From a 2014 production of Acis & Galatea
Acis & Galatea unaware of the monstrous Polyphemus. Oliver Mercer & Jane Harrington. Copyright Robert Workman
Founded in 1988, Mid Wales Opera has established itself as one of the foremost British touring opera companies. Recipient of various national awards, including two Prudential Opera Awards for “excellence, creativity, innovation and accessibility”, Mid Wales Opera’s productions have now been performed in over eighty venues in Great Britain and Ireland.
Full scale productions of major operas such as Turandot, Aida, Carmen and Madama Butterfly have included international soloists from Covent Garden and the English, Welsh and Scottish National Opera companies. The specially adapted touring productions of more intimate operas have proved immensely popular in an ever increasing number of venues. MWO now tours to a wider range of theatres than any other opera company in Great Britain, from the elegant Opera House at Buxton to the intimate theatre at Pontardawe. The Company receives enthusiastic receptions at all venues and its annual visit is eagerly anticipated by opera-lovers throughout the country.
You can find out more about the history of Mid Wales Opera from its founders Keith Darlington & Barbara McGuire in the extended article written by Keith for the commemorative #MWO25 Carmen programme called Mid Wales Opera, The Early Years.
Facebook: Mid Wales Opera
Twitter: Mid Wales Opera
Telephone: 01686 614563
Email: admin@midwalesopera.co.uk
February 2019 Update 2
Mid Wales Opera 30th anniversary – Happy birthday!
Mid Wales Opera 30th anniversary – we are celebrating an impressive production of professional shows this year and still don’t look a day over 21!
And like all the best birthdays, we’re marking it with a Mid Wales Opera 30th anniversary party at our home theatre, Hafren in Newtown where we have been opening their shows since 1989.
On Friday February 22nd, the night before the opening of their brand-new production of Puccini’s Tosca at Hafren, we are hosting a Mid Wales Opera 30th anniversary Gala Concert with singers from the Wales International Academy of Voice joining familiar faces from MWO’s previous productions to celebrate 30 years of MWO performances in Newtown.
The Magic Flute
Mid Wales Opera started life in Meifod, Powys in 1988 with a group of 12 singers who met for two weekends of concentrated opera coaching, involving music, stagecraft and movement classes, culminating in a piano-accompanied performance of operatic scenes in the newly built Meifod Community Centre. The company was started by Keith Darlington and Barbara McGuire and the next year their performances moved to Hafren which has been their home ever since. Keith recalls: “The first production at Hafren was Mozart’s The Magic Flute with a full Welsh cast and chorus, drawn from the local community and students from the national music colleges, and led by director Ian Watt-Smith and conductor Derek Clarke; it played alongside Bizet’s Carmen with a student cast, all of whom attended a course similar to that of the previous year. Stephen Medcalf directed the first of his many memorable productions with the company, with his regular designer, Charles Edwards. An Orchestral Summer Course for students from the Birmingham Conservatoire accompanied both operas, coached by WNO players. “
La Boheme
MWO’s first Tosca was performed in 1990, and as Keith Darlington recalls: “It included one of MWO’s most memorable moments in the “Te Deum” at the end of Act One. The principals sang fortissimo on stage; the chorus slowly descended through the audience, singing lustily and waving incense; an off-stage organ was relayed to the rafters of the theatre; and finally the Newtown Silver Band burst out from underneath the seating in the auditorium. Truly spectacular!”
Nicholas Cleobury took up the reins as Artistic Director on Keith’s retirement in 2009, and was replaced in 2016 when he left to lead the opera course at Queensland Conservatorium by the current Artistic Team of Jonathan Lyness as Music Director and Richard Studer as Artistic Director.
MWO now tours twice a year, with their innovative new SmallStages tour each Autumn taking fully staged live opera to the heart of communities and performed in a mix of village halls, small theatres and even churches across Wales and the Borders. Their tour of A Spanish Hour, Ravel’s L’heure espagnole, achieved four-star reviews and sold out shows across it’s 16 venue tour in Autumn 2018.
But MWO’s mainstage productions have always been opened at Hafren in Newtown and the theatre’s manager Sara Clutton said: “We’re so proud of our relationship with MWO, it’s a producing partnership which is truly rooted in Mid Wales and Hafren’s been the company’s home from the start.
“There is always a real buzz about the building when MWO are here for a week rehearsing their shows before opening night, and a sense of event about hosting the first night of their tour. We can’t wait to see the brand-new production of Tosca and to celebrate 30 years of our working together at the Gala on February 22nd.”
Faust
Directors and designers MWO have worked with include Stephen Medcalf – who was there at the very beginning!, Aidan Lang, Inga Levant, Stephen Barlow, Martin Lloyd-Evans, Julia Hollander, John Ramster and Clare Williams, Charles Edwards, Isabella Bywater and Jamie Vartan. Hitting the top notes and shaking the floor boards have been a galaxy of singers – like Peter Auty, Neal Davies, Christopher Maltman, Gail Pearson and Mary Plazas; and more recent “rising stars” include Stephanie Corley, tenor William Wallace, MWO regular Matthew Buswell, Camilla Roberts, Elizabeth Karani in last year’s Eugene Onegin, Helen Sherman, Christopher Turner and David Stout. Not forgetting all the wonderful Welsh singers, like this year’s Tosca Elin Pritchard as well as Catrin Aur, Katherine Allen, Sion Goronwy, Wyn Pencarreg and Sian Winstanley.
The company remains committed to supporting young singers, with at least half their casts each year being under 30/less than four years out of training, and at the Gala on February 22nd they’ll unveil exciting new plans for a deeper partnership with the Wales International Academy of Voice over the coming 12 months.
February 2019 Update
Power, Passion and Politics. Tosca – A blockbusting operatic thriller live on stage
Tosca may well be the most operatic opera ever written, and it certainly has it all from tender love story to powerful brutality and ultimate tragedy.
