There’s plenty of sex, violence, gore and intrigue to be found in the offerings Welsh National Opera brings to Birmingham Hippodrome next week.
The lurid thrill-chills of Puccini’s Tosca are well familiar, and performances of that operatic favourite frame three rarer pieces, a Tudor trilogy composed by Gaetano Donizetti. Perhaps heresy to admit so, but I find this rewarding composer’s music more endearing melodically, more fascinating in terms of orchestral colour, and infinitely more varied in texture than that of his great contemporary Rossini.
And these three operas show all those qualities in abundance. Of course they come with huge virtuoso demands upon the singers (anyone who mentions canaries should be banished to the coal-mines where those innocent little birds did such an important job), and audiences hearing WNO’s performances will marvel at the vocal prowess on display.
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I saw all three productions – Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, Roberto Devereux – at WNO’s home base, the awe-inspiring Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay, and can vouch for the excitement of the vocal delivery and the sheer panache and gusto of the playing of the WNO orchestra.
In fact the orchestra drew well over a minute’s-worth of applause for itself after a rip-roaring account of the overture to Roberto Devereux (don’t been fooled into standing when they begin our National Anthem – it’s an anachronism anyway, written two centuries after the events in question). The conductor was Daniele Rustioni, hyperactive in gesture but brilliant in the results he drew. Unfortunately he won’t be conducting the Birmingham week, but his name has been whispered as a runner in the CBSO Andris Nelsons successor stakes.
These three operas have Elizabeth I at their core. We begin with Anne Boleyn giving birth to her, even as King Henry VIII is dallying with her lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour, and we progress through contrivances which lead to her execution, dressed in the birthing-gown we saw at the start.
Are we supposed to feel sorry for Mary Stuart? History tells us she was a manipulative little schemer engineering marriages and murders, but Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda depicts her as an hapless victim, and so does Rudolf Frey’s direction for WNO – until we see her trying to seduce her confessor.
And here we see history which never happened. There is a magnificent confrontation between Elizabeth I and Mary, scratch-your-eyes-out time, and spittingly performed. A worthwhile theatrical moment, but pure fantasy.
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What may not be fantasy is Frey’s concept of an empathy between cousins Mary and Elizabeth. As Mary, many miles away, is executed we see Elizabeth’s head drop in grief.
All I will preview of Roberto Devereux is that the orchestral music is sublime and remember that Robert Devereux is in fact the Earl of Essex, which will explain his garb.
The whole conception comes alongside the chance to enjoy Tudor experiences at various National Trust properties in the region, where the historical context is explained and singers dressed in historical costume deliver appropriate music. Baddesley Clinton is among the venues for WNO’s Birmingham week.
This idea has been curated by historian Anna Whitelock.
She says: “The Tudors were in many ways the first of this county’s celebrities – notable for their goings-on – or rumoured goings-on behind closed doors in their beds and bedchambers as much as in the corridors and council chambers of power. These are larger- -than-life characters that then – and since – have certainly maintained a powerful appeal and hold on the popular imagination as the countless films and novels bear witness to.
“This was also a period which saw, for the first time, a woman wearing the crown of England. For these and other reasons, the Tudors are worthy of all the attention they receive but it remains true that sex, blood, guts and gore sells and it is this often takes centre-stage in dramatic portrayals.”
Is Anna upset by the historical inaccuracies and anachronisms in Donizetti’s Tudor operas?
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“No, it entertains me, like many others,” she explains.
“Dramatic portrayals need to be understood to be just that. It is not historical reconstruction but a dramatic and fictional portrayal and, if that is made clear, historians can happily sit back and enjoy.”
As we can, helped by the informative and well-readable programme-book, a treasurable example of chief executive and artistic director David Pountney’s new regime at WNO.
But they have missed a trick. There is another Tudor opera by Donizetti, Elisabetta al Castello di Kenilworth. Come on, WNO, let’s have an open-air performance at that very venue next summer.
* Welsh National Opera’s productions take place at Birmingham Hippodrome with Tosca on November 12 and November 16, Anna Bolena on November 13, Maria Stuarda on November 14 and Roberto Devereux on November 15. The fact and fiction event at Baddesley Clinton takes place on November 14. For more details telephone 0844 338 5000 or visit
Education key to getting young people into opera
Welsh National Opera is keen for more young people to be moved by the power of classical music.
The Under 30s ticket scheme offers hugely discounted tickets to operas, including the performances at Birmingham Hippodrome.
There are 50 tickets available for each performance for just £5.
Birmingham musician Sarah Thornett only discovered opera earlier this year but is now first violinist with the WNO.
Sarah, aged 24, from Bournville, first picked up the violin at the age of four and went on to study music at the University of Birmingham.
She joined the Cardiff-based company in March.
“The first opera I actually watched was when I was on trial with WNO. I watched the dress rehearsal for Madam Butterfly,” she explains.
“I was under the impression that I hated opera – I just thought it was about sitting for hours and hours listening to people wailing. I thought there was something very pretentious about it. But when I went to the dress rehearsal it was really amazing. I thought I might be bored but the whole thing just flew by. It was so emotional that I was crying before anything bad had even happened.
“I recommend opera now to lots of people. When WNO were in Birmingham in the summer I got tickets for some people here who had never seen an opera – and they loved it too.
“I have had people say to me they wouldn’t understand it because it is all in a foreign language but there are surtitles so that isn’t really a problem. When you go you just become totally involved in it.”
Sarah believes education is also the key to encouraging other young people to give opera a go.
“I am a real fan of going into schools and community groups and demonstrating what goes on in an opera. A part of it is giving opera street cred. Some young people may feel they can’t say ‘I’m going to watch an opera’ because it wouldn’t be a cool thing to do. But if they understood opera they will feel differently about it. People just need to be exposed to it.”