The internationally acclaimed Welsh National Opera (WNO) return to the Midlands next month to present Mozart’s The Marriage Of Figaro and Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes - both of which will showcase the immense talents of the company’s chorus. What’s On recently caught up with members of the WNO Associate Artist programme (both old and new) to find out more...

Soprano Eiry Price was a student when she watched her first opera - Welsh National Opera (WNO) performing Puccini’s La bohème. From that moment, Eiry, who was studying at the Royal College of Music in London, knew how she wanted her future to look.

“I knew I wanted to sing,” recalls Eiry, who hails from Pencaenewydd in North Wales, “but I didn’t know before watching that opera that I wanted to be an opera singer, really specifically. It clicked for me there: ‘I want to do this; I want to do what they’re doing.’ It came over me, the music, the text, the story. I remember listening to the orchestra, and with opera I always feel so overwhelmed with all these emotions, and it makes me feel something that I can’t really describe. I just feel so whole after watching a piece of opera. It’s also the drama, the tragedy, the love, the heartbreak - it just moves me.”

Eiry’s dream has come true, as she is currently a WNO Associate Artist, taking part in a one-year programme in which young singers are offered support, training and mentorship early in their careers.

“The Associate Artist programme is amazing for young singers who have left studies and want to pursue a career in opera. There are so many opportunities for me on this programme and so much support available.”

The scheme has introduced Eiry to a new world: “I’d never sung in a full opera before. I’d done opera scenes in college, but I’ve learnt so much already. I’ve had so many lessons and coachings and so much support that I feel like it’s really shaping me into a young artist.”

One of the advantages of being part of WNO’s Associate Artist scheme is the chance to sing roles in their productions. This spring, Eiry plays the young lover Barbarina and covers the servant Susanna in Mozart’s The Marriage Of Figaro. She also performs Second Niece in Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes.

“I’m having coachings every day on the roles that I’m doing and just going through the music, adding layers to the roles, musically and artistically. It’s all really helping, as I’m not doing it all by myself.

“I’m really excited for this production and looking forward to staging it with everyone. It’s just a lovely atmosphere on the stage when you’re all working together to try and create something amazing.”

Soprano Harriet Eyley can vouch for the value of the programme, as she was an Associate Artist with WNO from 2018 to 2020. She too sang Barbarina and covered Susanna in The Marriage Of Figaro, as well as playing Oscar in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera and Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale.

“The biggest thing about being an Associate Artist is the sense of community at WNO,” she says. “I grew so much as an artist through the company, and it feels like home. I think we always remember those first big jobs out of university, and I’m forever grateful.

“You are taught your musicianship and your stagecraft at university. I honed that with WNO, and I had so much stage and rehearsal experience. That was brilliant, but it was also about the sense of teamwork on a collaborative artform and working together. And not just in the rehearsal room with other singers and musicians but also with other people in the company.”

After completing her Associate Artist programme, Harriet, who was born in Derbyshire, returned to WNO as a visiting artist to play Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Krista in Janáček’s The Makropulos Affair. This season, she’s performing the page boy Cherubino in The Marriage Of Figaro.

“What’s interesting with this one is that when we went into lockdown, I was actually doing this production of The Marriage Of Figaro for WNO. And now I feel like I’ve come full circle, because I’m coming back to The Marriage Of Figaro but in a different role. Cherubino is a role that I really wanted to sing. So I’m looking at the production from a different perspective. In so many ways I’m quite like Cherubino. Although I’m much older, I’m quite small in stature and quite flighty in character, so I’m looking forward to finding my teenage voice - ‘am I in love, am I not in love, what is love?’ I’m excited by the challenge.”

For bass William Stevens, being a current Associate Artist with WNO is giving him an incredible opportunity - to cover the lead role of Figaro and play him in the final tour performance of the Mozart opera.

“It’s an amazing thing for any bass baritone, and a singer of my age, to be singing the title role in this opera with WNO,” he says. “It’s daunting but very exciting.

