- New production of Prokofiev’s War and Peace directed by David Pountney
- WNO production revivals of La traviata and La Cenerentola
- Music hall opera Rhondda Rips It Up! returns following successful summer tour
- WNO Orchestra to perform Halloween-themed Family Concert and autumn International Concert Series concert at St David’s Hall Cardiff
- Brno Festival performance of Janáček’s From the House of the Dead
Welsh National Opera has announced full details of its autumn season. The season of main scale operas will feature a new production of Prokofiev’s War and Peace alongside revivals of Verdi’s La traviata and Rossini’s La Cenerentola which will open in Cardiff before touring Wales and England.
The season begins with a premiere of a new version of War and Peace influenced by musicologist Rita McAllister’s research to reconstruct Prokofiev’s original intentions for the piece, whilst still including some of the finest later additions such as the Act I waltz. This large-scale production is directed by WNO Artistic Director David Pountney and conducted by WNO Music Director Tomáš Hanus. Following the autumn tour, WNO will take War and Peace to the Royal Opera House, London in July 2019 as part of the companies’ continued partnership.
Based on Tolstoy’s epic novel, this story places the tribulations of Russian society centre stage combining public turbulence with private romance and temptation. The fates of spirited young lovers Natasha and Andrei are intertwined with the idealistic aristocrat Pierre who is seeking to understand his own identity amidst the brutal events of Napoleon’s 1812 invasion. The opera was written by Prokofiev in a relatively short two-year period in the 1940s, spurred on by the devastating impact of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, running parallel with the unrest and war in Tolstoy’s novel. Inspired by the collective determination of the Russian people, Prokofiev’s sweeping score illustrates the colourful events and characters brought to life with a large cast, and a very substantial chorus and orchestra in this ambitious production.
WNO Music Director Tomáš Hanus will make a much-anticipated return to the main stage to conduct, following a critically-acclaimed season of performances in autumn 2017. The role of Natasha will be performed by Lauren Michelle, who made her WNO debut as Jessica in the 2016 production of TheMerchant of Venice, and Andrei will be performed by Jonathan McGovern making his WNO debut. Pierre will be sung by a regular artist with WNO Mark Le Brocq, well known for his previous roles in the company’s productions of From the House of the Dead, The Merchant of Venice, Lulu and A Christmas Carol.
David Pountney has assembled a formidable design team with set designer Robert Innes Hopkins and lighting designer Malcolm Rippeth, both collaborators on the company’s successful 2016 world premiere In Parenthesis, costume design by long-time creative partner Marie-Jeanne Lecca and video projections by David Haneke.
The production will be based on the same set as In Parenthesis with the design drawing some parallels between 1940s wartime and the striking grandeur and mass deprivation of Russian society in the early 1800s.
David Pountney says 'War and Peace is one of the most famously demanding of operatic scores deploying massed choruses and a huge gallery of small roles to give authenticity to the great national drama of war and survival that it depicts. It is a superb showcase for WNO’s justly famous Chorus and for a company which prides itself on collective excellence. War and Peace joins with all the great war epics in being able to shift in a moment from public to private drama, from intensity of personal emotion to the surge of national determination, and this is ideal territory for the language of opera: to thrill us and move us on the grandest and most intimate scale.'
La traviata
The most popular and most performed opera in the world, Verdi’s La traviata is the enduring tragic love story of Parisian courtesan Violetta and her affair with Alfredo, which brings them true love before they are separated by society, disease and destiny. Sir David McVicar’s production is a period setting in the sumptuous salons of 19th century France, first staged by WNO in 2009 and co-produced with Scottish Opera. James Southall will conduct La traviata, which will be sung in Italian with Sarah Crisp as revival director.
Two sopranos will sing the role of Violetta Valéry: Linda Richardson (Cio-Cio-San in Madam Butterfly, Elvira in Il puritani, Amaltea in Moses in Egypt for WNO) and Anush Hovhannisyan, who makes her debut with WNO. Australian-Chinese tenor Kang Wang also makes his debut with the company in the role of young bourgeois Alfredo Germont; both Wang and Hovhannisyan were last seen in Cardiff representing Australia and Armenia at the 2017 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Completing the cast are Verdi specialist Roland Wood (Giorgio Germont), Rebecca Afonwy-Jones (Flora), James Cleverton (Baron Douphol) alongside soloists from the WNO Chorus.
La Cenerentola
Rossini’s colourful opera originally premiered in Rome in 1817 and was last performed by WNO in 2007.
Sung in Italian, the production is an effervescent comic opera with vibrant costumes by Joan Guillén. Original production choreographer Xevi Dorca will revive Joan Font’s production described by the original director as having been created 'under the gaze of a Mediterranean light'. The opera is based on the classic story of Cinderella with an operatic twist. Tomáš Hanus will conduct La Cenerentola, further showcasing the breadth of his musical repertoire. Mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught takes on the lead role following her recent successful WNO debut with the WNO Orchestra at the International Concert Series at St David’s Hall, Cardiff. Other cast members include Aoife Miskelly (WNO debut), Heather Lowe (The Barber of Seville), Wojtek Gierlach (I Puritani) alongside bel canto specialists Fabio Capitanucci, Matteo Macchioni and Giorgio Caoduro, all making their WNO debut.
Rhondda Rips It Up! and Rhondda Rebel
The all-female music hall style production about the life of pioneering suffragette and entrepreneur Lady Rhondda opened this summer to great acclaim and will continue to tour throughout October and November to Bangor, Mold, Northampton, Oxford, Swansea, Swindon and Winchester.
