Irish National Opera Tosca programme book

TOSCA

IRISH NATIONAL OPERA
PRINCIPAL FUNDER
CORPORATE
PARTNER
GIACOMO PUCCINI 1858–1924
TOSCA
1898–99
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE BORD GÁIS ENERGY THEATRE
CREATED IN ASSOCIATION WITH OPERA WROCŁAWSKA
MELODRAMMA IN THREE ACTS
OFFICIAL ITALIAN
LANGUAGE PARTNER
Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica after Victorien Sardou’s five-act,
1887 play, La Tosca.
First performance, Teatro Costanzi, Rome, 14 January 1900.
First Irish performance, Theatre Royal, Dublin, 31 December 1909.
SUNG IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SURTITLES
Running time 3 hours with 2 intervals.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Ronan O’Reilly, Cora Doyle and John Grant at
Artane School of Music.
The performances on 13th and 14th July will be recorded for future transmission
on RTÉ lyric fm.
PERFORMANCES 2022
Monday 11 July Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Dublin
Wednesday 13 July Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Dublin
Thursday 14 July Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Dublin
Saturday 16 July Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Dublin
Sunday 17 July Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Dublin
#INOTosca
03

OPERA IN ALL ITS GUISES
FERGUS SHEIL
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
One of the most rewarding aspects of being artistic director
of Irish National Opera is the sheer variety and range of work
that we have got to produce since our Big Bang! launch at the
National Concert Hall in January 2018. We recently gave the
Dublin, Wexford, Cork and Limerick premieres of Donizetti’s
stirring Maria Stuarda. That production, starring Tara Erraught
and Anna Devin as the two queens, is now free to stream on
www.operavision.eu. And later this year we produce Rossini’s
epic final masterpiece William Tell, which will be seen in
Dublin for the first time since 1877.
We don’t just deal with the masters of the past. We also invest
in the future by championing the work of living composers and
we add to the repertoire by commissioning new works. We have
presented 30 different works by living composers in our first
five years. These include full-scale and touring productions,
site-specific works, short operas on film and our soon to be
unveiled virtual reality community opera – Finola Merivale’s
Out of The Ordinary (As an nGnách). This award-winning project
is a ground-up creation, created from the contributions of
people in Irish communities. Don’t miss its premiere at Kilkenny
Arts Festival – from Tuesday 9 to Sunday 14 August – when
you will be able to carry opera around on your head and use a
virtual reality headset to explore the work’s three-dimensional
world whatever way you want.
In great news for Irish National Opera, our partnership with
Dumbworld in Belfast on Brian Irvine and John McIlduff’s
The Scorched Earth Trilogy was recently awarded a coveted
Fedora Next Stage grant for digital transformation. This will
enable us to develop a new app for easy distribution of street
art operas. The operas will be projected onto walls in public
spaces while audiences can scan a QR code to download a
special app that will allow them listen to the operas on their own smartphones and headphones.
In another development for the company, we also recently produced our first youth opera in
conjunction with Music Generation Meath and Kildare in a specially-commissioned new work,
David Coonan and Dylan Coburn Gray’s Horse Ape Bird. Like many operas for young audiences it
dealt with the world of animals, but here the creators showcased actual historic instances where
animals were trained to think and act as humans – with bizarre and troubling results. The opera
was performed by teenagers from both counties with professional soloists and creative team as
well as the Irish National Opera Orchestra.
Tonight, however, we are here to enjoy one of the most popular operas of the entire repertoire,
Puccini’s Tosca. You just need to hear a few bars of this score to be reminded why it has
remained one of the most compelling and enduring operas since its premiere in 1900. It’s an
opera of sexual passion, jealousy, violence, danger and betrayal. One of my favourite scenes is
the opening of Act III where Puccini paints an aural picture of dawn breaking over the Eternal
City. The music here is achingly beautiful with the church bells from different locations ringing
out in competition with each other.
I’m excited that we can share Sinéad Campell Wallace’s rich and vivid portrayal of the title
role with you. Sinead’s Tosca is lyrical, alluring, fiery and dramatic. Partnering her is the
impassioned American tenor Dimitri Pittas, a regular guest of major opera houses in Europe
and the US, who is making his Irish debut. Everyone’s favourite bad boy, Scarpia, is sung by the
magnificent Icelandic bass-baritone Tómas Tómasson, who appeared with us as Orest in our
acclaimed 2021 production of Strauss’s Elektra at Kilkenny Arts Festival.
Our production, a collaboration with Opera Wrocławska, is directed by Michael Gieleta and
designed by Gary McCann. Michael is working with us for the first time, Gary designed our
Carmen earlier this year and his work will be seen again in Dublin in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier
at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, opening on Sunday 5 March 2023. Put the dates in your diary
now – Sunday 5, Tuesday 7, Thursday 9 and Saturday 11. In the pit the dynamic Italian-Turkish
conductor Nil Venditti returns to Dublin to bring her energy and drive to this high-octane score.
Whether this is your first or your 21st time to see Tosca, I hope you enjoy the work’s very special
drama and spectacle.
04
05

