A Brief History of Welsh National Opera
On 21 November 1943, a small group of enthusiastic music lovers emerged from the Llandaff home of Idloes Owen in Cardiff. Their meeting had been brief - just an hour and a half long - but it was enough to sow the seeds for the formation of a grand opera company in Wales.
Two months later Idloes Owen stood before 60 men and women and conducted the first rehearsal of the Welsh National Opera Company. Two years later on 15 April 1946, he conducted Cavalleria rusticana at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Cardiff. Pagliacci appeared on the same bill conducted by Ivor John who also conducted Faust the following night.
Such was the popular success of the first productions, applications poured in from people hoping to join the Chorus. All were amateurs, coming from different walks of life, but all sharing a love of singing. From the outset the Chorus produced a very special quality of sound, unequalled by any other opera company. This quality was consistent - despite the fact that there were two choruses, one serving Cardiff the other Swansea!.
It was not until 1973 that the Chorus became fully professional and today it is regarded as one of the finest in the world receiving such plaudits as:
‘WNO's…..chorus can make a sound almost twice as great as its number. They were absolutely thrilling, a lynch-pin of the entire enterprise' - Opera Magazine
‘It is a pleasure to hear the choral tableaux sung with energy and refinement' - Financial Times.
‘Plenty of its rivals can belt out an equally rousing fortisimo, but how many can match the diamond sharp precision that it brought to Stravinsky's “The Rake's Progress”? How many can waft so gently into Verdi's “Va pensiero”? or phrase the folk songs in Janacek's “Jenufa” so stylishly? - Daily Telegraph
The strength of the Chorus is matched by that of the Orchestra. For many years various professional orchestras around the country played for the Company until in 1970 a permanent orchestra named the Welsh Philharmonia was formed. In 1979, as the number of opera performances grew, the orchestra was re-named the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera.
The development of the Orchestra in the ‘70s went hand-in-hand with the overall emergence of Welsh National Opera as a major force in the operatic world. Under the guidance of Musical Director, Richard Armstrong, and General Administrator, Brian McMaster, the Company went from strength to strength, touring extensively in Britain and making guest appearances in several European cities, including Lisbon, Wiesbaden, Dresden and Leipzig.
In 1986, forty years on from those first performances in the Prince of Wales Theatre, WNO enjoyed a triumphant year. In February that year the Company's production of Otello set the operatic world alight. Produced by theatre director Peter Stein, it was hailed by the Guardian critic as “the operatic event of the year” and subsequently televised by the BBC for national and international transmission.
However, “the operatic event of the decade” (according to Punch) was still to come. In the autumn the complete Ring cycle was performed in Wales for the first time ever. It was then taken out on tour; a tour crowned by the first visit of an opera company from outside London to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
The completion of the Ring cycle was a fitting finale to Richard Armstrong's 13 year period as Musical Director. His contribution to lifting the musical standards of the Company to international heights was reflected by the many recordings made by the Chorus and Orchestra.
The arrival of Sir Charles Mackerras as Musical Director in 1987 marked the start of a new era. He could not have made a more auspicious beginning than with a magnificent production of The Trojans, a unanimous success with audiences and critics alike.
In 1988 Peter Stein and Richard Armstrong returned to produce Falstaff, Verdi's last and perhaps greatest opera. The success of Otello was repeated. An extensive and hugely acclaimed tour of Britain was followed by triumphant visits to New York, Milan and Paris, and the Company repeated these successes with Falstaff, and Andre Engel's Salome, as part of the UK 90 Festival in Tokyo, Japan, in Autumn 1990.
In 1991 Brian McMaster left WNO to run the Edinburgh International Festival, and Sir Charles Mackerras was succeeded as Musical Director by dynamic young Italian conductor, Carlo Rizzi. Sir Charles remains WNO's Conductor Emeritus.
Carlo Rizzi who took up his appointment as Musical Director in 1992, conducted the orchestra in a vast repertoire of highly successful opera productions and concerts. He left his post of Musical Director in the summer of 2001 to pursue a demanding and flourishing international career performing throughout Europe and the USA. Carlo Rizzi returned to WNO as Music Director from 2004 to 2007.
The Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera continue to make numerous recordings, and have happy associations with most of the major record companies.
Matthew Epstein, Vice-President of Columbia Artists' Management in the USA, and presently Artistic Director at Chicago Lyric Opera, took up the mantle from Brian McMaster and was WNO's General Director between 1991 and 1994. During this time he oversaw the critically acclaimed Yannis Kokkos production of Tristan und Isolde with performances playing to full houses throughout its tour, culminating at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.+
Anthony Freud succeeded Matthew Epstein as General Director, his tenure ran from 1994 until late 2005 when he left the company to become General Director of Houston Grand Opera. John Fisher has been WNO's General Director since 1 May 2006. John joined WNO from the Metropolitan Opera, New York. He started his musical career at Welsh National Opera in 1972, as Music Director of the company's Opera for All project. This was followed by spells in the music departments of Théâtre à la Monnaie, Brussels, Netherlands Opera and La Scala, Milan, where he was Head of Music and subsequently Artistic Administrator. In 1989 he was appointed Artistic Director of Teatro alla Fenice, Venice, the first non-Italian to be appointed to that position in any of the state-funded Italian opera houses. In 1994 he joined Deutsche Grammophon as Director of Opera and Vocal Productions and Executive Producer.
|
