Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru and Music Theatre Wales are delighted to announce that the video recording of their groundbreaking production of the opera, Y Tŵr, will be available to view free of charge as part of Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru’s Theatr Gen Eto programme.
Y Tŵr explores the extremes of emotion experienced by a man and a woman over the course of a lifetime together. Based on the work of Gwenlyn Parry, one of Wales’s most prolific playwrights, this touching and lyrical new opera is an intimate and universal story of love and life set within the tower of its title – a metaphor for any relationship – as its two characters, sung by soprano Caryl Hughes and baritone Gwion Thomas, ascend from one level to the next; each one representing a particular moment in their relationship, from the flush of youthful romance to the heartfelt ravages of old age.
Composed by Guto Puw, with the libretto by Gwyneth Glyn, Y Tŵr was the first ever opera commissioned in Welsh for professional performers and was Music Theatre Wales’s second work to be performed in Welsh. Y Tŵr was also Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru’s very first opera production. By kind permission of Ms Ann Beynon and the Gwenlyn Parry Estate, the opera received its world premiere in 2017 at Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, presented by the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, before touring to venues across Wales, and was presented also at the Buxton International Festival.