta Valery Georgia Jarman
- Alfredo Germont Peter Sonn /Leonardo Capalbo
- Giorgio Germont Alan Opie
- Conductor Simon Phillippo
- Director David McVicar
Schoenberg: Moses und Aron
- Aron Rainer Trost
- Moses Richard Angas
- Conductor Lothar Koenigs
- Directors Jossi Wieler & Sergio Morabito
Verdi: Nabucco
- Nabucco David Kempster
- Abigaille Mary Elizabeth Williams
- Zaccaria Kevin Short
- Fenena Justina Gringyte
- Ismaele Wynne Evans
- Conductor Xian Zhang
- Director Rudolf Frey
The Fall of the House of Usher – Double bill:
Getty: Usher House
- Edgar Allan Poe Jason Bridges
- Roderick Usher Benjamin Bevan
- Doctor Primus Kevin Short
- Madeline Usher Anna Gorbachyova
Debussy: La Chute de la Maison Usher (British Première of new version completed by Robert Orledge)
- Roderick Usher Robert Hayward
- Lady Madeline Anna Gorbachyova
- Conductor Lawrence Foster
- Director David Pountney
commissioned to design the booklet cover for this disc of Verdi arias and duets featuring Polish tenor Piotr Beczala, it would feature an image of a Brazil nut, emblazoned with the face of dear old Giuseppe, quivering beneath a sledgehammer. This would give the prospective purchaser an idea as to what to expect from the tenor’s approach and it would, indeed, be as unexpected as it is disappointing. I rate Beczala extremely highly and he would be in my top four tenors performing this sort of repertoire today (Jonas Kaufmann, Joseph Calleja and the underrated Marcelo Álvarez being the others), but this recital disc will do his reputation few favours.
based at the Wigmore Hall, offer a rather unique opportunity to hear some of the world’s most impressive singers to best effect, performing their own chosen repertoire in an intimate concert setting. There is a welcome purity in hearing an artist sing a concentrated programme of music tailored to their voice and taste, and to hear it unembellished by full-scale orchestra, granted only the elegant simplicity of an accompanying piano.
As if to remind us that summer festivals are just around the corner, despite the prevailing frozen conditions over much of Britain, Opus Arte has issued its new production of Janacek’s evergreen opera The Cunning Little Vixen, which opened Glyndebourne’s 2012 season. Although Melly Still’s production didn’t meet with universal acclaim and is clumsily directed at times, the performances here have much to recommend them, not least the feisty Vixen of Lucy Crowe and the weathered Forester of Sergei Leiferkus.
