Trio of treats from WNO (From Gazette Series)

Trio of treats from WNO

WELSH National Opera celebrates its 60th anniversary this month and three birthday treats from the company can be enjoyed at the Bristol Hippodrome.

First on the bill is Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, which coincides with the composer's 250th anniversary. Up and coming young singers bring new life to this ever-popular opera with performances on Wednesday, March 22 and Saturday, March 25 (7pm).

Handel's tragic opera Jephtha will be performed on Thursday, March 23 (7pm). Jephtha pledges that if he wins his war he will sacrifice the first living creature he sees. His grief is unimaginable when on returning home victorious he is greeted by his only child, Iphis.

This must-see event, featuring the company's critically acclaimed chorus, is the first time that Welsh National Opera has performed Katie Mitchell's staging of Handel's last great choral work since its critically acclaimed premire in 2003.

The final in the trio of treats waiting to be unwrapped is a stunning new production of Wagner's haunting The Flying Dutchman, to be performed on Friday, March 24 (7.15pm). This tells the ghostly tale of a sailor condemned to sail for eternity. His only chance of redemption is to find the love of a woman but he can only go ashore every seven years. When he meets the daughter of a sea captain he tries to buy her attention, but will she be the one to save him from purgatory?

Robert Hayward will sing the Dutchman with Welsh National Opera's music director Carlo Rizzi conducting. The action is set around enormous video screens on which will be projected the work of media artists Jane and Louise Wilson. The production is sung in German - it is sponsored by Coutts & Co and supported by Welsh National Opera's Flying Dutchman Syndicate.

Tickets for all these performances are available from the Bristol Hippodrome box office.