Having already gained wide acclaim for her performances on the operatic stage as well as the concert platform, Welsh soprano Fflur Wyn is quickly establishing herself as one of the country’s foremost young singers. She was recently elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the music profession so far.
Her operatic performances include Jemmy Guillaume Tell, Iphis Jephtha, Blonde Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Dorinda in Handel’s Orlando (WNO); Pamina The Magic Flute, Alice Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and the title role in Lakmé (Opera Holland Park); Barbarina Le nozze di Figaro, La Plus Jeune Fille Au Monde (La Monnaie); Giannetta L’elisir d’amore,Sophie Werther, Marzelline Fidelio, Blue Fairy The Adventures of Pinocchio, Servilia La Clemenza di Tito, Woodbird Siegfried (Opera North); Mimi in Offenbach’s Vert Vert (Garsington Opera); Governess The Turn of the Screw (Mexico City); Blonde Woman Thanks to my Eyes (Aix en Provence, La Monnaie, Paris); Daughter The Lion’s Face (The Opera Group, ROH); and Girl How the Whale Became (Royal Opera House).
Fflur has worked with many great conductors and orchestras including Sir Colin Davis, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Richard Armstrong, Harry Bicket and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Gabrieli Consort and The English Concert. Recent recitals include performances at Kings Place, St John’s Smith Square, Wilton’s Music Hall and The Howard Assembly Room.
Recent and future performances include the roles of Susanna The Marriage of Figaro in a return to Opera North, where she recently sang Fire/Nightingale/Princess L’enfant et les Sortileges, and Trio Soprano Trouble in Tahiti; Vivetta L’arlesiana for Opera Holland Park, where she previously revived her role in her critically acclaimed performance of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; Esilena in Handel’s Rodrigo with the Göttingen International Handel Festival; Fido Paul Bunyan for English National Opera; Cunegonde Candide for West Green House Opera; Celia Lucio Silla for Buxton Opera; the title role in Handel’s Theodora with the RIAS Kammerchor in Berlin; Handel's Ode for St Cecilia's Day with the English Concert under Harry Bicket; Bach's B Minor Mass with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and at the Al Bustan International Festival in Beirut; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra; Orff’s Carmina Burana with the CBSO and the RSNO; and the New Year Viennese Gala concerts with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
This biography is for information only and should not be reproduced.
CD: Handel Samson (Philistine Woman, Virgin), Dunedin Consort
CKD 599 (October 2019
Soprano Fflur Wyn and tenor Hugo Hymas, singing with attractive youthful tone, do well in supporting roles.
Richard Wigmore, Gramophone
Fflur Wyn and Mary Bevan superb in the smaller soprano roles
Keith Bruce, The Herald
CD: Handel Rodrigo (Esilena), International Handel Festival Göttingen
ACC 26412 (October 2019)
As Rodrigo’s masochistically long-suffering wife Esilena, Fflur Wyn is every bit a match for Sandrine Piau on the rival recording, praise indeed. She beautifully catches the mingled agitation and pathos of the superb ‘Empio fate’ and the grieving tenderness of ‘Perche viva il caro sposo’… and is delightfully blithe as she looks to a happy future in the catchy ‘Si che lieta’. Wyn’s poise and coloratura brilliance even converted me to Esilena’s overlong showpiece with violin solo that closes Act 1.
Richard Wigmore, Gramophone
Mistress of the plot, Esilena is played by soprano Fflur Wyn. Her clear, airy timbre has a lot of charm, especially when trying to keep hold of Rodrigo through long decorative ornaments in "In mano al mio sposo". In the second act, her offer of peace to her rival ("Egli è tuo") is touching with sincerity… She concludes the first act brilliantly with a beautiful "Per dar pregio", in a stunning duel of ornaments with the first violin Elizabeth Blumenstock.
Brigitte Maroillat, Forum Opera
Cilea L’Arlesiana (Vivetta), Opera Holland Park
(July 2019)
…impassioned performances by Samuel Sakker, Yvonne Howard and Fflur Wyn
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph
Fflur Wyn was desperately sweet as his luckless fiancée Vivetta
Richard Bratby, The Spectator
…as Vivetta, the village girl whose secret love for him is revealed, Fflur Wyn sings with particularly touching grace
Stephen Pritchard, The Observer
Fflur Wyn supplied shining purity and even imploring strength as Vivetta, the girl (a Micaela figure, if you like) who might have been able to rescue Federico
John Allison, Opera Magazine
He conveyed emotional bewilderment, as did Fflur Wyn’s Vivetta, sweet of voice and personality, but also suggesting some mettle beneath the surface.
