The company 's first few seasons attracted little attention from the British musical establishment , but by the early 1950s London papers began to take notice . Picture Post hailed the WNO 's chorus as the finest in Britain . The Times also praised the chorus : " It have body , lightness , rhythmic precision , and , most welcome of all , unflagging and spontaneous freshness . " By this time the company had expanded its repertoire to take in Carmen , La traviata , Madame Butterfly , The Tales of Hoffmann , The Bartered Bride and Die Fledermaus . The Times commented that Smith , Owen and their colleagues was " making history for Wales . The shackles of puritanism , which had kept this country from an art @-@ form perfectly suited to its national talents and predilections ( for histrionics and dressing @-@ up are as natural to the Welsh as singing ) had been broken for ever " .