Theatrically gripping from start to finish, and featuring some of Puccini’s most memorable and dramatic musical moments, we’re delighted to announce that Mid Wales Opera’s Spring tour for 2019 will be a brand-new production of Tosca. Once again, we’re bringing fully staged live opera, in partnership with Ensemble Cymru as our orchestra, to nine venues across Wales and the Border opening in Hafren, Newtown, Powys on Saturday February 23rd.
We’re truly passionate about Puccini’s masterpiece and excited to be touring such a much-loved audience favourite to venues across Wales and the Borders where opera is rarely performed. Our Cavaradossi, Charne Rochford, summed it up perfectly for us: “It’s probably the most perfect opera written. Outrageously catchy tunes, passion bursting from the seams, extremely human characters and MURDER! What’s not to love!?” We’ll also have a wonderfully Welsh Tosca with us this Spring in Elin Pritchard who last performed with MWO in 2014’s Carmen as Micaela.
“Elin Pritchard blossoms in her big aria, allowing the warmth to flow out. The Arts Desk”
Since then Elin’s performed with Scottish Opera, Opera North and many others but she’s delighted to be heading back to Wales and told us: “I’m Welsh through and through! Fluent speaker and I’m from Rhyl in North Wales, so Bangor and Mold will be very close to home for me!” The first time Elin sang the role of Tosca she learned it in a weekend! She told us: “I had a call from my agent to say they needed a soprano and so I worked my finger to the bone to learn the role and then got the call a few days later to say I’d be taking over. I must have been mad! “Tosca as a character is wonderful to sing. She has the most glorious music with some huge climactic lines, she’s passionate and has a huge amount of fire in her. Her music with Cavaradossi, especially in act 3 is so beautiful and poignant a complete contrast to what has happened in the act 2 torture scene, however that scene for me is the most exciting and thrilling part in the opera.”
Elin is joined by London born tenor Charne Rochford, who last sang the role of Cavaradossi for Bermuda Festival. Charne sang the role of Achilles in English Touring Opera’s Olivier Award winning production of Tippet’s King of Priam and other roles with ETO have included Luigi in Il Tabarro and Adorno in Simon Boccanegra.
Internationally renowned baritone Nicholas Folwell will make his MWO debut in the role of Scarpia. Having seen Nicholas’s portrayal of Scarpia during last Autumn’s Opera Project production of Tosca in Bristol I can assure you we can look forward to a riveting portrayal of one of opera’s most disreputable villains.
Stage Talk Magazine
Nicholas Folwell as that odious voluptuary, Baron Scarpia, lacks for nothing in that department. Consumed with perverted love and a ruthless desire to possess, Floria Tosca, his aria at the end of act one is a display of riveting passivity as, eyes ablaze, Scarpia unfolds his plans.
Nicholas first studied the role of Scarpia as a student in the early 70s with renowned teacher Raimund Herincx. He fell in love with the disreputable, venal character that is Baron Scarpia. Sadly, he had to wait until 2012 before he sang the role in concert and then till 2017 to perform in a staged version. Nicholas told us: “It is always more interesting to perform the “baddies”! Scarpia is the most wonderful role to sing for someone of my voice type. Huge vocal moments interspersed with very subtle quieter sections. One moment he is the hateful chief of police, spitting out orders to his henchmen and the next he is charming and manipulative.
The opera has the most wonderful Puccini lyricism and is grand opera at it’s grandest! Opera is known for it’s love of death but Tosca must be one of the few where all of it’s major protagonists succumb to a sticky end! First Scarpia (stabbed by Tosca with cutlery from his own table), then Cavaradossi (shot by the apparently fake firing squad) and lastly Tosca herself. She jumps off the battlements of Castel SantAngelo when she discovers the death of her lover, Cavaradossi. On my first visit to Rome, I climbed to the top of the Castel to see for myself. It is believed that Puccini went there himself early one Sunday morning to notate the sound of the various church bells in Rome.”
Tosca might not have been composed at all were it not for the skullduggery of both Puccini and his publisher to extract the rights to set Sardou’s infamous 1887 play from a rival composer. And it might not have survived if the first night critics had had anything to do with it. But the beauty, the power and the passion of Puccini’s ‘shabby little shocker’ have ensured its position as the greatest of all blockbusting operatic thrillers.
Tour Dates
Sat 23 Feb – Hafren opening night
Wed 27 Feb – Ffwrnes, Llanelli
Sat March 2 – Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth
Sat March 9 – Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon
Thursday March 14 – Pontio, Bangor
Saturday March 16 – Courtyard, Hereford
Wed March 20 – The Torch, Milford Haven
Sun March 24 – Theatr Clwyd, Mold
Wed March 27 – The Riverfront, Newport
Cast:-
Tosca: Elin Pritchard
Cavaradossi: Charne Rochford
Scarpia: Nicholas Folwell
Spoletta: Jonathan Cooke
Sacristan: Emyr Wyn Jones
Angelotti: Joseph Padfield
Sciarrone/Gaoler: Matthew Tilley
Shepherd Boy: Alys Roberts
Orchestra: Ensemble Cymru
Music By: Giacomo Puccini
Libretto: Luigi Illica & Giuseppe Giacosa
Translation: Amanda Holden
Sung In: English
Conductor: Jonathan Lyness
Director/Designer: Richard Studer
Lighting Designer: Dan Saggars
For additional information please contact Lydia Bassett, Executive Director: lydia@midwalesopera.co.uk
or visit: www.midwalesopera.co.uk
August 2018 Update
Mid Wales Opera ‘SmallStages’ returns this autumn, bringing live opera to the heart of communities across Wales and the Borders with Ravel’s exhilarating one-act clock shop comedy, A Spanish Hour (L’heure espagnole). With five singers and four musicians and bursting with hummable tunes and buzzing habaneras, join Concepción and her lovers as the temperatures rise…
In the second half of the evening, musicians and singers come together to produce an eclectic and entertaining taste of Spain – with some old favourites and new delights for audiences to enjoy.
