Vintage WNO production of The Barber of Seville stills works well, a timely affirmation of the comic vision

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Rossini, The Barber of Seville: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera / Frederick Brown (conductor). Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 29.9.2021. (GPu)

(l-r) Nicholas Lester (Figaro), Heather Lowe (Rosina), Andrew Shore (Bartolo) and Nico Darmanin (Almaviva) (c) Richard Hubert Smith

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Nicky Spence’s intense Cardiff performance of Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Disappeared

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Janáček, Diary of One Who Disappeared: Nicky Spence (tenor), Simon Lepper (piano), Annie George (mezzo), Charlotte Forfar (soprano), Verity Belle Atkinson (soprano), Molly Beere (soprano). Dora Stoutzker Hall, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff. 21.2.2020. (GPu)

Nicky Spence (c) Bertie Watson

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Valiant attempt but WNO’s new Les vȇpres siciliennes can’t quite persuade one of its merits

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Verdi, Les vȇpres siciliennes: Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera / Carlo Rizzi (conductor). Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 8.2.2020. (GPu)

Wotjek Gierlach (Jean Procida), Anush Hovhannisyan (Helene) & Jung Soo Yun (Henri)
(c) Johan Persson

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