A KISS WITH A DIFFERENCE
DIEGO FASCIATI
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Welcome to the first production of our 2022–23 season,
Puccini’s Tosca, the perennially popular tale of a jealous
singer, her activist lover the painter Cavaradossi, and the
unscrupulous Scarpia, chief of police. Famously, the drama of
Tosca unfolds on, at and in specific dates, times, and locations
in Rome. It is a quintessentially Italian opera. It may seem odd,
then, that it is based on a French play. Victorien Sardou wrote
La Tosca as a star vehicle for legendary French actress Sarah
Bernhardt. The play was wildly successful in late-19th century
Europe, though today it is Puccini’s work that is celebrated
and that serves as a star vehicle – for sopranos.
As in our earlier engagements with Puccini – Madama
Butterfly and La bohème – the dialogue and lyrics were
written by the duo of Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is
to their credit, and surely an element of the success of the
opera, that they so skilfully distilled a five-act play with 22
characters into a work for nine principal singers in three acts.
The basic plot remained unchanged but Illica and Giacosa
sprinkled their own inventions throughout the text. Among
them the trenchant one-liner questo è il bacio di Tosca (this
is Tosca’s kiss), in a key dramatic moment, and the inspired
lyrical beauty of the famous Vissi d’arte.
We hope you will be inspired by our new season, which
is the biggest in our five-year history. The day after the
final performance of Tosca, we will relocate to the Galway
International Arts Festival for the revival of The First Child
by the formidably creative duo of Donnacha Dennehy and
Enda Walsh. Co-produced with Landmark Productions,
this garnered five-star reviews when it premiered at the
2021 Dublin Theatre Festival. We will take this highly-
praised new work on tour in September. In August we will present
the world premiere of Out of the Ordinary (As an nGnách) at Kilkenny
Arts Festival. This work truly is out of the ordinary: a virtual reality
community opera with music by Finola Merivale and libretto by Jody
O’Neill, realised through director Jo Mangan’s collaborations with
communities from Inis Meáin, Tallaght and South Dublin.
As a Swiss person, I must of course highlight William Tell by Rossini, the
tale of the Swiss hero who leads the fight to free Switzerland from the
clutches of the Austrians. The plot is very dramatic, and includes the
famous apple-on-the-head scene, and the music is astonishing, with
particularly affecting choruses. Though everyone will be familiar with
the overture, this is Rossini as you may never have heard him before.
Presenting operas in cities and towns across Ireland lies at the heart
of our work. For our current season we have planned over 60 live
performances of eight operas on 20 different stages. There’s lots
for you to enjoy there. Donizetti’s comic masterpiece Don Pasquale
stands in stark contrast to Massenet’s heart-rending tale of hopeless
passion, Werther. In the spring we have not one, but two world-class
casts in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. But the pièce de résistance will be
Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier – The Knight of the Rose. This sumptuous
production stars an irresistible A-list trio of Celine Byrne, Paula Murrihy,
and Claudia Boyle. An evening not to be missed.
As ever, our heartfelt thanks go to our principal funder, the Arts
Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, with whom we continue to develop and
grow opera for all and opera everywhere in Ireland. Much gratitude to
our INO Members whose support helps secure the future of opera. To
everyone in the audience tonight: thank you for being here, we greatly
appreciate it and I sincerely hope none of you are the recipients of
Tosca’s kiss.
06
07

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Image: Soprano Claudia Boyle in the title role in Gerald Barry’s The
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08
07

