Welsh National Opera brings three shows to Llandudno

Amy J Payne as The Old Woman, Soraya Mafi as Cunegonde, and Ed Lyon as Candide in Welsh National Opera's production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide. All pics: Craig Fuller

Venue Cymru in Llandudno is to see Welsh National Opera on stage for three days this week, with a daytime schools concert, a Night at the Opera, and one performance each of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide and Puccini’s Tosca.

Candide is a revival of WNO’s 2023 production, with Soraya Mafi as Cunegonde, and the Tosca a WNO version of Edward Dick’s, created for Opera North in 2018, with Natalya Romaniw in the lead role, Andres Presno as Cavaradossi, and Hungarian conductor Gergely Madaras making his WNO debut.

Further casting announcements have been made, revealing that in Candide, this Friday, award-winning Welsh actress Rakie Ayola, making her WNO debut, will be the Narrator as well as Dr Pangloss, the Sage and a Beggar. The opera will be conducted by American conductor Ryan McAdams, making his WNO main stage debut. Amy J Payne is The Old Lady, baritone Jack Holton is Maximillian and Welsh tenor Ryan Vaughan Davies is Captain Crook. Ed Lyon returns to the title role, and Welsh tenor Aled Hall and mezzo-soprano Francesca Saracino return as the Governor and Paquette.

This critically acclaimed WNO production brings 18th-century France colliding with 20th-century post-war America, pulling together Broadway, operetta and the satire of Voltaire’s novella. Director James Bonas said: “When we made Candide in Cardiff, the audience fell in love with the singers, and were swept away by the lunacy of the story coupled with Bernstein’s glittering tunes.”

In Tosca, this Saturday, Dario Solari is Scarpia, WNO’s new associate artists Owain Rowlands and Ross Fettes are the Jailer and the Sacristan, Alun Rhys-Jenkins is Spoletta and George Newton-Fitzgerald is Sciarrone. Director Edward Dick said: “When you think about opera, you think about Tosca. It’s one of the most essentially operatic pieces in the repertoire, an epic rollercoaster of a score in which politics, sex and religion collide.”

A Night at the Opera introduces the company’s visit on Thursday, with the full WNO chorus and orchestra. As the company’s spring schedule doesn't include Llandudno, these three days are the only chance north Wales will see its national opera company in action for some time.

More info and tickets here