Music Theatre Wales - Cardiff
25 April 2024

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Performance reviews

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Violet

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 9

The score is quite effective at sustaining the mood of impending doom
28 Jul 22 / Opera Journal
Time on her side: fairytale meets feminism in Tom Coult’s Violet
20 Jul 22 / Bachtrack
A thrilling new opera from Tom Coult and Alice Birch
25 Jun 22 / Broadway World
The striking London premiere of Tom Coult’s first opera, Violet
25 Jun 22 / Seen and Heard
Coult’s score doesn’t so much as embody this dynamism as serve as a parallel to the emotive drama
25 Jun 22 / Opera Today
In opera Violet, time becomes elastic and society crumbles
12 Jun 22 / The Big Issue
Wer hat da an der Uhr gedreht?
9 Jun 22 / FAZ
Tom Coult’s darkly funny yet disturbing opera makes a significant splash at Aldeburgh
7 Jun 22 / The Stage
Coult’s debut opera opens Aldeburgh with assurance and authenticity
6 Jun 22 / The Guardian
Denis & Katya

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 2

Teenage suicide and audience complicity
27 Mar 20 / Opera Today
Vital new opera about voyeurism in the social media age
2 Mar 20 / The Stage
The Intelligence Park

The Royal Opera


No. of reviews: 7

The wit of the plot doesn’t emerge emphatically enough
4 Oct 19 / Classical Source
For all of its cleverness, Barry’s The Intelligence Park leaves one unsatisfied
30 Sep 19 / Seen and Heard
Dizzying Gerald Barry
29 Sep 19 / The Observer
The cast give their all
28 Sep 19 / Opera Today
Brilliantly played but Barry's opera still bewilders
27 Sep 19 / The Guardian
A farrago of frivolities
27 Sep 19 / Independent
Absurd, unpleasant and wonderfully pertinent: Gerald Barry's The Intelligence Park
27 Sep 19 / Bachtrack
Passion

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 1

Passion is a challenge and there are moments when it feels like an eternity
11 Nov 18 / The Reviews Hub
Der Goldene Drache

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 1

Passion, power and politics
9 Oct 17 / The Observer
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.
Y Tŵr

Buxton Festival


No. of reviews: 1

Un nouvel opus d’un compositeur à suivre
26 Jul 17 / Anaclase
Y Tŵr

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 3

Lights, camera, inaction
30 May 17 / The Critics' Circle
Welsh-language opera traces marriage's highs and lows
23 May 17 / The Guardian
This brand new opera has much going for it and deserves longevity
21 May 17 / The Reviews Hub
The Devil Inside

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 12

Faustian concept cleverly updated by MacRae and Walsh in The Devil Inside
22 Apr 16 / Seen and Heard
The orchestral writing is strikingly original, quirky and dramatic
29 Feb 16 / The Reviews Hub
New opera is a magical brew of drama and a great cast
13 Feb 16 / Manchester Evening News
Michael Rafferty’s conducting gave great clarity to Stuart MacRae’s dramatically effective music
10 Feb 16 / Mark Ronan's Theatre Reviews
Careful what you wish for
9 Feb 16 / The Critics' Circle
McRae’s The Devil Inside provides a chilling night at the Peacock Theatre
8 Feb 16 / Seen and Heard
An evening of vividly gripping theatre in this new opera based on Robert Louis Stevenson's story
8 Feb 16 / Planet Hugill
MacRae’s score is strong on spooky effects but at two hours the morality tale is stretched beyond its limit
7 Feb 16 / Express
Each of the soloists was completely inside the music and tale
7 Feb 16 / Classical Source
A bright, edgy take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s short story The Bottle Imp
6 Feb 16 / Telegraph
An ambitious but misguided opera
5 Feb 16 / Independent
Here's that rarity, a new opera that delivers the goods
5 Feb 16 / What's on Stage
The Trial