Francis Muzzu, Opera Now
Wyn’s lyric soprano is developing real force at the top, and she’s the most simpatica of singers; again, keeping it simple and true works wonders on the drama.
David Nice, The Arts Desk
…soprano Fflur Wyn is delightful
Warwick Thompson, Metro
Fflur Wyn made Vivetta a really credible character - vivacious and sympathetic: no pale Micaëla to an imagined Carmen was she.
Claire Seymour, Opera Today
[Fflur Wyn] looks and sounds fresh and young – perfect for the role, and absolutely believable musically, too.
Colin Clarke, Seen and Heard International
Handel Rodrigo (Esilena), International Handel Festival Göttingen
(May 2019)
Fflur Wyn’s Esilena is the moral heart of the piece, albeit compromised by the child as human shield, and her singing reflects this sincerity.
Catriona Graham, The Opera Critic
The Welsh soprano Fflur Wyn made an excellent Esilena.
Jürgen Gahre, Opera Now
Handel's score was reserved for his wife Esilena in the form of the soprano Fflur Wyn: on a perpetual breath, she sings her very long, soft notes dreamily.
Kirsten Liese, Deutschlandfunk
The young Welsh soprano Fflur Wyn has just that ingratiatingly warm timbre that contrasts sharply with the escalating vehemence of Anna Dennis in the role of her rival, Florinda.
Joachim Lange, nmz online
Fflur Wyn is rightly restrained and demure as his [Rodrigo’s] suffering wife, to whom he is eventually reconciled (after plots against him) though she combines that with quiet sensuousness to make it dramatically plausible that she might win round such a playboy
Curtis Rogers, Classical Source
With a warm soprano and clear treble, she [Wyn] underscores the gentle character of the Queen, who is always eager to resolve conflicts peacefully. A musical highlight is her great aria at the end of the first act, when she decides to go to Florinda and offer the rival the place at the king's side.
Thomas Molke, Online Musik Magazin
Wide-awake, lively, the wonderful Fyn Wyn as Esilena captivates us. Her Esilena is a strong, ever-forgiving female character.
Barbara Röder, klassik.com
Orff Carmina Burana, Royal Scottish National Orchestra
(March 2019)
The fine trio of soloists was crowned by the stratospherically pure soprano of Fflur Wyn
Simon Thompson, The Times
The voices of the Chorus and the Probationary Choirs of the Junior Chorus were of the high echelon as we have come to expect. So too Fflur Wyn, soprano, and Adrian Dwyer, tenor.
Barnaby Miln, Edinburgh Guide
Britten Paul Bunyan (Fido), English National Opera
(September 2018)
Then there are two exceptional sopranos, Rowan Pierce and Fflur Wyn.
David Mellor, The Daily Mail*****
Handel The Choice of Hercules (Pleasure), Gottingen Handel Festival Gala Concert
Stadthalle, Göttingen (May 2018)
Pleasure was sensuously sung by Fflur Wyn, bringing to bear a pretty but clear and carrying soprano voice, especially attractive in “Turn thee, youth”.
Sandra Bowdler, bachtrack****
Handel Occasional Oratorio, London Handel Festival
St George’s Hanover Square (April 2018)
…we were treated to Fflur Wyn’s sweet and focused soprano
Sam Smith, MusicOMH****
L'enfant et les sortilèges / Trouble in Tahiti, Opera North
Grand Theatre Leeds (October 2017)
Superb work here from Fflur Wyn
David Nice, The Arts Desk
A swing-style vocal trio provide a Greek chorus born of the advertising age. This trio, Bernstein instructs, “must be as conventionally handsome as possible, and must never stop smiling”. Fflur Wyn, Joseph Shovelton and Nicholas Butterfield crooned beautifully.
Fiona Maddocks, The Times
The radio trio (Fflur Wyn, Joseph Shovelton and Nicholas Butterfield) were delightful.
Anthony Arblaster, Opera Now
The crisply clear trio (Fflur Wyn, Joseph Shovelton and Nicholas Butterfield) pointed up the satire with style, gusto and razor-sharp timing
William Ruff, Nottingham Post
A gifted cast round up the other roles – Fflur Wyn ... – the sort of team only an ensemble enterprise of this kind could provide for Ravel’s 45-minute fantasy.