This is opera for everyone – featuring an outstanding cast of five young singers as well as four brilliant musicians, performing a new English translation by Artistic Director Richard Studer and a new arrangement of Ravel’s exotic score created by Music Director Jonathan Lyness.
Friday Nov 9 – In partnership with Hafren, Newtown at Theatr Llwyn, Llanfyllin
Tel: 01686 614555 | Email: boxoffice@thehafren.co.uk
www.thehafren.co.uk Tickets £10 and students £8
Sat Nov 10th – Abertillery Met
aneurinleisure.ticketsolve.com/shows
01495 355945
Tickets £10 and £8 concessions
Sun Nov 11th – Presteigne Assembly Rooms
£12 tickets Tickets available on line www.wegottickets.com or The Workhouse, Presteigne Industrial Estate, Monday – Saturday 10am – 4pm
Thurs Nov 15 –Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff (BSL signed)
£15/£13 Tickets | Tocynnau 029 2039 1391
www.rwcmd.ac.uk
Friday 16th – Theatr Ddraig, Barmouth
Dragon Theatre. Barmouth. http://www.dragontheatre.co.uk/whats-on.php
£9 and £4.50 under 18s 01341 281697
Sat Nov 17th – Neuadd Dyfi, Aberdovey
Neuadd Dyfi, Aberdovey Neuadd Dyfi, Penrhos, Aberdyfi ,LL35 0NR
£ 8 adult £4 child www.neuadddyfi.org
Wed Nov 21 – Pontardawe Arts Centre 01792 863722
https://npttheatres.co.uk/pontardawe
£10 and £1 children
Thurs Nov 22 – St Mary’s Church, Hay on Wye
Hay Festival Winter Weekend
hayfestival.org 01497 822629 boxoffice@hayfestival.org
Tickets £10
Fri Nov 23 Theatr Gwaun, Fishguard
£12 full price £10 SC/Friends of TG/Concessions
Phone Number – 01348 873421
Website – www.theatrgwaun.com
Sat Nov 24th – Hafren – Trefeglwys Village Hall
Tel: 01686 614555 | Email: boxoffice@thehafren.co.uk
Tickets £10 and students £8
Thursday 29th Nov – Sparc, Bishops Castle with Shropshire Music Trust
£12, £6 for 25’s & under, £1 for 18.s and under
SpArC Theatre, Brampton Road, Bishop’s Castle SY9 5AD
Box Office Numbers 01588 630321/ 638038
http://www.sparctheatre.co.uk/event/live-mid-wales-opera-smallstages-lheure-espagnole-ravel/
Friday 30th Nov Mold – Emyr Williams Studio at Theatr Clwyd
prices from £10 www.theatrclwyd.com 01352 701521
Sat Dec 1st– Criccieth Memorial Hall
Criccieth Memorial Hall, High Street, Criccieth Gwynedd LL52 0HD
Tickets £10 Tickets can be reserved by calling 01766-523-672 leaving message or emailing bookings@cricciethmemorialhall.com and reserving. Tickets available on the door and Payments on collection of tickets.
Wed Dec 5th – Theatr Colwyn, Colwyn Bay
£12 adult +£1 admin fee.
£11 Concessions +£1 admin fee
£10 Friends / premier card (No admin fee)
Thurs Dec 6 Hafren – In partnership with Hafren at Abermule Community Centre
Tel: 01686 614555 | Email: boxoffice@thehafren.co.uk
Tickets £10 and students £8
Friday Dec 7th –- Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Ludlow Assembly Rooms, Ludlow
£18 and £19 plus £1.50 booking fee
www.ludlowassemblyrooms.co.uk 01584 878141
July 2018 Update
Mid Wales Opera ’s Small Stages returns this autumn, bringing live opera to the heart of communities across Wales and the Borders with Ravel’s exhilarating one-act clock shop comedy, A Spanish Hour (L’heure espagnole). With five singers and four musicians, and bursting with hummable tunes and buzzing habaneras, join Concepción and her lovers as the temperatures rise…
In the second half of the evening, musicians and singers come together to produce an eclectic and entertaining taste of Spain – with some old favourites and new delights for audiences to enjoy.
This is opera for everyone – featuring an outstanding cast of five young singers as well as four brilliant musicians, performing a new English translation by Artistic Director Richard Studer and a new arrangement of Ravel’s exotic score created by Music Director Jonathan Lyness.
SmallStages 2018 – Mid Wales Opera presents Ravel’s L’heure espagnole, for five singers and four musicians, in a new English version by Richard Studer and a new chamber arrangement by Jonathan Lyness.