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 13

Glass and Music Theatre Wales get result in Kafka’s The Trial
16 Nov 14 / Seen and Heard
A new distillation and soundworld
11 Nov 14 / Bachtrack
Where the production comes alive is through the staging and the exceptional performances
29 Oct 14 / Manchester Confidential
The world premiere of Philip Glass’s The Trial unsettles
19 Oct 14 / The Observer
Philip Glass’s music seems to fit Kafka’s Trial like a glove
15 Oct 14 / Mark Ronan's Theatre Reviews
Kafka's story has an astonishing prescience
14 Oct 14 / Independent
Glass’s opera has too little sense of genuine menace
14 Oct 14 / Evening Standard
The score lacks distinctiveness and the drama is uncompelling
14 Oct 14 / The Stage
Kafka, Glass, Hampton: this new chamber opera is a dream ticket
14 Oct 14 / Financial Times
On paper it's a marriage made in, well, not quite heaven; more a kind of Kafkaesque purgatory
13 Oct 14 / What's on Stage
Philip Glass’s score adds up to much more than just a play with musical accompaniment
13 Oct 14 / The Guardian
Cannily pitched
13 Oct 14 / Telegraph
Glass's operatic "The Trial" brings Kafka up to date
13 Oct 14 / Reuters
Luci mie traditrici

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 4

The whole thing comes across as an orgy of aesthetic dandyism
29 Oct 13 / Independent
A powerful realisation of a breathaking piece of music theatre
29 Oct 13 / The Stage
An unusual chamber opera makes a masterly tribute to Carlo Gesualdo
29 Oct 13 / The Arts Desk
A performance of pure gold
29 Oct 13 / Opera Britannia
Greek

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 9

It’s past its sell-by date
28 Oct 13 / Independent
A primitive, earthy, '80s classic
24 Oct 13 / Opera Britannia
Steven Berkoff and Mark-Anthony Turnage come face to in-yer-face in this savage political opera
23 Oct 13 / What's on Stage
The virtuosity and assimilation of styles in Turnage’s score are impressive
23 Oct 13 / Classical Source
Turnage’s opera has lost little of its impact
23 Oct 13 / Financial Times
A bloody good night at the opera
23 Oct 13 / The Arts Desk
Turnage’s Greek retains its ‘angry young man’ image
14 Oct 13 / Seen and Heard
Gripping production of Greek avoids violence
4 Oct 13 / Seen and Heard
Greek, based on Steven Berkoff’s 1980s reworking of the Oedipus story, is a success
4 Oct 13 / Wales Online
Luci mie traditrici

Buxton Festival


No. of reviews: 1

Though it might not be to all tastes, its appearance is somewhat overdue
18 Jul 13 / The Guardian
Salvatore Sciarrino
His stage works are performed and acclaimed throughout Europe, but this week's Buxton opera festival production is a UK first. Salvatore Sciarrino talks about how, and why, he composes.
Ping

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 1

Intriguing double bill from Music Theatre Wales
29 Mar 13 / Seen and Heard
Eight Songs for a Mad King

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 1

Intriguing double bill from Music Theatre Wales
29 Mar 13 / Seen and Heard
In the Locked Room

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 2

Two new chamber operas offer topicality and realism with mixed results
2 Oct 12 / The Arts Desk
The star of the evening was the MTW Ensemble, tackling two very different scores with great dexterity
29 Sep 12 / Classical Source
Ghost Patrol

Music Theatre Wales


No. of reviews: 2

Two new chamber operas offer topicality and realism with mixed results
2 Oct 12 / The Arts Desk
The star of the evening was the MTW Ensemble, tackling two very different scores with great dexterity
29 Sep 12 / Classical Source
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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.
5 Aug 2020 / The Stage
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.
13 Oct 2017 / The Guardian
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.
25 Jan 2017 / South Wales Evening Post
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.
16 Oct 2013 / Telegraph
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.
16 Nov 2010 / BBC News