(Photo credit: Frances Marshall) Tenor Gavan Ring will star in and produce Cork Opera House’s upcoming production of “La bohème” at the Cahersiveen Music and Arts Festival.” On August 4, at the Daniel O’Connell Memorial Church in Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry audiences will enjoy Puccini’s masterpiece starring soprano Rachel Croash as Mimì and Ring as Rodolfo. Emma Nash sings Musetta, with Brendan {…}
The Cork Opera House puts on Bizet’s “La tragédie de Carmen” on Feb. 14 for one night only. In the title role is mezzo-soprano Niamh O’Sullivan. She is joined by tenor Dean Power as Don José, bass-baritone Rory Dunne as Escamillo, and soprano Kelli-Ann Masterson as Micaëla. The performers will be accompanied on the evening by an ensemble of 15 {…}
(Photo: Clive Barda) Of Dvorak’s 10 operas, only “Rusalka” receives regular stagings outside his Czech homeland. Listening to the recordings of his other operas, it is not clear as to why this should be the case. Certainly, the dramatic quality of the music is strong and contains plenty of engaging melodies, and they would certainly bear comparison with many operas {…}
Over the past ten to fifteen years, there has been an impressive supply of high-quality Irish female singers establishing successful international careers for themselves. However, this has not been the case with male singers, who appear to struggle to secure roles, even at Irish National Opera. One singer who appears about to buck the trend is bass-baritone Rory Dunne, who {…}
The Wexford Festival Opera has announced its 2022 showcase, which kicks off on Oct. 21 and runs through Nov. 6, 2022. The season opens with “La Tempesta” by Halévy. The work will star Niklay Zemlianskikh, Hila Baggio, Giiorgi Manoshvili, Andrew Morstein, Jade Phoenix, Rory Musgrave, Conor Prendiville, Richard Shaffrey, and Emma Jüngling. Roberto Catalano will direct the opera with Francesco {…}
(Photo: Clive Barda) On taking up the post of Artistic Director for Wexford Festival Opera in 2020, Rosetta Cucchi introduced a number of innovations, one of which was the establishment of the Wexford Factory aimed at offering professional and financial support to young singers in the early stages of their careers. A central part of the initiative is the presentation {…}
(Photo: Clive Barda) How does one portray a famous person from history in a work of fiction? Take for example Ambroise Thomas’ opera “Le Songe d’un nuit d’été.” This opera was written to a libretto by Joseph-Bernard Rosier and Adolphe de Leuven, that premiered in 1850 at Paris’ L’Opéra- Comique, and has just been revived by Wexford Festival Opera. It {…}
(Credit: Fay Fox) Wexford Festival Opera has announced that it will present its 70th anniversary festival this October. The showcase, which will take place between Oct. 19-31, will feature live audiences at a reduced capacity. The company will also present performances online for those unable to attend the live showcases. Operas Productions The company will showcase several live opera productions, {…}
The Blackwater Valley Opera Festival has announced the 2021 Bursary award winner. This year the festival announced that flutist Amy Gillen and bass-baritone Rory Dunne received the award which is made up of €10,000. “Amy and Rory are most deserving recipients of our 2021 bursary award, and we are looking forward to welcoming them back to perform at the Festival later {…}
The Wexford Festival has announced that it will be rescheduling its 2020 season to October 2021. However, the company will move forward with plans to present a reimagined event that takes place solely online. This showcase will be called “Waiting for Shakespeare… The Festival in the Air” and will take place over the course of eight days between Oct. 11-18. {…}