This new commission for WNO was composed by Elena Langer with libretto by Emma Jenkins and features an all-female cast and creative team led by director Caroline Clegg and music director Nicola Rose, and stars soprano Lesley Garrett (as the Emcee) and mezzo-soprano Madeleine Shaw (as Lady Rhondda). Rhondda Rips It Up! is unlike anything previously presented by WNO, with original songs inspired by the suffragette slogans, this tongue-in-cheek production takes audiences on a whirlwind tour of the inspiring activist’s mission.
Accompanying the production, WNO is touring the immersive digital experience Rhondda Rebel to Cardiff, Bangor and Southampton. Rhondda Rebel has a script also written by Emma Jenkins and, instead of live action, uses augmented reality technology to provide audiences with an insight into the experiences of Lady Rhondda, and an introduction to some of Elena Langer’s original score.
Community Engagement
WNO continues to embed itself into communities, following the company’s touring route across Wales and England. For the first time, WNO is bringing its hugely popular orchestral concert to the Birmingham Hippodrome exclusively for West Midlands schools on Tuesday 13 November. In the lead up to the concert, schools across the region will receive singing workshops with WNO vocal animateurs to introduce children to opera, increasing their confidence, self-expression and enjoyment of live music.
WNO will also be part of the reopening gala for Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre on the 26th September, launching WNO’s focus on Southampton and the Southwest by having a permanent presence in the city delivering youth and community activity.
WNO Orchestra
WNO Orchestra will perform two concerts in the autumn. On Sunday 28 October at 3pm the Orchestra will take to the stage at St David’s Hall Cardiff for WNO’s first Halloween Family Concert, designed to thrill all ages. These hugely successful family concerts include a programme of popular favourites from the world of opera, film and TV performed by the full WNO Orchestra and singers with free family friendly foyer activities offering the perfect way to introduce the family to opera and classical music.
On Sunday 4 November at 3pm as part of the first of three concerts in the 2018-2019 International Concert Series at St David’s Hall, the WNO Orchestra will be joined by young Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan to perform a cornerstone of the solo cello repertoire, Elgar’s Cello Concerto. The second half of the concert features two pieces by Janáček, a passion for Tomáš Hanus who was born in the composer’s home town of Brno in the Czech Republic. Slovak Baritone Gustáv Beláček will bring to life the closing scenes of The Cunning Little Vixen with the concert concluding with Janáček’s Sinfonietta, a hugely celebratory work which the composer dedicated to the Czechoslovak Army, replete with powerful brass fanfares and a gloriously triumphant finale.
Janáček Brno Festival 2018
WNO will be taking its highly acclaimed production of Janáček’s From the House of the Dead to the 2018 Janáček Brno Festival on 2 December. The performance will be under the baton of Tomáš Hanus who will take the Company to his hometown for the first time in a celebration of the life and work of Leoš Janáček. It will also be a special moment for director David Pountney who has a long-standing association with the work of Janáček, and brought the composer to prominence in the UK with his ground-breaking Janáček cycle of operas in the 1970s and 1980s, co-produced between WNO and Scottish Opera. The production, directed by Caroline Clegg, will be performed in musicologist John Tyrrell’s new critical edition which was premiered by WNO in autumn 2017 and is as close a version as possible to Janáček’s original intentions.
Tomáš Hanus says 'I am delighted that we can present our audience with such an extraordinary work as Prokofiev's War and Peace, and in contrast, the jewels of Italian repertoire, Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Verdi’s La traviata. Alongside Prokofiev's profound work, these two will be a celebration of Italian opera that will delight, and move our audience to laughter and tears in turn. In December, we will visit the 2018 Janáček Brno Festival with a production very dear to my heart, performing Janáček's From the House of the Dead to the international community. The artistic potential of WNO is so great that I feel it is vital to develop its international reputation. In today's world, it is not only possible, but necessary to attract international attention to what we do, which is important not only for WNO itself, but also for Cardiff and for Wales. The Janáček Festival is a step in this direction'
More information on WNO’s autumn 2018 season is available at here.
Ends
Notes to Editors
· Welsh National Opera is the national opera company for Wales. WNO is funded by the Arts Councils of Wales and England to provide large scale operand operatic experiences across Wales and to major cities in the English regions.
· WNO production images are available for download at wno.org.uk/press
· For more information, photos or interviews please contact Penny James or Branwen Jones, Press Manager on 029 20635038 penny.james@wno.org.ukbranwen.jones@wno.org.uk or Christina Blakeman, Press Officer 029 20635037 christina.blakeman@wno.org.uk
· War and Peace is a co-production with Theater Magdeburg
· We are delighted that His Excellency The Russian Ambassador is Honorary Patron for War and Peace
· War and Peace is supported by The Derek Hill Foundation and WNO Partners
· La traviata is a co-production with Scottish Opera and Grand Teatre del Liceu.
· La Cenerentola is a co-production with Houston Grand Opera, Grand Teatre del Liceu & Grand Théâtre de Genéve
· La Cenerentola is supported by WNO Friends
· WNO concerts as part of the International Concert Series supported by Mathew & Lucy Prichard
· We are delighted that Baroness Gale of Blaenrhondda is Patron for Rhondda Rips It Up!
· Rhondda Rips It Up! is supported by Nicholas John Trust, in memory of Joan Moody, Colwinston Charitable Trust, Ambache Charitable Trust, Boltini Trust, The John S Cohen Foundation, The Ernest Cook Trust, Gwendoline and Margaret Davies Charity, The John Coates Charitable Trust, The Leche Trust, PRS Foundation, RVW Trust, WNO Rhondda Union and Rhondda donors.
· The performance of Rhondda Rips It Up! in Oxford is supported by Sian Marshall Thomas in association with Somerville College, University of Oxford