Welsh National Opera’s Spring Season opens with two new productions; an operatic favourite from Mozart, and a rare chance to see Britten’s final opera.
And audiences will have the chance to see them at Llandudno's Venue Cymru.
First up is a new production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte under the baton of WNO Music Director Tomáš Hanus.
Max Hoehn returns to direct this coming-of-age tale which takes audiences back to school where four young students discover the highs and lows of falling in love.
The production is designed by Jemima Robinson and takes its visual inspiration from the seventies with a familiar classroom, canteen and locker room school set-up and vintage textbook illustrations.
Soprano Sophie Bevan returns to WNO to sing the role of Fiordiligi, and Welsh soprano Rebecca Evans also returns as Despina who in this production is depicted as a canteen/dinner lady.
Making their role debuts in this new production are Kayleigh Decker (Dorabella), Egor Zhuravskii (Ferrando) and James Atkinson (Guglielmo) who alongside Sophie Bevan make up the foursome of young lovers.
WNO Death in Venice. Credit: Johan Persson
Così fan tutte director Max Hoehn said: "Mozart and da Ponte’s School for Lovers is a transformative, but dangerous place. It would not get past a school inspection, nor would it be judged appropriate for one of Netflix’s light teenage drama series. The opera is a unique and surprising coming-of-age story and I look forward to bringing it to life with WNO’s Music Director Tomáš Hanus and an exciting cast of role debuts and veteran Mozartians."
Così fan tutte opens at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, before touring to Llandudno on March 14 and 16.
WNO will also stage a new production of Britten’s Death in Venice during the Spring Season, which will be the first time the company has staged this opera.
Based on the novella of the same name by Thomas Mann, the story follows writer Gustav von Aschenbach as he journeys to Venice to rid himself of his writer’s block. While there, he becomes infatuated with the youthful and beautiful Tadzio. NoFit State will bring a mixture of acrobatics that will incorporate silks, straps and slackropes and other circus elements, which interweave throughout the opera, exploring an edgy quirkiness and adding to the lyricism of the piece.
British Conductor Leo Hussain will make his WNO debut conducting this new production. Mark Le Brocq returns to WNO to make his role debut as Aschenbach, with Roderick Williams as the Traveller guiding him towards his fate. Alexander Chance will sing the countertenor role of the Voice of Apollo.
Director of Death in Venice Olivia Fuchs said: "How exciting to be directing Death in Venice and to be working with the same creative team – Nicola Turner, Robbie Butler and Sam Sharples - as on The Makropulos Affair! I am delighted to be returning to WNO. And what a treat to collaborate with NoFit State Circus, conductor Leo Hussain and artists Mark Le Brocq and Roderick Williams, two such intelligent and consummate performers. They will be joined by young aerial artist Antony César playing Tadzio and a strong ensemble of circus artists and singers, giving the wonderful WNO chorus an opportunity to shine. I can’t wait to start rehearsals."
Death in Venice comes to Llandudno on March 13.
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