Robert Beale, The Arts Desk *****
Fflur Wyn is a touching Princess from the storybook which the child has torn up
Richard Wilcocks, Bachtrack ****
Mozart Lucio Silla (Celia), Buxton Festival
Buxton Opera House (July 2017)
Fflur Wyn’s sweet-toned, sweet-natured Celia…makes [her] mark musically
Alexandra Coghlan, The Spectator
Fflur Wyn’s cleanly articulated Celia
George Hall, thestage.co.uk
As Celia the sunlight that radiated from Fflur Wyn’s singing lit up the stage – as it always does.
Richard Bratby, theartsdesk.com
The role of Celia is the secondary female role, but the music is no less difficult and Fllur Wyn sang Celia with sparkling coloratura. But she also made Celia's unspoken love for Cinna profoundly touching, with a couple of very moving arias
Robert Hugill, planethugill.com
[Celia] portrayed excellently by Fflur Wyn.
Robert J. Farr, seenandheard-international.com
Fflur Wyn is persuasive in the second-soprano role of Celia
David Mellor, Mail Online
Handel Joseph and His Brethren (Asenath)
London Handel Festival, St George’s, Hanover Square, London (April 2017)
Fflur Wyn, standing in for Elizabeth Watts as Asenath, was especially good and got a big cheer for ‘Prophetick raptures’, where the tumbling coloratura spills into Rossinian levels of joy-through-semiquavers.
Robert Thicknesse, Opera Now
Humperdinck Hansel und Gretel (Gretel)
Opera North, Grand Theatre Leeds (February 2017)
Katie Bray’s Hansel and Fflur Wyn’s Gretel sing with a light, spontaneous ease that overcomes the disconnect of a pair of pre-teens expressing themselves with mature, adult voices. The famous duet in which they sing themselves to sleep is breathtaking.
Alfred Hickling, The Guardian
Katie Bray and Fflur Wyn could scarcely be bettered as the eponymous brats.
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph
Fflur Wyn‘s sparkling performance as Gretel makes her an ideal loving sibling.
Richard Wilcocks, bachtrack.com
Fflur Wyn and Katie Bray made a delightful and highly characterful pairing as the siblings.
Robert Hugill, planethugill.com
Strauss Der Rosenkavalier (Sophie)
Opera North, Grand Theatre, Leeds (September 2016)
Fflur Wyn has a delightfully diaphanous tone as Sophie.
Alfred Hickling, The Guardian
Fflur Wyn’s Sophie was a delight, sparky and determined, always her own woman. She floated her high notes beautifully too.
Martin Dreyer, Opera Magazine
The outstanding vocal performance comes from Fflur Wyn as Sophie, the faux-naif little rich girl who becomes the inadvertent agent of change. She has the purity of tone and the consistent vocal support to stand out in the trio, allied to a fascinating characterisation that left us guessing as to how innocent she really is.
Richard Ely, bachtrack.com
Fflur Wyn, a radiant, vocally limpid and emotionally truthful Sophie.
Mark Valencia, whatsonstage.com
Fflur Wyn was an enchantingly innocent, yet sparky Sophie.
Elaine Annable, The Yorkshire Times
Handel Saul (Michal)
BBC Singers, Milton Court, London (April 2016)
Fflur Wyn’s Michal was charming.
Curtis Roger, classicalsource.com
Mozart L’oca del Cairo
London Mozart Players, St John’s Smith Square, London (April 2016)
A first-rate cast notable for…enchanting soprano Fflur Wyn.
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph
Fflur Wyn also shone.
Jack Johnson, bachtrack.com
The soloists, who included…Fflur Wyn…were also excellent.
Sam Smith, musicOMH
Grace Williams Missa Cambrensis
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, St David’s Hall, Cardiff (March 2016)
Wyn’s soprano was outstanding, soaring over everything and bringing out the anguish in Williams’ expansive phrases.
Rian Evans, The Guardian
Leoncavallo Zazà (Floriana)
Barbican, London (November 2015)
Fflur Wyn…made [her] mark among the populous cast.
Fiona Maddocks, The Observer
Excellent supporting performances from…Fflur Wyn.
Hugo Shirley, Gramophone
As Floriana, Fflur Wyn sparkled in her Act 1 aria.
Claire Seymour, Opera Today
Fflur Wyn was brilliant as the singer Floriana.
Robert Hugill, planethugill.com
Handel Orlando (Dorinda)
Welsh National Opera, Wales Millennium Centre (September 2015)
Meanwhile, Dorinda…is sung with great accomplishment by Fflur Wyn.
