Grimes's director at her exercise

WNO's new production of Britten's opera sees Nicky Spence's debut as Peter

Nicky Spence as Peter Grimes Picture © Dafydd Owen

This is an edited version of a review which first appeared in Jan Geisbusch’s German translation on Oper! Magazin’s website. It is republished here by kind permission of the Editor, Dr. Ulrich Ruhnke

The Scots tenor Nicky Spence has waited patiently for his first performances in the title role of Peter Grimes. For a variety of reasons, productions of Britten’s opera for which he had been scheduled were either postponed or cancelled, so it is something of a miracle that the Cardiff-based Welsh National Opera (WNO) – under existential threat from savage cuts to its subsidy – managed to showcase this important singer’s debut in a one of the greatest British opera roles.

The achievement of this wonderful company – prized for its outstanding chorus throughout its near-80 years of existence – was underlined by the pole-axing performance of its orchestra, equalling its contribution to WNO’s 2024 award-winning production of Britten’s last opera, Death in Venice. The company’s Czech music director, Tomáš Hanus, has taken a heroic stand in the struggle for survival, and here his invitation to the (threatened) orchestra to join him on stage for his curtain call rightly won the evening’s most heartfelt applause. Many of the musicians and choristers wore ‘Save WNO’ T-shirts for the occasion.