Welsh National Opera and No Fit State circus 'Death in Venice review

It is highly laudable for WNO to share the Wales Millennium State with No Fit State circus.

It probably gave a new audience for the talent and gave director Olivia Fuchs the medium for a different take on Britten’s dark and frankly dodgy opera.

However, the circus skills proved too much of a dominating aspect of the production, particularly in the first half, when the excellent acting and singing particularly of Roderick Williams in a variety of roles, was swamped.

Impressive athletically, especially Anthony Cezar as Tadzio and Riccardo Saggesse as his mate, but the movement vocabularly is repetitive.

In what is largely a dramatic monologue Mark Le Brocq was vocally splendid and sympathetic to the role Gustav von Aschenbach. It isn’t an easy one but there was plenty of angst, periodic rhapsody balanced with despair and maybe enough self-disgust.

The chorus and other principal roles were used almost balletically, choreographic movement for the Polish family in particular.

The use of video as effective enough but so much more can now be done and in such a visual Venice-based work could have been achieved. Leo Hussain navigated the orchestra through Britten’s darkly atmospheric score.

Until March 9, WMC and touring.