Friday Nov 9 – In partnership with Hafren, Newtown at Theatr Llwyn, Llanfyllin
Tel: 01686 614555 | Email: boxoffice@thehafren.co.uk
www.thehafren.co.uk Tickets £10 and students £8
Sat Nov 10th – Abertillery Met
aneurinleisure.ticketsolve.com/shows 01495 355945
Tickets £10 and £8 concessions
Sun Nov 11th – Presteigne Assembly Rooms£12 tickets Tickets available on line www.wegottickets.com or The Workhouse, Presteigne Industrial Estate, Monday – Saturday 10am – 4pm
Thurs Nov 15 –Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff (BSL signed)
£15/£13 Tickets | Tocynnau 029 2039 1391
www.rwcmd.ac.uk
Friday 16th – Theatr Ddraig, Barmouth
Dragon Theatre. Barmouth. http://www.dragontheatre.co.uk/whats-on.php
£9 and £4.50 under 18s 01341 281697
Sat Nov 17th – Neuadd Dyfi, Aberdovey
Neuadd Dyfi, Aberdovey Neuadd Dyfi, Penrhos, Aberdyfi ,LL35 0NR
£ 8 adult £4 child www.neuadddyfi.org
Wed Nov 21 – Pontardawe Arts Centre 01792 863722
https://npttheatres.co.uk/pontardawe
£10 and £1 children
Thurs Nov 22 – St Mary’s Church, Hay on Wye
Hay Festival Winter Weekend
hayfestival.org 01497 822629 boxoffice@hayfestival.org
Tickets £10
Fri Nov 23 Theatr Gwaun, Fishguard
£12 full price £10 SC/Friends of TG/Concessions
Phone Number – 01348 873421
Website – www.theatrgwaun.com
Sat Nov 24th – Hafren – Trefeglwys Village Hall
Tel: 01686 614555 | Email: boxoffice@thehafren.co.uk
Tickets £10 and students £8
Thursday 29th Nov – Sparc, Bishops Castle with Shropshire Music Trust
£12, £6 for 25’s & under, £1 for 18.s and under
SpArC Theatre, Brampton Road, Bishop’s Castle SY9 5AD
Box Office Numbers 1588 630321/ 638038
http://www.sparctheatre.co.uk/event/live-mid-wales-opera-smallstages-lheure-espagnole-ravel/
Friday 30th Nov Mold – Emyr Williams Studio at Theatr Clwyd
prices from £10 www.theatrclwyd.com 01352 701521
Sat Dec 1st– Criccieth Memorial Hall
Criccieth Memorial Hall, High Street, Criccieth Gwynedd LL52 0HD
Tickets £10 Tickets can be reserved by calling 01766-523-672 leaving message or emailing bookings@cricciethmemorialhall.com and reserving. Tickets available on the door and Payments on collection of tickets.
Wed Dec 5th – Theatr Colwyn, Colwyn Bay
£12 adult +£1 admin fee.
£11 Concessions +£1 admin fee
£10 Friends / premier card (No admin fee)
Thurs Dec 6 Hafren – In partnership with Hafren at Abermule Community Centre
Tel: 01686 614555 | Email: boxoffice@thehafren.co.uk
Tickets £10 and students £8
Friday Dec 7th –- Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Ludlow Assembly Rooms, Ludlow
£18 and £19 plus £1.50 booking fee
www.ludlowassemblyrooms.co.uk 01584 878141
For booking information and dates go to www.midwalesopera.co.uk
February 2018 Update
In the story of Tchaikovsky’s great opera Eugene Onegin, which Mid Wales Opera are touring this Spring to venues across Wales, the course of true love really does not run smooth! However for Stephanie Windsor-Lewis, singing the role of Larina in Mid Wales Opera’s production, the opera has a very special romantic connection.
Stephanie, who previously sang the role of Olga (sister to the opera’s heroine Tatyana) in Mid Wales Opera Artistic Directors’ Jonathan and Richard Studer’s production of the show for their own company Opera Project, has now switched roles and is playing Olga’s mother Larina – she is hoping with a bit of wrinkle effect make-up and a greying wig!
Stephanie told us: “I actually met my husband when he came to watch me playing ‘Olga’ when I last did the opera!
“My husband and I met once, a month before the show, and as an excuse to come and see me again he wanted to watch a show I was involved in. He was a complete opera novice so did lots of research before coming so that he didn’t come across like he didn’t know anything! We went for dinner afterwards and it was pretty much love at first sight”
Stephanie, who lives near Machynlleth, is no stranger to Mid Wales Opera’s touring venues and teaches singing to several of the members of AberOpera who will be joining the company in the chorus for the performance at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Wednesday February 28th.
Mezzo Stephanie’s star-studded career begin with training in Florence and Bologna and has taken her across the world including a gala concert in Singapore with renowned tenor Josè Carreras as well as performances with English National Opera, at the Venice Biennale and the New York Met.
She won first prizes in the Benvenuto Franci competition and the Premio Crescendo Competition in Florence, and was a finalist in the Ernst Haefligger Competition in Switzerland.
She’s looking forward to getting started in the role of Larina and told us: “Onegin is a fascinating piece. Firstly, I love the rich orchestration and harmony; the sweeping Romantic lines alongside Russian folk elements are intriguing.”
We first meet Larina at home with her daughters, the bookish Tatyana whose story Eugene Onegin tells, and her sister Olga – more at home with music and dancing, as well as their maid Filipyevna. Their quiet rural life is interrupted by the arrival of Olga’s fiancée Lensky and his jaded friend Onegin – with whom Tatyana falls immediately in love.
She writes him a long and deeply moving letter declaring her love, filled with the drama and pathos of a young girl’s passion and dreams. Tatyana’s love letter is rejected by Onegin, who feels he is not a man cut out for marriage. At a party for Tatyana’s birthday, he becomes annoyed with neighbours gossiping about their relationship and deliberately flirts and dances with her sister Olga, who is engaged to his friend Lensky. In a jealous rage Lensky and Onegin argue – and agree to a duel, ending in Lensky’s untimely death.
Mid Wales Opera’s 2018 Spring tour marks a key moment in the company’s 30 year history – their first ever production of Tchaikovsky’s lyrical masterpiece Eugene Onegin.
With a cast which mixes rising stars with more established talent, and an orchestra supplied by Wales based chamber music specialists Ensemble Cymru, the nine venue tour promises to be a real treat for Welsh audiences.
Eugene Onegin opens at Hafren in Newtown on February 24th and tickets are already on sale – dates and details are below.
Eugene Onegin 2018
24/2/18 Hafren, Newtown
28/2/18 Aberystwyth Arts Centre
8/3/18 Pontio Bangor
16/3/18 The Riverfront, Newport
18/3/18 Theatr Clwyd, Mold
21/3/18 Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon
29/3/18 Ffwrnes, Llanelli
4/4/18 Torch Theatre, Milford Haven
10/4/18 The Courtyard, Hereford
December 2017 Update 2
Mid Wales Opera ’s 2018 Spring tour marks a key moment in the company’s 30 year history – their first ever production of Tchaikovsky’s lyrical masterpiece Eugene Onegin.
