Founded earlier this year, the Irish National Opera this week announced its programme for the first half of 2019. The company will produce 32 performances of five different works across 17 venues. The company, founded in January 2018, will produce 32 performances of five different works across 17 venues.
In March, it is also set to make its first foray abroad, taking Enda Walsh and Donnacha Dennehy’s The Second Violinist to the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam.
The five works are a mix of classic stalwarts and contemporary productions. The season kicks off with the return of Emma Martin’s production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. This take on the German composer’s opera, telling the tragic Greek tale of Orpheus and Euridice, was a sell-out hit at this year’s Galway International Arts Festival. The co-production with United Fall will hit 11 venues, most locally in Tallaght, Drogheda, Bray, Celbridge and Wexford.
Though Irish opera-lovers won’t be able to see it, the company’s revival of Donnacha Dennehy and Enda Walsh’s The Second Violinist in Amsterdam will be of note for Irish theatre fans. Fresh from an acclaimed performance as Richard III at the Abbey Theatre, Aaron Monaghan plays the lead in this piece that scoped the prestigious (and lucrative) Fedora-Generali Prize for Opera in 2017. This is a notable example of cutting-edge Irish theatre being brought to the international stage.
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly will be performed at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre from March 24th to 30th before heading to the Cork Opera House. Directed by Ben Barnes, former Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre, the production features soprano Celine Byrne in the title role, with music by the Irish National Opera chorus and the RTE Concert Orchestra.
In May, Irish director Caroline Staunton returns to Dublin with Mozart’s most popular opera, The Magic Flute. Leading Irish talent such as sopranos Jennifer Davis, Anne Devin and Kim Sheehan will be joined by international performers including Grammy winner Audrey Luna. The similarly lauded Peter Whelan conducts the the company’s chorus and the Irish Chamber Orchestra in this production.
The last production of the period will be an exciting new work entitled This Hostel Life and will be performed in the Crypt of Christ Church Cathedral. This installation opera, composed by Evangelia Rigaki and written by Ireland-based Nigerian writer Melatu Uche Okorie, is based on stories from the experiences of migrant women in Ireland today. Each performance will provide a two-hour window in which audience members may explore the installation at their leisure.
With the company’s Artistic Director Fergus Sheil ensuring that 80 per cent of all performers in these shows will be Irish, this is the continuation of what is a huge moment in the revival of opera in Ireland.
Those who can’t wait to catch a production from the Irish National Opera can catch Verdi’s Aida at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre from November 24th to December 1st.
