REVIEWS
DON CARLO, Opera på Skäret, Sweden, 2018:
This production is a winner in every respect. William Relton has, once again, welded together this company to a deeply satisfying unit. Read more…
Relton is particularly sensitive to what the music demands. Read more…
The importance of Being Earnest, Vadstena, Sweden, 2017:
“It's something of a master's test of the librettist and director William Relton to be able to remove more than half of the text and still retain the drama.” Swedish Radio Read more...
“Wilde’s cheeky and elegant mocking of social conventions and identities is very amusing in William Relton’s production; he has oxygenated the acting with playfulness and a wealth of fine details.” Svenska Dagbladet Read more...
“Beautiful, well thought through and very funny Oscar Wilde interpretation.” Swedish Television View
“Director William Relton leaves nothing to chance. His libretto takes care of Oscar Wilde's witty personal descriptions and sharp caricatures.” Kultursidan Read more...
“They are also directed excellently by William Relton, also the librettist, whose personal instruction I was already impressed with in the "Otello" at Opera på Skäret three years ago, and who seems to have an exemplary motto to keep the stage clear of unnecessary business.” Expressen Read more...
FARAMONDO, London Handel Festival at the Royal College of Music, 2017:
“Overtones of The Godfather lurk around every corner of William Relton’s cool and clever staging of Handel’s problematic piece ... William Relton’s staging relocates the work to some nameless modern urban hellhole.” The Guardian Read more...
“A vivid, atmospheric Faramondo at the Royal College of Music, London.” The Financial Times Read more...
“William Relton’s staging maintains interest and dramatic momentum ... Relton helps the cast achieve dramatic performances as well defined as the related vocal offerings.” The Stage Read more...
“Relton's production really made this tricky opera work as a theatrical event, his reinvented setting provided just the right dramatic context for the piece. Re-inventing Handel operas as modern drama only works if the fundamentals are understood, and here it helped that Relton had a sure hand with the opera seria form, whilst occasionally he cheered up arias with bits of business this was never overdone and he never obscured the music's form (exit arias were always exit arias).” Planet Hugill Read more...
LA TRAVIATA at West Green House Opera, 2016:
“... turning the intimate scale of the show to maximum advantage with tight, purposeful deployment of forces and close attention to narrative logic and characterisation.” Opera magazine Read more...
“Especially effective was the way that Relton gave some context to set-piece ensemble numbers like the Brindisi, which played out as a game, its cod philosophies prompted by table-cracker mottos." Opera Now Read more...
“Relton gave plenty of goings-on without providing too much distraction and seemed to want to enhance and expose Verdi’s theatrical nous rather than to correct it. His little scene during the prelude where men come onto the stage, encircle Violetta and leer at her captured the spirit of woman as possession particularly well.” Bachtrack Read more...
RINALDO at Estonian National Opera, 2014:
“... directorial wit and flair in Tallinn ... by injecting a good dose of British Humour into the proceedings." Opera Now Read more...
"William Relton ... extraordinarily nuanced approach." Pärnu POSTIMEES
"Rinaldo directed by Englishman William Relton has put his own, distinct militaristic stamp on Handel's masterful score, without contradicting the opera’s original ideas." EESTI PÄEVALEHT
OTELLO at Opera på Skäret, Sweden, 2014:
“Opera is about music, and not since Götz Friedrich's days, have I seen someone illustrate this better than Relton.” Expressen Read more...
“British director, William Relton, has created a dark chamber play with precise and clear details. One look here, a raised eyebrow there. In particular, he succeeds in keeping the heart-stopping arc tense throughout the drama without losing focus.” NA Read more...
“Relton zooms in the individuals the same way that a chamber play does.” Seen and heard Read more...
ALBERT HERRING at Staatstheater Darmstadt, 2006:
Darmstadter Echo and Frankfurter Rundschau