With a cast which mixes rising stars with more established talent, and an orchestra supplied by Wales based chamber music specialists Ensemble Cymru, the nine venue tour promises to be a real treat for Welsh audiences, and well worth crossing the Border to see. Originally titled as “Lyric Scenes, in Three Acts and Seven Scenes”, the opera combines Pushkin’s compelling and heart-breaking story with Tchaikovsky’s sweeping lyricism in a stunning exploration of love, death, life and convention. For Mid Wales Opera ‘s Music Director Jonathan Lyness, this will be his third time conducting the piece and it has been a slow burn but is now a personal favourite. Jonathan told us : “I’ll be honest here; when I first conducted Eugene Onegin in 1995 I enjoyed a lot of it, but not all of it!
“When I later came back to it, conducting it for the second time in 2007 (this was for Longborough Festival Opera) I was pretty much sold, and on the third occasion in 2012 (this time at Tobacco Factory Theatres in Bristol) I was overwhelmed. So, for me, it took a little time.
“The key thing about Onegin is its understatement. The opera does not wear its heart on its sleeve like some shiny gold wrist-watch, easily accessible and brandishing its Pucciniesque magnetism, but more like a quiet piece of beautifully executed craftsmanship, tucked under the cuff, ready and waiting to tear at your heartstrings if you care to take a peek.
“It’s full of passion, but the passion is more tender, more honest, more human. There are no histrionics in Onegin, no long-held high notes, no unnecessary outpourings front of stage, no coming and grabbing you by the scruff of the neck. This opera is beguiling, sensuous, beautiful and hypnotic.”
The role of Tatyana in MWO’s touring production will be played by British Soprano Elizabeth Karani who studied at both the National Opera Studio and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama opera school under the tutelage of Susan McCulloch. She previously trained at the Royal Northern College of Music under Susan Roper.
Elizabeth told us: “I think what excites me about Tatyana is that she’s an ordinary girl and though she is a dreamer, by rights she should lead a very ordinary life. However, the things that happen to her and the journey she goes on allow her to explore and express huge depths of emotion.”
“She, and all the other characters in Eugene Onegin, are extremely relatable to an audience member and this, combined with amazing music, makes for an extremely enjoyable and heart-wrenching evening.”
Charismatic British baritone George Von Bergen returns the role of Eugene Onegin, again a personal favourite, and he told us: “When I first performed Onegin in 2006 I was struck by the emotional immaturity of Onegin in stark contrast to the world weary life that he has already lead as a young man.
“We can relate to the character with his outward arrogance and seemingly frosty facade, concealing a sensitive and vulnerable man beneath. His series of bad decisions compel him to his wretched and desperate position in act 3, but audiences can rarely forgive him his mistakes and despite Lensky’s absurd hysteria in challenging him to a duel, his earlier, pompous dismissal of Tatyana seem only unjustifiable. “
Wales based tenor Robyn Lyn Evans makes his role debut as Lensky on the tour and told us: “Eugene Onegin is an opera I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to perform for a long time. It’s got such beautiful music. I’ve never performed Lensky before, but everyone tells me it’s such a fabulous rôle. I’m also really looking forward to singing Lensky’s aria in context, as I did sing it some 20 years ago in the National Eisteddfod of Wales, however, that was in Welsh.”
The production will be the first partnership between MWO and Ensemble Cymru, two organisations who share a passion for bringing high quality chamber scale music to communities across the whole of Wales.
The tour opens in MWO’s home venue of Hafren, Newtown on February 24th, visiting Aberystwyth, Bangor, Newport, Mold, Brecon, Llanelli, Milford Haven and ending in Hereford on April 10th.
MWO’s recent SmallStages performance of Walton’s The Bear attracted four star reviews and critical acclaim with Richard Bratby writing for The Arts Desk “Walton’s comic opera goes down like a shot of salted caramel Stoli in a sparky touring production” and Rian Evans of the Guardian, reviewing the show in Aberdaron on the wind-lashed Llyn Peninsula adding: “the Walton is definitely worth going out of your way to see. “
December 2017 Update
Adam Cusack G17 Photography
The people of Montgomery and surrounding towns and villages are being invited to an afternoon and evening of carols and Christmas treats with Mid Wales Opera on Sunday, December 9.
Founded in 1988, Mid Wales Opera has established itself as one of the foremost British touring opera companies. Recipient of various national awards, including two Prudential Opera Awards for “excellence, creativity, innovation and accessibility”, Mid Wales Opera’s productions have now been performed in over eighty venues in Great Britain and Ireland.
Full scale productions of major operas such as Turandot, Aida, Carmen and Madama Butterfly have included international soloists from Covent Garden and the English, Welsh and Scottish National Opera companies. The specially adapted touring productions of more intimate operas have proved immensely popular in an ever increasing number of venues. MWO now tours to a wider range of theatres than any other opera company in Great Britain, from the elegant Opera House at Buxton to the intimate theatre at Pontardawe. The Company receives enthusiastic receptions at all venues and its annual visit is eagerly anticipated by opera-lovers throughout the country.
Singers are invited from 2pm, as music director Jonathan Lyness leads a rehearsal of new choral pieces as well as traditional favourites for performance that evening in the magnificent setting of Montgomery’s historic St Nicholas Church.
The evening concert starts at 6pm with readings, carols, music on a Christmas theme and mulled wine and mince pies.
The concert is a fundraising event hosted by The Friends of Mid Wales Opera to support their community and education work, including a week’s residency in Montgomery Primary School in June, 2018 when directors Lyness and Richard Studer will be working with children to create an opera of their own from scratch.