Rian Evans, The Guardian
A musical highlight was Evans and Blaze’s bittersweet trio with the luminous Fflur Wyn, superb as the young but wise, hopeful yet resigned Dorinda
Rebecca Franks, The Times
Individually they were all first-rate:...Fflur Wyn and Rebecca Evans the elegantly twittering and lamenting ladies, Robin Blaze their second-string suitor.
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph
Fflur Wyn – all sweetness and light, no shades of Nurse Ratched or the Cuckoo’s Nest here – rose admirably to the considerable demands of the music; her singing was highly musical and beautifully articulated, her diction perfect.
Rian Evans, Opera
Fflur Wyn is delightful as poor Dorinda…technically superb.
Stephen Walsh, theartsdesk.com
Fflur Wyn as beautifully-voiced Dorinda.
markronan.com
Delibe Lakmé (Title role)
Opera Holland Park, London (July 2015)
In the end, though, Lakmé stands or falls by the quality of the singing. In the title role, Fflur Wyn has the measure of the coloratura of the Bell Song, sustains the lyric line of the act one duet, ably abetted by Katie Bray’s Mallika, and finds the range of expression to make the scene of self-sacrifice truly affecting in the final act.
Martin Kettle, The Guardian
Fflur Wyn was quite enchanting in the title-role, singing diamantine coloratura with near-perfect accuracy of intonation and coruscating tone, complemented by the warm honeyed tenor of Robert Murray as the smitten army officer. Their duets were as pleasurable as their arias, and both demonstrated an elegant sense of Gallic style.
Rupert Christansen, The Telegraph
Fflur Wyn’s Lakmé is small but perfectly formed, her Bell Song a glittering highlight.
Alexandra Coghlan, The Independent
[Wyn] sings sincerely, accurately and stylishly.
Anna Picard, The Times
"The star was Fflur Wyn as Lakmé, not merely because she sings the title role with its pinging, stratospherically high “Bell Song”, one of the most celebrated of coloratura showpieces...Wyn radiates a tender determination."
Fiona Maddocks, The Observer
Fflur Wyn has the delicate, pure quality in her voice to make the celebrated “Bell Song” echo like a tintinnabulation from afar, and can summon enough vocal strength to fill the semi-open-air theatre.
Richard Fairman, Financial Times
Fflur Wyn, as the Hindu Princess Lakmé, had the necessary vocal lightness for the Bell Song’s coloratura…her control and effortless top register were impressive. She was just as effective in the Flower Duet, in the company of Katie Bray as her servant Mallika, and her expansive lyricism in the Act 3 love duet was worth the wait.
Peter Reed, Opera
It all made Fflur Wyn’s mesmerising performance as Lakmé all the more admirable – done with great nerve and stillness, and sung with the right degree of other-worldly beauty which contained much human strength.
Robert Thicknesse, Opera Now
Lakmé demands much of the soprano tackling the title role. Fflur Wyn delivered a strong performance – more sensual woman than chaste priestess – her lyric soprano opening up beautifully in its upper reaches. In the famous Bell Song “Où va la jeune Hindoue", she demonstrated hypnotic melismata, a sure trill, delicate pianissimi and a fine top E.
Mark Pullinger, bachtrack.com
The singing is of a uniformly high standard. In an unbeatable combination, Fflur Wyn’s Lakme marries technical skill with lyric warmth, also embodying physically the heroine’s spiritual status as the daughter of the gods.
George Hall, The Stage
I’d mislabelled Fflur Wyn, so good in Handel and as Alice in Will Todd’s site-specific opera for children returning to Holland Park later this month, as just a stylish light lyric; the voice now opens out gloriously whenever it goes up and over in Delibes’s more ecstatic phrases. Lakmé is only really a coloratura role in the celebrated highlight; leading up to it, the unaccompanied vocalise is here a model of bel canto, and the Bell Song itself has plenty of stylish trills as well as more of that opening-out which sets the seal of distinction on this performance. Joan Sutherland spoilt us for a fullness in the top E at the end, but Wyn just about carries that off, too.
David Nice, theartsdesk.com
The cast is a strong one, dominated where necessary by Fflur Wyn’s assumption of the title-role which brings out Lakmé's warmth and underlying compassion as she contends with the culture clash between her high-priest father and her army-officer lover. Not that her portrayal is ever merely efficient, as is witnessed by the near-flawlessness of her coloraturain the once-famous ‘Bell Song’ or the deft winsomeness with which she dovetails with Mallika in the still-famous ‘Flower Duet’.
