Skip to main content
Advertise with the Morning Star
High-production lollipops
DAVID NICHOLSON relishes an evening of operatic classics
CROWD PLEASER: WNO reaches out to the widest possible demographic [Kirsten McTernan]

Opera Favourites
Welsh National Opera, Cardiff

A SELECTION of famous operatic arias and chorale work had an enthusiastic audience demanding more from Welsh National Opera’s night of Opera Favourites.

The production of crowd-pleasers was chosen to delight existing opera lovers and entice new audiences. That is part of WNO’s offer to the public as it strives to keep opera in Wales affordable and accessible to the widest demographic. Welsh chorale singing has a proud working-class tradition and this is reflected in the mixed audiences for WNO’s usual bill of operas.

That is in marked contrast to how opera is often regarded as an art form for society’s wealthy elite. There is no custom of dressing for the opera at the WNO’s home at the Millennium Centre, unlike some London houses I have visited. Putting on an evening of classic pieces would have the purists frowning as well, offering “lollipops” to the masses and dumbing down the art form.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
tosca
Opera review / 17 September 2025
17 September 2025

DAVID NICHOLSON is thrilled – and shocked – by an opera that seethes and sizzles with passion and the depraved use of power

Wyn Pencarreg as Doctor Bartolo in WNO's Marriage of Figaro,
Opera Review / 12 February 2025
12 February 2025
DAVID NICHOLSON welcomes an overdue revival of WNO’s classic production, complete with protests against cuts
PROTECT WNO! David Adams and the musicians of WNO
Live Music Review / 6 January 2025
6 January 2025
DAVID NICHOLSON sees in the new year in grand orchestral style, courtesy of the fine musicians of the WNO
Bryn Terfel in concert
Music / 18 December 2024
18 December 2024