Tickets for both the rehearsal and concert cost £10 or £6 for the concert only. Call Tel: 01686 614563 to reserve a place or email friends@midwalesopera.co.uk.
November 2017 Update
Mid Wales Opera ’s much anticipated tour of William Walton’s classic comedy The Bear opens tonight in Llandinam, Powys before hitting the road with 15 intimate performances from village halls to historic churches and small theatres across Wales and the Borders.
Music Director Jonathan Lyness’ new arrangement of Walton’s one act comic opera, featuring just five players and three superb singers will be performed in public for the first time at Llandinam Village Hall tonight (November 2nd). Richard Studer’s sharp and insightful direction means there’s lots of laughs and plenty for opera first timers to enjoy from Mid Wales Opera – as well as the chance for opera lovers to see Walton’s rarely performed piece in its 50th year.
Based on a play by Chekhov, The Bear tells the story of the widowed Madame Popova (Carolyn Dobbin), burying herself alive with her memories and a seemingly endless supply of vodka as she mourns the death of her wayward husband.
Her servant Luka (Matthew Buswell) is desperately trying to persuade her out of the house and back into society when Smirnov (Adam Green) – the bear of the story arrives to demand payment of her husband’s debts and refuses to leave until he has the cash in his hand.
But Smirnov’s got a dilemma on his hands! The more they argue, the more he’s attracted to the spirited widow who has eagerly embraced his challenge to a duel with pistols : “I’ll pick her off like a partridge! I’m not a sentimental puppy. But what a woman! What a woman! Her eyes flashed, her cheeks shone, she accepted my challenge! I’ve never seen anyone like her! All the same, I must kill her, just as a matter of principle. What courage what daring, she’ll kill without caring!”
With tickets around £10 and performances from Ammanford to Aberdaron and Criccieth to Cwmbran The Bear is the first of Mid Wales Opera’s new SmallStages performances designed to keep opera live and local and reach new audiences in places where opera is rarely if ever performed. There’s no formal dress code, and the show’s designed to be a great night out in relaxed and informal settings.
The second half of the evening features performances of pieces from Tchaikovsky’s lyrical masterpiece Eugene Onegin which MWO will tour to theatres across Wales in Spring 2018 , as well as some coming classics and a few musical surprises.
One audience member who saw the dress rehearsal in Presteigne told us: “It’s fantastic – and amazing to be so close to the performers. The costumes are stunning and the performers are brilliant – so expressive.”
Touring November 2 to December 3rd, the last performance in Presteigne has already sold out so make sure you don’t miss out on the opportunity to see fully staged professional opera up close! Full dates are on MWO’s website at www.midwalesopera.co.uk.
September 2017 Update
Experience opera like never before as Mid Wales Opera presents its first ever Small Stages performances with a brand new version of this hilarious one-act comedy classic.
Mid Wales opera presents The Bear:
Music Director: Jonathan Lyness – Director/Designer: Richard Studer
Composed in 1967 and based on Anton Chekhov’s play of the same name, The Bear tells the tale of the widow, Mme Popova, interrupted from her constant mourning by the arrival of the rough-hewn debt collector Smirnov (the “bear” of the title). Passions run high and their sparring culminates in a duel – and an unexpected romance.
Full of entertainment, comedy, parody and great tunes, this intimate new production of The Bear, featuring just three singers and five musicians, is a brilliant introduction for audiences new to opera and a great opportunity for all music lovers to hear Walton’s classic comedy in its fiftieth anniversary year. Sung in English.
After the interval join us for Tatyana’s Party Pieces, a light hearted take on the birthday party scene from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and a taster of MWO’s Spring 2018 Main Stage tour. These performances are part of Wales’ R17 commemorations for the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution and are performed by arrangement with Oxford University Press.
| November 2017 | ||
| Thu 2 Walton – The Bear |
Llandinam Village Hall | 01686 614555 Visit website |
| Fri 3 Walton – The Bear |
Llanfair Caereinion Institute | 01686 6145556 Visit website |
| Sat 4 Walton – The Bear |
Abermule Community Centre | 01686 614555 Visit website |
| Mon 6 Walton – The Bear |
St Hywyn’s Church, Aberdaron | Visit website |
| Tue 7 Walton – The Bear |
Criccieth Memorial Hall | 01766 523672 |
| Wed 8 Walton – The Bear |
Theatr Twm o’r Nant, Denbigh | Visit website |
| Fri 10 Walton – The Bear |
Neuadd y Dderwen, Rhosygilwen, Cilgerran | Visit website |
| Sat 11 Walton – The Bear |
Ceredigion Museum, Aberystwyth | 01970 633088 Visit website |
| Thu 16 Walton – The Bear |
The Welfare, Ystradgynlais | 01639 843163 Visit website |
| Fri 17 Walton – The Bear |
Dragon Theatre, Barmouth | 01341 281 697 |
| Sat 18 Walton – The Bear |
Neuadd Dyfi, Aberdovey | Visit website |
| Thu 23 Walton – The Bear |
St Mary’s Church, Hay-on-Wye | 01497 822 629 Visit website |
| Wed 29 Walton – The Bear |
Ludlow Assembly Rooms | 01584 878141 Visit website |
| Thu 30 Walton – The Bear |
The Miner’s Theatre, Ammanford | 0845 2263510 Visit website |
| December 2017 | ||
| Fri 1 Walton – The Bear |
Congress Theatre, Cwmbran | 01633 868 239 Visit website |
| Sun 3 Walton – The Bear |
Assembly Rooms, Presteigne | Visit website |
June 2017 Update
Mid Wales Opera are planning an evening filled with musical surprises on Saturday August 12th in the magnificent gardens of Powis Castle.
Visitors will have the chance to experience the spectacular gardens in an exclusive night-time opening as well as enjoying music and singing spread through the castle grounds thanks to Mid Wales opera.
