IN its 25th anniversary year, Music Theatre Wales has enjoyed a South Bank Sky Arts Award and an Olivier Award nomination, accolades that highlight its position as a ground breaking pioneering company in the world of contemporary opera.

The celebratory year continues with UK tours of its award winning production of Greek and new production of The Killing Flower, an opera by Salvatore Sciarrino being performed in the UK for the first time.

Music Theatre Wales will continue its 25th anniversary season by bringing its award winning production of Greek to Cardiff on October 1 when it is performed at The Weston Studio at Wales Millennium Centre. The opera by Mark- Anthony Turnage is sung in English and is based on Steven Berkoff’s provocative play. Inspired by Berkoff’s incendiary combination of poetry, physical theatre and knockabout humour, Turnage aimed to tear up the rule book to produce a ground-breaking contemporary opera full of raw emotion..

Later on October 18 Music Theatre Wales will bring Salvatore Sciarrino’s opera The Killing Flower (Luci Mie Traditrici) to Cardiff in a tour of the UK for the first time.

MTW’s production was first performed at the Buxton Festival in July this year and will begin the tour with a performance in a specially designed auditorium on the stage at The Donald Gordon Theatre at Wales Millennium Centre.

Salvatore Sciarrino’s opera was inspired by the true story of Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo, renowned in his lifetime as a master of the Madrigal but equally notorious for the cool, brutal murder of his wife and lover. In the Killing Flower the composer invites listeners to eavesdrop on muted conversations, hushed whispers and fraught silences, all played out against a backdrop of soft sounds. His absorbing musical world and understatement aims to heighten the emotional and dramatic impact.

Director Michael McCarthy has taken his cue from Sciarrino himself and places the audience on stage alongside the singers and musicians – immersing them in the tension of the work. The performance will take place in the centre of the stage with the audience sitting and standing around the singers and chamber orchestra, for an intense experience.

Tickets for the Cardiff performance of Greek are £20 and for The Killing Flower £20 (sitting) and £10 (standing). Tickets are available on 02920 636 464 and at www.wmc.org.uk