Richard Whitehouse, classicalsource.com
OHP fielded a strong trio of principals led by Fflur Wynn’s lovely Lakmé. Wynn is closer in voice to the lighter end of the spectrum – certainly more Dessay than Sutherland. But her voice is immensely attractive and she has the full measure of the part... She looks beautiful onstage and fully commanded our sympathy at the end, despite Delibes’ rather hurried build up to her suicide. I hope to return later in the run to hear her again.
Sebastian Petit, Opera Britannia
Bach St Matthew Passion, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Royal Festival Hall, London (April 2015)
However, most memorable of the singers was the tender and engaging voice of soprano Fflur Wyn whose aria, daringly soft at times, fiery and strong at others, had warmth and pathos.
Claire Hazelton, The Guardian
Jemmy, Guillaume Tell
Welsh National Opera (October 2014)
Fflur Wyn enchanting as Jemmy, tiny of stature but fielding a strong top line in many of the ensembles.
Rodney Milnes, Opera
Among the females, it was Welsh soprano Fflur Wyn in the role of Tell’s son, Jemmy, who carried the strongest performance throughout.
Peter Reynolds, Opera Now
Mimi Vert-Vert
Garsington Opera (July 2014)
The cast is pretty much faultless… Fflur Wyn is all pert charm and diamond sparkle as the infatuated sixth former in hot pursuit.
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph
Fflur Wyn is a delightful Mimi.
George Hall, The Guardian
little maids from school, led by our heroine Mimi — in Fflur Wyn a bright-eyed and bright-voiced soprano.
Hilary Finch, The Times
The loveliest girl in the form of Mimi, sung with ineffable grace by Fflur Wyn.
Michael Church, The Independent
Fflur Wyn [is] simply enchanting as the schoolgirl.
Rodney Milnes, Opera
The cast is excellent, too, led by Fflur Wyn and Robert Murray, both singing with disarming clarity and grace as Mimi and Valentin.
Hugo Shirley, The Spectator
There are some wizard performers. You want to wrap up Fflur Wyn up and spirit her away – the very point of the opera – whether she’s in blue school lacrosse-stick togs, or kitted out as a tiny scarlet bombardier.
Roderic Dunnett, The Arts Desk
A bevy of convent girls led by the admirable Fflur Wyn.
Barry Millington, Evening Standard
Au Monde
La Monnaie (June 2014)
Fflur Wyn as the youngest sister and Yann Beuron as the son-in-law are both excellent.
Francis Carlin, Financial Times
The singers could scarcely have been better...Fflur Wyn as [one of] the three sisters.
John McCann, Opera
The no less remarkable young Fflur Wyn, one element of purity but oh how tormented in this world of depravity that is not hers.
Claude Jottrand, ForumOpera.com (trans.)Claude Jottrand, ForumOpera.com (trans.)
How the Whale Became
Royal Opera/Linbury Studio Theatre (December 2013)
There’s also a terrific cast led by the enchanting Fflur Wyn.
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph
Individual performances, too, are strong, with Fflur Wyn’s assignments as the Girl, Polar Bear and Cow all finely achieved.
George Hall, The Stage
Soprano Fflur Wyn is on delicious form.
Helen Wallace, Classical-music.com
Fflur Wyn's shining, iridescent timbre gave Polar Bear a stylish cosmopolitan sophistication, and yet her astonishing vocal control brought devastating sadness to that duet.
Edward Lewis, Classical Source
Alice Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Opera Holland Park (June 2013)
Leading the excellent cast, many of whom double their roles, is Fflur Wyn, a wide-eyed, bright-toned Alice.
John Allison, The Telegraph
Both charming and knowing as Alice, Fflur Wyn leads the team appealingly and skilfully.
George Hall, The Stage
Fflur Wyn is outstanding as Alice…she has excellent control over her fine soprano voice. Wyn acts with admirable conviction, too.
Susan Elkin, What’s On Stage
Fflur Wyn portrayed Alice’s blend of innocence and wisdom with a winning charm, and she had an impressive show-stopper, a kind of power ballad in praise of living one’s dreams.
Peter Reed, Opera Magazine
Siegfried
Opera North
The talented Fflur Wyn as his daughter Achsah whose lovely arias include the ingenious ‘As Cheers the Sun’, was fresh-voiced and touching.
Fiona Maddocks, The Guardian