Bring a picnic and enjoy a glass a bubbly as part of the ticket price – then discover a series of musical treats including performances by Tenor Rhodri Prys Jones and Soprano Lucy Mellors, who sang Jupiter and Semele in Mid Wales Opera’s recent production of Handel’s Semele in partnership with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and award winning harpist Gwenllian Llyr.
Gwenllian is quickly gaining international recognition for her charismatic and engaging performances. In July 2013, she was a prize-winner at the USA International Harp Competition in Bloomington. She has also won many prizes more locally, including the First Prize of the UK Camac Harp Competition in 2010, the Nansi Richards Scholarship and Blue Ribbon at the Eisteddfod Genedlaethol in Wales in 2012.
Founded in 1988, Mid Wales Opera has established itself as one of the foremost British touring opera companies. Recipient of various national awards, including two Prudential Opera Awards for “excellence, creativity, innovation and accessibility”, Mid Wales Opera’s productions have now been performed in over eighty venues in Great Britain and Ireland.
Full scale productions of major operas such as Turandot, Aida, Carmen and Madama Butterfly have included international soloists from Covent Garden and the English, Welsh and Scottish National Opera companies. The specially adapted touring productions of more intimate operas have proved immensely popular in an ever increasing number of venues. MWO now tours to a wider range of theatres than any other opera company in Great Britain, from the elegant Opera House at Buxton to the intimate theatre at Pontardawe. The Company receives enthusiastic receptions at all venues and its annual visit is eagerly anticipated by opera-lovers throughout the country.
Time 7pm to 9pm. Ticket Price £12.50 in Advance and £15 on the gate
Phone 0344 249 1895 https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/powis-castle-and-garden
January 2017 Update 2
Mid Wales Opera’s Magical Flute production, one of Mozart’s much loved classics, is on the road this March and April with shows in Aberystwyth, Bangor, Pontardawe and Newport.
Mid Wales Opera’s Magical Flute production introduces some astonishing new talent as well as some MWO favourites including Bala born bass Sion Goronwy as the High Priest of the Temple – Sarastro. Sion recently made his Royal Opera House debut performing in Shostakovich’s The Nose.
The widely anticipated first production by MWO’s new artistic team – director/designer Richard Studer and conductor Jonathan Lyness – launches a new era in the company’s history and promises to astonish audiences, both young and old, with a production definitely aimed at family fun.
Artistic Director Richard Studer said: “ The new production of Mozart’s mythical and magical opera owes more than a nodding debt to the art of pantomime, a surreal world of heroes and villains, myth and magic : high drama, high art, high notes and high camp mix in a blaze of colour, comedy and puppetry as we enter the ever inventive battleground of Mozart’s imagination where the forces of good pursue victory over the evil Queen of the night.”
A true testament if ever there was one to Mozart’s genius, The Magic Flute is packed with some of the composer’s most recognisable music, from heartfelt duets and comic exchanges to one of operas most formidable and memorable arias, that of The Queen of the Night.
Aberystwyth Arts Centre Tuesday March 7th 2017
Pontardawe Theatre and Arts Centre, NPT Thursday March 9th 2017
Pontio, Bangor, Gwynedd Wednesday April 26th 2017
Riverfront, Newport Thursday May 4th 2017
More information please contact:-
Lydia Bassett, General Manager, Mid Wales Opera
Telephone: 07968 623022
Email: Lydia@midwalesopera.co.uk
January 2017 Update
Mid Wales Opera, The Early Years
Although we are celebrating the 25th year since MWO’s first performances in Theatr Hafren in 1989, the seeds of the company were sown in the previous year. Barbara had met singer/solicitor/farmer Alun Jones in a concert and discussed ways of developing local singing talent. With Keith, who was Head of the Birmingham Conservatoire Vocal and Operatic School, a project was formulated for a Summer Opera School for Mid Wales singers and Conservatoire students. So in the summer of 1988 a group of 12 singers met in Meifod for two weekends of concentrated opera coaching, involving music, stagecraft and movement classes, culminating in a piano-accompanied performance of operatic scenes in the newly built Meifod Community Centre. The sets were built by Keith, painted by a well-known local artist, and transported by Alun to the Centre in his tractor-drawn trailer. The production was prepared by a director from Covent Garden, Keith conducted and Barbara co-ordinated the whole project, persuading local companies and individuals to sponsor the event. Alun himself appropriately sang the first notes as Figaro and the whole concert received a rapturous reception from a packed audience.
Encouraged by this success we lost no time in developing plans for 1989. We were delighted to discover in Newtown’s Theatr Hafren a venue ideally suited to our ambitions, with a large stage area, a 500-seat auditorium and, above all, a large orchestral pit. We quickly settled on Mozart’s The Magic Flute with a full Welsh cast and chorus, drawn from the local community and students from the national music colleges. The conductor, Derek Clarke and the director, Ian Watt-Smith had both worked regularly with Welsh National Opera. We felt that a romantic opera was needed to accompany the Mozart and the choice fell on Bizet’s Carmen with a student cast, all of whom attended a course similar to that of the previous year. Stephen Medcalf directed the first of his many memorable productions with the company, with his regular designer, Charles Edwards and Keith as conductor. Determined to make full use of the theatre’s pit we organised a special Orchestral Summer Course for students from the Conservatoire who accompanied both operas, coached by WNO players. To have a full chorus for both operas would have been beyond even our ambitions, so we settled on a reduced version with only a lively chorus of local children as urchins in the opening scene.
The numbers of participants and staff had grown to over a hundred, stretching the organisation well beyond its 1988 limits. Such an event demanded a more suitable title, so we advertised it as a “Festival of Opera” by “Mid Wales Centre for Opera”. Two separate Summer Courses were scheduled with a distinguished group of coaches including staff from WNO. Publicity throughout Wales and the music colleges had attracted great interest and the student casts included several young singers who went on to international careers, such as Neal Davies, Susannah Glanville and Hilary Summers.
