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Opera on 3

Music: Classical: Opera

Programme presenting rare and fascinating operatic performances

Programme presenting rare and fascinating performances and vividly communicating the immediacy of the live experience

Opera on 3: Verdi's Un ballo in maschera

Verdi's Un ballo in maschera

BBC Radio 3 - Opera on 3, Verdi's Un ballo in maschera

Welsh National Opera's new production of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera.

Verdi's Un ballo in maschera in a darkly comic new production from Welsh National Opera starring Gwyn Hughes Jones. Presented by Andrew McGregor with Sarah Lenton.

It's murder on the dance floor in Verdi's darkly comic tale of love, betrayal and revenge, recorded last February at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. Loosely based on a fictional account of the death, at a masked ball of the King of Sweden in 1792, Welsh National Opera's Artistic Director David Pountney's new production playfully references the King's theatrical links with its blacks and reds and Gothic references. 
Centring around a love triangle, Verdi's music portrays a very human drama. Making his role debut as Riccardo, tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones is secretly in love with his best friend's wife, Amelia, sung by soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams. When they're discovered at what appears to be a secret tryst, a prophecy is set in motion with tragic consequences. 

Presented by Andrew McGregor with opera expert Sarah Lenton.

Riccardo ....... Gwyn Hughes Jones (tenor) 
Amelia ..... Mary Elizabeth Williams (soprano) 
Renato ..... Roland Wood (baritone) 
Oscar ..... Julie Martin du Theil (soprano) 
Ulrica ..... Sara Fulgoni (contralto) 
Judge ..... Gareth Dafydd Morris (tenor) 
Silvano ..... Jason Howard (baritone) 
Servant of Amelia ...... Andrew Irwin (tenor) 
Samuel ..... Jihoon Kim (bass) 
Tom ..... Tristan Hambleton (bass baritone) 
Politicians, conspirators, guests at the ball .... Chorus of Welsh National Opera 

Orchestra of Welsh National Opera 
Carlo Rizzi (conductor)

Image (c) WNO 2019. Photographer: Bill Cooper

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