“It’s an opera I know very well. I’ve sung all the roles I can sing in that opera at some point or another, and I’ve directed it for Bath Opera Company all around the South West. But to do it in a main production with this company is probably the biggest thing I will have done so far in my career. It’s a lot of work but very exciting - and I will be filling out half of the theatre with my family!”

William, from Keynsham in Somerset, was a choral scholar at Bristol Cathedral and went on to study singing at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff. He has held a love for opera since childhood.

“WNO have been an important part of my life for quite a long time. I’ve been watching their productions since I was quite young. The first time I saw WNO was Madam Butterfly in 2009 at the Bristol Hippodrome. I’d listened to a lot of opera by then and had done a lot of singing but not much opera. I had recently joined Bristol Opera Company, so I got my first opportunity to be on stage performing opera as part of the chorus in The Pearl Fishers. I thought I should go and see it done at the professional level, and the most obvious option was to see WNO at the Hippodrome.”

Being offered a place on the Associate Artist programme by the opera company he had watched so often was a real bonus.

“The opportunity to have this big stepping stone in my career with WNO was particularly special for me. We get to have multiple coachings with the music staff on the repertoire we’re doing with the company but also anything we’re doing outside the company, and they are fantastic.

“There’s also just the exposure of working with a company at WNO’s level. I’ve been working as a professional singer for a while now, but this is my first real exposure to a national company; seeing how differently it’s run and what’s expected of you at this level.”

William recently toured in WNO’s production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. He is keen to take on Mozart.

“I think The Marriage Of Figaro is some of the best music ever written for theatre; it’s just remarkable. Also, it’s a genuinely funny opera. There are a lot of ridiculous scenarios and farcical things, but there’s also a lot you can relate to: silly relationship misunderstandings and relationships between you and your boss, or vice versa if you’re the boss. It’s timeless, funny, with wonderful music, and it’s so relatable.”

Fellow WNO Associate Artist soprano Erin Rossington says the programme was the next step as she builds her opera career.

“An Associate Artist is, I describe it, like an apprenticeship,” she says. “You are part of the company and they are guiding you on the way, advising and helping. You’re also doing some roles and working alongside people in the prime of their career.

“I was one of the nuns in Suor Angelica, and it’s nice to be part of a production and see how other people learn things and how they work. It’s learning on the job.”

Erin, who is from Llanfair Talhaiarn in North Wales, covers the role of Countess Almaviva throughout the tour of The Marriage Of Figaro, and played her in Swansea.

“It’s amazing for me to have WNO on my CV; there’s so much more weight around it. To say I’ve studied and learned the role of Contessa with WNO [as opposed to] just by myself - there’s a massive difference because someone has believed in you and someone has trusted in your work.”

For Erin, the Countess is a fascinating character.

“This is one of the core roles for a soprano within the repertoire, and I’m really excited to explore her more. She’s quite an interesting character. She’s developed a lot from when we see her in Rossini’s Barber Of Seville. Then she was young, excited and passionate, but now she’s being mistreated by her husband, who is being unfaithful.

“She’s not happy to put up with it, and she’s not sitting down and taking it. I think she’s a very strong woman, but she’s also aware that if she did take a stance, it wouldn’t go her way. She’s not stupid.”

Erin is eager to bring the Countess to life: “I can’t wait to be able to sing on the stage with the cast. It’s a fantastic cast, and to be able to perform alongside them will be really exciting. I’m looking forward to embracing the nerves and throwing myself into the character.

“It’s also really nice knowing that Harriet, a previous Associate Artist, is coming back to the company. I love WNO, and being from North Wales, I would love to return to my home company in the future for sure. It’s nice to know Harriet had the same start as me - that’s a good omen.”

Welsh National Opera perform Mozart’s The Marriage Of Figaro at Birmingham Hippodrome on Thursday 8 May and Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes on Saturday 10 May

By Diane Parkes