Barbara had widened her irresistible quest for sponsorship to great effect, while her various fund-raising events included the selling-off of passages and bars of the score of The Magic Flute (£1 a bar) to organisations such as the CBSO, to the performers and to the newly formed “Friends of Mid Wales Opera”, members of which generously offered accommodation to the performers and staff. Intense publicity in the regional press, TV and radio attracted considerable local interest with the result that ticket sales boomed. The choice of an all-Welsh cast for the Mozart was particularly fruitful, attracting relatives and admirers from far and wide. As Papageno, Alun Jones led a lively and full-bodied cast in the two performances of The Magic Flute, while three performances of the popular Carmen ensured that the theatre was comfortably filled throughout the week.
1990 brought two important developments; firstly the snappier name of “Mid Wales Opera”; and secondly, Welsh Arts Council funding to tour to some of the smaller theatres in Wales. Mozart’s Così fan tutte was a natural choice with its small cast and intimate orchestration. An excellent young student cast included two future international stars, soprano Mary Plazas and tenor John Daszak. With an orchestral ensemble of ten, our first six date tour, to venues from Brecon to Harlech, was eagerly greeted by opera-starved audiences who begged us to return on a regular basis.
For contrast in the Festival we ventured into the heavier romantic repertoire with Tosca, our first Puccini opera. Maturer voices were needed for the principal roles so auditions were held in London for our first professional soloists. Sadly our choice for the title role fell seriously ill, but we were lucky to find a replacement in Mary Lloyd Davies, who had already sung the role with WNO. The Carmen directorial team returned and the result was a resounding success. It included one of MWO’s most memorable moments in the “Te Deum” at the end of Act One. The principals sang fortissimo on stage; the chorus slowly descended through the audience, singing lustily and waving incense; an off-stage organ was relayed to the rafters of the theatre; and finally the Newtown Silver Band burst out from underneath the seating in the auditorium. Truly spectacular!
The combination of the full-voiced regional Welsh singers with the lively Conservatoire student body proved ideal for the operas, and the growth of the “Friends of Mid Wales Opera” encouraged us to organise other events which helped keep our chorus singing together; Christmas Messiahs in St. Mary’s Church, Welshpool, two one-act operas performed in Gregynog and social events including the first of many “Carols and Mulled Wine” in Meifod. The Friends were later to start other annual events, including a regular musical Summer Garden Party.
“Fortune favours the brave” and in 1991 our choice of Verdi’s Otello was by far the most ambitious undertaking in our short history. Once again, luck was on our side. Jeffrey
Lawton had already sung the title role many times, in performances with WNO, Covent Garden and in Paris; he persuaded the rising young baritone from Opera North, Keith Latham, to join the cast as Iago; Mary Lloyd Davies was keen to add Desdemona to her repertoire and the result was a trio of first-class principals. Such a major work demanded a far larger chorus so we doubled the numbers of previous years to over forty, with a sprinkling of professionals to boost the decibels. We had no difficulty in persuading Conservatoire orchestral students to take part in such a prestigious work. Stephen returned to direct while Keith conducted the four performances. Inspired by the quality of the principals and the sublime opera, all the performers and instrumentalists sang and played their hearts out.
The hilarious production of The Barber of Seville by Christopher Newell, the first of his many with MWO, was a brilliant contrast for the touring show. His frequently zany and colourful approach to opera provided us with perfect couplings for the more serious works in our repertoire in subsequent years. Large and enthusiastic audiences came for the weekend to see both operas and enjoy the beautiful Mid Wales countryside.
The company had now established a routine with its annual Festival and Tour which it maintained successfully over the following decade. The tours of both operas expanded to over seventy venues across the UK, from Barrow-in-Furness in the North down to Truro in the distant South, and including such prestigious theatres as Snape Maltings, Llandudno’s North Wales Theatre and Buxton Opera House. There was one rain-sodden visit to Dublin, while two open-air Summer Evening performances under the aegis of English Heritage each attracted audiences of over five thousand. We were becoming recognised as the ideal company for developing the talents of young professionals and recent graduates; these included several artists who have gone on to distinguished international careers, including sopranos Gail Pearson and Susan Gritton, mezzo Leah-Marian Jones, tenors Peter Auty and Peter Hoare and baritone Christopher Maltman. The company also achieved national acclaim as recipient of two prestigious Prudential Opera Awards in 1994 and 1996 for “Excellence and Creativity, Innovation and Accessibility in the Arts”. Barbara’s incredible work over the years as MWO’s administrator and fund-raiser was rewarded in 2004 with an MBE for “Services to Opera in Wales”.
The first decade ended in what we call our “Glory Years”. With a substantial grant from the new Lottery Fund, in consecutive years we were able to mount three of opera’s real monsters, all directed by Stephen Medcalf and conducted by Keith. Verdi’s Aida had not received a performance in Wales for thirty years. No elephants were involved, but otherwise the production contained all we could wish for; a chorus of over sixty, a group of professional dancers for the ballet and a 45-piece orchestra, including the four original Egyptian trumpets that had been used for Aida’s first English performance in 1879. Every seat in the theatre was occupied and the performance received rave notices in the national press. The next two years saw two more large-scale productions, of Puccini’s Turandot and Gounod’s Faust, both with the same impressive numbers of singers and players.
When the Lottery honeymoon came to an end, financial realities took over the company, with only one annual production becoming possible. With retirement from the Conservatoire we lost the invaluable link with the students and large-scale productions proved no longer affordable so we concentrated our efforts on the ever-expanding tour, while maintaining other related events, including a variety of educational projects. Between 2007 and 2009 we handed over firstly to Michael Penn as administrator, and then to Nicholas Cleobury as artistic director. They took over the baton with admirable expertise and enthusiasm in a financial climate not as favourable as the one which smiled on the company’s first few years.