Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Fri 13 May-Fri 3 Jun
This year, the Welsh National Opera is celebrating their 70th anniversary, and what better way to commemorate a milestone than with a brand new opera inspired by Welsh artist come poet, David Jones. This summer we anticipate the impending world premiere of composer Iain Bell’s third opera, an adaptation based on Jones’ First World War poem In Parenthesis. Bell has previously composed operas A Harlot’s Progress and a one-man version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, both very well received. This time Bell will be working with David Pountney the opera’s director, and libretto writers David Antrobus and Emma Jenkins. Much of Jones’ work, including his artwork and poetry, is a reflection of his Welsh heritage and mirrors events that happened in his life. The poem itself, with the length and structure of a novel, but with the style of a poem, was not published until 1937; a decade after Jones had started writing it. At the time of its publication, it was considered immensely important as a work of literature, and still today continues to be valued as one of the best accounts of the First World War, and is even considered a masterpiece of modern literature. The poem follows the life of protagonist John Ball and his comrades over seven months, who, like Jones, are serving as infantrymen during the First World War. The narrative then follows the characters to the Somme, in which over 1 million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history. The opera is rather suitably timed with the 2016 marking 100 years since the Somme, a word which still inspires feelings of horror in the British mind-set. With the operatic score in full force behind the production, Bell and Pountney combine traditional Welsh songs with a transcendent score that will bring the figurative description of the Somme in Jones’ tale to life. As David Jones’ depiction of the Somme reflects the theme of regeneration, the adaptation respectfully commemorates the horrifying events described in the poem.
Tickets: £5-£41. Info: 029 2063 6464 / www.wmc.org.uk
AMAZON PHILP