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Nicky Spence in Peter Grimes at Welsh National Opera (Photo: Dafydd Owen) 

There are many ways to play Peter Grimes and there are many types of tenor who can sing the role, from the light lyric Peter Pears, its creator, to the rough-hewn Heldentenor of Jon Vickers, whose interpretation Britten reportedly hated. The range has stayed wide: Philip Langridge and Alan Oke at the lighter end to Wagnerians Ben Heppner and Stuart Skelton. In between those extremes comes Allan Clayton (at Covent Garden) and now, making his role debut in Cardiff, Nicky Spence.

There was a time when Spence was being touted as a potential Heldentenor, a prophecy I’m not convinced will be fulfilled any time soon. Instead, he’s carved out a superb niche in Janáček (he was awarded the Leoš Janáček Memorial Medal last year). On the evidence of last night at the Wales Millennium Centre, Britten should continue to serve him well for years to come.

In Melly Still’s new production for Welsh National Opera, Spence’s Grimes starts out as quite the happy-go-lucky fisherman – more the ebullient Spence himself than Britten’s tortured misfit. He plays up the naïve side of the character. When Ellen kisses his hand, he stares at it in wonderment. Act 2 begins with a dreamlike sequence where we see Grimes joshing with his new apprentice on the shore, playing at happy families with Ellen, often sharing a kiss. How was this going to square with Grimes as, at best, a neglectful fisherman or, at worst, an abuser?

And then we note the involuntary twitch in his right hand, the pent-up frustration brewing, his temper flaring uncontrollably, dragging his new apprentice and roughing him up. Suddenly the character becomes all too real. Spence’s portrayal of Grimes’ mental disintegration in Act 3 is truly painful to watch – howling, gibbering, almost Sprechstimme at times – as the character unravels, baring his very soul.

Spence sang the role tremendously, possessing both the lyric sweetness for 'Now the Great Bear and Pleiades' – sung beneath a suspended fishing boat in which a starfield of lights twinkled – and the clarion heft for Peter’s defiant outbursts. His diction was outstanding. In many ways he reminds me of Stuart Skelton’s haunted Grimes – the highest compliment – and his interpretation will continue to deepen in the coming years.

Cast of Peter Grimes at Welsh National Opera (Photo: Dafydd Owen) 

This is Still’s third recent opera depicting a coastal community – following The Wreckers (Glyndebourne) and Breaking the Waves (Theater St Gallen) – and she writes in the programme book about the 'island mentality' of The Borough, here given a 1980s feel. The gossiping starts before a note of Britten’s music sounds, the body of Grimes’ apprentice wheeled across the stage on a mortuary trolley before the lawyer Swallow calls the court to order. Her production has an almost balletic feel, not quite as much as Olivia Fuchs’ award-winning Death in Venice for the company last season, but you can sense it being driven by movement. Still depicts The Borough’s inhabitants vividly, from the rector turning a blind eye to abuse to the thuggish Methodist who strangles a seagull as the chorus turns vigilante. Violence breeds violence, but it’s still a shock when John, Grimes’ new apprentice (Maya Marsh), lashes out at the fisherman.

Do we need to see the ghost of Grimes’ first apprentice appear in his hut? Perhaps not, but then both dead apprentices appear to Grimes in his haunting monologue, deftly staged, eventually taking him by the hand to lead him out to sea.

Malcolm Rippeth’s evocative lighting evokes dawn to dusk on the coast, shadows and silhouettes creating an oppressive feel, especially as the mob-rule chorus bays for Grimes. Chiara Stephenson’s set is bare save for a few capstans, a fishing net and a suspended boat that tips and pitches. Wooden frames and ropes are manipulated to become doors and windows. It certainly aids fluidity of action, but the lack of an actual set impedes voice projection in a number of cases, with several cast members occasionally drowned beneath the (ever excellent) WNO Orchestra. Tomáš Hanus teased intricate details from Britten’s vivid score.

From Catherine Wyn-Rogers’ prim Mrs Sedley to Dame Sarah’s trendy Auntie, the casting was mostly good. Dominic Sedgwick’s suave Ned Keene and Oliver Johnston’s hectoring Bob Boles made the strongest vocal impressions. David Kempster was a sympathetic Captain Balstrode, although his baritone now sounds a little frayed. Sally Matthews, swallowing her consonants, was a relative disappointment as Ellen.

The WNO Chorus – cut from 30 full-timers to 23 this season, but bolstered here to 48 – were in outstanding voice. Wearing 'Save our WNO' T-shirts at the curtain call, they were joined by the full orchestra and stage crew in a powerful demonstration of unity against the ongoing savage cuts to its funding that threaten to destroy this great company.

 Until 7 June wno.org.uk