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The Sound of Christmas
Welsh National Opera Chorus
Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆
THE MIGHTY Welsh National Opera (WNO) Chorus performed it’s annual festive concert this year in Cardiff in a starry, round Spiegeltent,
The performance offered up a blend of classic carols, and opera highlights from Carman and La Traviata.
Last year’s outing in Swansea saw chorus members protest against the financial threat the WNO was under after its funding from the Arts Councils of England and Wales had been cut.
Members of the Musicians’ Union and Equity launched industrial action in response to the threat against the WNO and the job and pay cuts it would lead to. However a deal was reached.
The Welsh governmental also provided extra money, but the size of the orchestra and chorus have both been reduced, and the performance schedule and touring has been cut.
But putting aside the cultural vandalism towards the land of song’s only world-class opera company this evening was joyful.
Members of the chorus performed under the baton of chorus master Freddie Brown and kicked off the holiday season in style.
Hearing a world-renowned opera company in a small tent was a sublime experience as the singers faced the audience from the stage, and occasionally strategically placed themselves in and around the audience.
Wales’s rich choral tradition was celebrated with traditional carols such as Hwiangerdd Mair (Suai’r Gwynt), Tua Bethlem Dref, and ArGyferHeddiw’r Bore.
The ensemble created a magical, heartwarming Christmas experience with Handel’s Hallelujah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZEtVbJT5c chorus and Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on Christmas Carols.
But a choral evening at Christmas would not be complete without audience participation and we sung along to Hark the Herald Angles Sing, O Come, All Ye Faithful and a raucous Twelve Days of Christmas.
This would have been five stars but the uncomfortable seating and ungenerous spacing in the Spiegeltent marred the entertainment.
This is a lovely part of the Welsh holiday season, and I recommend attending the 2026 concert, wherever it is hosted.
