Saturday 22nd September 2018, another weekend visit to Cardiff Bay and my 2nd performance of ‘War and Peace’ at the Millennium Centre. So looking forward to watching this epic opera once more, I was really impressed with last weeks opening night, so much going on with superb singing from all the cast, and probably the biggest cast I’ve ever seen on this stage.

The plot set around the book by Tolstoy and music by Prokofiev, hits the mark from the start, a massive opening, played wonderfully by the excellent ‘Welsh National Opera Orchestra’, Mixing the dramatic with the tender and sometimes beautiful melodies Prokofiev conjured in his mind, while writing this incredible musical piece.

The set is pretty expansive and uses a huge screen at its rear, to project relevant scenes of the proceedings to the audience, adding to the drama of the whole occasion. Also a wide array of costumes are on show throughout the performance, depicting everyday life in these turbulent times.

As usual the singing from the WNO company tonight was superb, add the magnificent musical prowess of the Orchestra and you have a show that lives up to the standard that one gets used to, week in week out with this company.

More opera to come in the next few weeks and hopefully another opportunity to watch this once again before it tours.