WNO announce a new production of Lohengrin and UK's first staged "Wagner Dream"

David Pountney

Honestly, I really am supposed to be doing something else for the next few weeks but every time I try to get away up pops another piece of very exciting Wagner news. Today's is the news that Welsh National Opera have just announced a new production of Lohengrin directed by Anthony McDonald and the UK's first staged production of Wagner Dream directed by Pierre Audi (Find below the trailer of Audi's 2008 production and click   HERE to read the composer discussing the creative processes behind it). Both productions premiere during Wagner's bicentenary in, for those that missed it, 2013.

WNO will also be starting a concert series which will include the Prelude and Good Friday music of Parsifal, plus excerpts from Götterdämmerung. And this is just a small part of what looks like a very interesting few years from WNO. Full details below. including full cast list to Lohengrin and Wagner Dream. I will provide more information as time permits

 

  

2012 – 2014:

David Pountney presents Welsh National Opera’s new programme

David Pountney, WNO’s new Chief Executive and Artistic Director, launches an ambitious programme of new productions today. Presenting details of his first two seasons at the helm of WNO, Mr Pountney stressed the importance of risk taking and adventure, in spite of the economic challenges lying ahead. WNO will be staging eight new productions over 2012 – 2014, in addition to themed seasons aimed at opening up discussion and debate around classic and modern opera repertoire, and a specially staged Donizetti trilogy featuring the turmoil and splendour of The Tudor period.

“Coming back home to WNO where I started in 1976 is an exciting moment for me and from the beginning of 2013 my artistic plans start to become clear,” Mr Pountney said. “I hope that they also demonstrate why I wanted to return to lead this company, which has the tremendous potential to be a beacon of artistic quality and ambition.

“WNO’s artistic year is made up of three seasons and my aim is to give each of these programmes a distinct theme and identity. Setting our work in the broad context of European culture and ideas, of which opera is such a high point, also helps to make clear our function within the proud country of Wales, as well as the English cities with which we have such a long and long-lasting relationship.”

Highlights of the programme include:

Ø  Eight new productions, including a Donizetti trilogy (Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, Roberto Devereux), Berg’s Lulu, Puccini’s Manon Lescaut and Henze’s Boulevard Solitude.

Ø  A celebration of the bi-centenary of Wagner’s birth with a new production of Lohengrin and the UK premiere of the stage version of Jonathan Harvey’s electro-acoustic opera Wagner Dream.

Ø  Showcase seasons for WNO’s acclaimed chorus, including a new production of Nabucco and the UK premiere of a production of Moses and Aaron first performed by Staatstheater in Stuttgart.

Ø  The centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten marked with a new production of Paul Bunyan by Welsh National Youth Opera.

Ø  An ambitious and eclectic concert series from the Orchestra of Welsh National

Opera and Music Director Lothar Koenigs, featuring works by Zemlinsky, Berg, Wagner, Alma Mahler, Gustav Mahler, Bruckner and Henze.

Development in Birmingham of WNO’s pioneering work with people with dementia recently recognised by the Royal Society for Public Health

LOHENGRIN – Wagner
First night: Thursday 23 May 2013 at 5.30pm, Wales Millennium Centre
Sung in German with English and Welsh surtitles

Lohengrin                                            Peter Wedd 

Elsa                                                     Emma Bell

Ortrud                                                  Susan Bickley

Friedrich Von Telramund                    John Lundgren

Heinrich                                               Matthew Best

Herald                                                 Simon Thorpe

Conductor                                           Lothar Koenigs
Director                                               Antony McDonald
Designer                                              Antony McDonald
Associate Director                              Helen Cooper
Lighting Designer                                Lucy Carter
Movement Director                             Philippe Giraudeau    
Associate Movement Director                        Lizie Saunderson

Co-production with Theatr Wielki, Warsaw

Supported by the WNO Lohengrin Syndicate

WAGNER DREAM
First Performance: Thursday 6 June 2013 at 7.15pm, Wales Millennium Centre
Sung in English with English and Welsh surtitles

The UK premiere of a fully staged version of Jonathan Harvey’s fantasy opera based on Wagner’s final days, with a libretto by Jean-Claude Carrière.

Prakiti                          Claire Booth

Buddha                        Dale Duesing

Mother                         Rebecca de Pont Davies

Old Brahmin                Richard Angas

Conductor                   Nicholas Collon
Director                       Pierre Audi
Designer                      Jean Kalman
Lighting Designer        Jean Kalman
Costume Designer      Robby Duiveman

Original Production: commission and co-production: De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam, Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, Holland Festival and IRCAM-Centre Pompidou, Paris.

Supported by a lead gift from The Kobler Trust