Music Theatre Wales - Cardiff | 19 January 2021 |
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Performance reviews
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Denis & KatyaMusic Theatre WalesNo. of reviews: 2 | ![]() |
Teenage suicide and audience complicity |
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Vital new opera about voyeurism in the social media age |
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PassionMusic Theatre WalesNo. of reviews: 1 | ![]() |
Passion is a challenge and there are moments when it feels like an eternity |
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Der Goldene DracheMusic Theatre WalesNo. of reviews: 1 | ![]() |
Passion, power and politics |
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associated articles [+]
Hackney Empire pulls out of opera over all-white cast
The London premiere of an opera set in a Chinese takeaway has been cancelled after a backlash over its all-white cast.
The London premiere of an opera set in a Chinese takeaway has been cancelled after a backlash over its all-white cast.
Y TŵrMusic Theatre WalesNo. of reviews: 3 | ![]() |
Lights, camera, inaction |
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Welsh-language opera traces marriage's highs and lows |
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This brand new opera has much going for it and deserves longevity |
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The Devil InsideMusic Theatre WalesNo. of reviews: 12 | ![]() |
Faustian concept cleverly updated by MacRae and Walsh in The Devil Inside |
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The orchestral writing is strikingly original, quirky and dramatic |
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New opera is a magical brew of drama and a great cast |
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more reviews [+]
Michael Rafferty’s conducting gave great clarity to Stuart MacRae’s dramatically effective music |
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Careful what you wish for |
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McRae’s The Devil Inside provides a chilling night at the Peacock Theatre |
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An evening of vividly gripping theatre in this new opera based on Robert Louis Stevenson's story |
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MacRae’s score is strong on spooky effects but at two hours the morality tale is stretched beyond its limit |
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Each of the soloists was completely inside the music and tale |
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A bright, edgy take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s short story The Bottle Imp |
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An ambitious but misguided opera |
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Here's that rarity, a new opera that delivers the goods |
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The TrialMusic Theatre WalesNo. of reviews: 13 | ![]() |
Glass and Music Theatre Wales get result in Kafka’s The Trial |
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A new distillation and soundworld |
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Where the production comes alive is through the staging and the exceptional performances |
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more reviews [+]
The world premiere of Philip Glass’s The Trial unsettles |
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Philip Glass’s music seems to fit Kafka’s Trial like a glove |
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Kafka's story has an astonishing prescience |
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Glass’s opera has too little sense of genuine menace |
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The score lacks distinctiveness and the drama is uncompelling |
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Kafka, Glass, Hampton: this new chamber opera is a dream ticket |
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On paper it's a marriage made in, well, not quite heaven; more a kind of Kafkaesque purgatory |
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Philip Glass’s score adds up to much more than just a play with musical accompaniment |
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Cannily pitched |
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Glass's operatic "The Trial" brings Kafka up to date |
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Luci mie traditriciMusic Theatre WalesNo. of reviews: 4 | ![]() ![]() |
The whole thing comes across as an orgy of aesthetic dandyism |
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A powerful realisation of a breathaking piece of music theatre |
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An unusual chamber opera makes a masterly tribute to Carlo Gesualdo |
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A performance of pure gold |
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GreekMusic Theatre WalesNo. of reviews: 9 | ![]() ![]() |
It’s past its sell-by date |
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A primitive, earthy, '80s classic |
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Steven Berkoff and Mark-Anthony Turnage come face to in-yer-face in this savage political opera |
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The virtuosity and assimilation of styles in Turnage’s score are impressive |
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Turnage’s opera has lost little of its impact |
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A bloody good night at the opera |
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Turnage’s Greek retains its ‘angry young man’ image |
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Gripping production of Greek avoids violence |
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Greek, based on Steven Berkoff’s 1980s reworking of the Oedipus story, is a success |
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PingMusic Theatre WalesNo. of reviews: 1 | ![]() |
Intriguing double bill from Music Theatre Wales |
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Eight Songs for a Mad KingMusic Theatre WalesNo. of reviews: 1 | ![]() |
Intriguing double bill from Music Theatre Wales |
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In the Locked RoomMusic Theatre WalesNo. of reviews: 2 | ![]() |
Two new chamber operas offer topicality and realism with mixed results |
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The star of the evening was the MTW Ensemble, tackling two very different scores with great dexterity |
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Ghost PatrolMusic Theatre WalesNo. of reviews: 2 | ![]() |
Two new chamber operas offer topicality and realism with mixed results |
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The star of the evening was the MTW Ensemble, tackling two very different scores with great dexterity |
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News & Articles
Music Theatre Wales launches drive to diversify opera's future |
Opera company Music Theatre Wales has revealed plans to transform its output, with a major drive to diversify the artists and audiences it engages with. |
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Hackney Empire pulls out of opera over all-white cast |
The London premiere of an opera set in a Chinese takeaway has been cancelled after a backlash over its all-white cast. |
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Music Theatre Wales to stage world premiere |
Music Theatre Wales will be offering a rare opportunity to hear a new opera in the Welsh language by established Welsh composer Guto Puw in 2017. |
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Music Theatre Wales: lean, mean and fighting fit at 25 |
With its focussed identity, realistic aims and minimal overheads, Music Theatre Wales sets an example other arts institutions should follow. |
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Philip Glass writes opera for Music Theatre Wales |
Famed American composer Philip Glass is taking his involvement with Music Theatre Wales to new heights with a specially-written opera based on a Franz Kafka short story. |
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