 In 1970 WNO stopped using the Bournemouth and other orchestras and established its own , known at first as the Welsh <unk> . Three years later the last amateur element of the company was removed when the chorus became fully professional . A further broadening of the repertoire took place in the 1970s : in 1971 WNO staged the first performances in Britain of Berg 's Lulu , directed by Michael Geliot , who had succeeded Moody in 1969 . In the view of Malcolm Boyd in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera , Geliot , " unpredictable and often controversial " , largely shaped the company 's style in the 1970s . In collaboration with the company 's musical director James Lockhart , Geliot is credited by The Times with introducing new young singers and " directing a host of groundbreaking productions " before leaving in 1978 . The critic Rodney <unk> wrote in 1975 about WNO 's productions : 
