With the peremptory axing of all its funding last September, Mid Wales Opera has already been dealt a deathblow by the Arts Council of Wales. The company’s strong and sterling new Verdi staging – now confirmed as its last full-scale production – makes the council’s decision look all the more ludicrous.
Fielding a cast of 17, and the 16 musicians of Ensemble Cymru plus a community chorus, this may not be full-scale Verdi, but there is absolutely no compromise on integrity. With some fine musical characterisation from the principals as well as those in cameo roles, and a particularly blazing finale to act one, there is a wonderful sense of a defiant upholding of MWO values by artistic director/designer Richard Studer and music director Jonathan Lyness. It is as good a production as any in their 20-year tenure.
