Richard Jones's new staging for Welsh National Opera rejoices in the work's warmth and humanity.
It was a case of his finest six hours, as Bryn Terfel made his much heralded debut in Wagner's marathon comedy, The Mastersingers of Nuremberg.
Private Secretary Manon Williams gives the inside track on the Prince of Wales’ week in Wales
Many moments scorched themselves on heart and mind during the six hours of WNO's new Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, but one burnt fiercest.
.
Welsh National Opera's light touch with a romantic comedy refreshingly ditches tradition and flirts with innovation
The Nuremberg of Richard Jones's Welsh National Opera production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is in thrall to an idealised past.
Cardiff - The hottest ticket this summer in the UK is the Welsh National Opera's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
*****
It's a long haul, if you go by the clock - into the theatre at four, out at ten - but if you go by the exhilaration surging through your veins during this Welsh National Opera triumph, it's an extended moment of operatic bliss that you never want to end.
***** I realise that I have awarded five stars three times in recent weeks, and here is another performance that indisputably merits the same rating.
**** ...The wit is gentle, the treatment of Beckmesser, played superbly by Christopher Purves, far from cruel, and Purves provides the perfect foil to Terfel's larger-than-life performance.
There are two moments in Wagner’s midsummer comedy where Welsh voices should score – the Bach-like chorale at the start and the show-stopping exclamation "Wach’ auf!" at the end. Welsh National Opera does not disappoint.
Any fears that Bryn Terfel would overshadow the rest of the cast and the orchestra in WNO's first production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger quickly melted away.