DIRECTOR’S NOTE
MICHAEL GIELETA
DIRECTOR
PUCCINI’S TOSCA
Puccini based some of his best known works on theatre plays which spoke
to his sensibilities in one way or another: Madama Butterfly and La fanciulla
del West (both David Belasco), Turandot (Carlo Gozzi), Il tabarro (Didier
Gold) and, last but not least, Tosca (Victorien Sardou).
The Franco-Jewish actress Sarah Bernhardt was a superstar of her day.
Sardou’s 1887 play La Tosca about the fall of the Napoleonic Roman
Republic and the reimposition of the ancien régime of the Church State
received only a lukewarm reception on its opening night. But with Bernhardt’s
advocacy and prolific touring it became an iconic vehicle for her talent.
Not unlike Bernhardt’s zeal towards her adopted Catholic identity, Tosca’s
ardent albeit occasionally self-contradictory piety has a captivating backstory
in the play. The character is an orphan girl brought up in the north of Italy
in a Benedictine convent. She is presented to the Pope as a major vocal
talent by the historical composer Domenico Cimarosa (best known for his
much-staged buoyant work Il matrimonio segreto). And, much like her opera
counterpart, she rises to stardom while remaining politically uncommitted.
Cavaradossi is a Frenchman of Italian origins, a painter-winner of the
prestigious Prix de Rome. His political alliances to the French republican idea
of a lay, democratic state give both him and his leader, the Consul Angelotti,
a grounded political stance. Angelotti himself is based on the historical
figure of Liborio Angelucci, the Consul of the Roman Republic and Lady
Hamilton’s lover in his preceding Neapolitan days.
The fall of the short-lived Parthenopean Republic and the arrival of the
advancing forces of the Spanish Bourbons explain the suppressive powers
given to Scarpia. The character also has a historical prototype, Gherardo
Curci, who was indeed awarded a barony for his services to the Spanish
monarchy. His ruthlessness in the quelling of the Roman republican
rebellion was infamous in its day.
Such background information allows myself and the cast to understand
details such as the proudly-noted presence of fine Spanish wine drunk
by Scarpia in Act II as well as the reason for the change of plans which
compels Tosca to perform a cantata for the Queen of Naples at the Palazzo Farnese in Act II (even
though in Act I Tosca believes she will be giving a stage performance at the nearby Teatro
Argentina that evening). The reason for the palace celebrations is Melas’s alleged victory at the
battle of Marengo. During the course of the act, we find out that the victory was “fake news” and
the battle in fact had been won by the Napoleonic forces.
Thanks to the play, we even understand why the republican Cavaradossi would be painting a
religious picture in the church of Sant’Andrea della Valle – it is an effective cover for his true
political activities.
Watching an opera so richly textured in the turbulently romantic relationship between Cavaradossi
and Tosca, as well directly damning of the sexual violence imposed on a number of famous Roman
women by Scarpia, those factual details may be overlooked. Though the audience may focus on
one glorious aria or another, our job as story tellers is that of piecing these narrative elements
together in order to create for you a congruous, credible stage reality.
The geography of Rome is woven into the story, with a different famous location for each each
act, and this has a tangible reflection in the realistic eighteen-hour long span of the narrative in
the opera and Sardou’s original. For this production, the loggia chosen to be the location of Act
II can indeed be seen from the back of the Palazzo Farnese. The doomed dungeons of Castel
Sant’Angelo are there across the Tiber. The locations of the villas, theatres and palaces mentioned
in the libretto make geographical sense as does the unsuccessful escape to the nearby port of
Civitavecchia, still used by the gigantic cruise ships which bring tourists into Rome.
The recent revelations of the sexual violence that has impacted so many careers in Hollywood and
beyond, as well as the issues of coming to terms with reprehensible practices within the Roman
Catholic Church, only add power to the opera’s impact. Much as one may be drawn to “spell out”
the analogies to the audience in 2022, the last decade made these analogies spell themselves
out effortlessly for us through an avalanche of unpleasant news documenting offences in show
business and the Church, the victims of which are finally being publicly recognised.
All of this demonstrates the depth of Puccini’s compassion for the victims of the abuse and his
uneasy relationship with the Catholic Church. It is impossible not to reflect here on his depiction of
the emotional cruelty that convent life imprints on the eponymous character in Suor Angelica. More
depressingly, all this shows how little has changed in the network of politics and religion, power and
sexuality since the the night of 17 June 1800 in Rome.
10
11

SYNOPSIS
The action takes place on the night of
the battle of Mareno on 17 June 1800
at the tipping point of the collapse
of the secular Roman Republic and
the reimposition of the Church State
supported by its ally, the Kingdom of
Naples. For this production the postwar
setting, but not the locations, has
been changed to the mid 20th century.
ACT I
THE CHURCH OF SANT’ANDREA DELLA VALLE
Angelotti, the Consul of the defeated Napoleonic
Roman Republic, has just escaped from the
fortress of Castel Sant’Angelo. His confederate
sister, the beautiful Marchesa Attavanti, has
left him the key to the hiding place in the family
chapel. The grumpy Sacristan bustles about
and the painter Mario Cavaradossi gets to work
on his voluptuous picture of Mary Magdalene.
He has used Marchesa Attavanti as his model
because she has been frequenting the church.
He sings of being confused, enamoured of
the blond beauty’s allure yet committed to his
love for Tosca. The Sacristan is appalled by the
sacrilegious actions of the atheist Cavaradossi
and the rest of his political faction. When the
Sacristan leaves, Angelotti appears from the
chapel; he is so exhausted after being tortured
in prison that he nearly faints. Cavaradossi
recognises his former leader and decides to
rescue him. Simultaneously Tosca can be
heard outside the church doors. Angelotti has
to conceal himself in the chapel. Having been
locked out of the church, Tosca is suspicious that
Cavaradossi may have had a secret romantic
tête-à-tête in the church. He soothes her and
they look forward to being together in his villa
after her performance that night. She is about to
leave when she sees the painting. Her jealousy is
aroused when she recognises the model as the
Marchesa Attavanti. Cavaradossi assures her that
he does not know the woman, saying he simply
saw her praying in church and painted her. Tosca
leaves, warning him playfully to repaint the picture
to resemble her. Angelotti emerges from the
chapel and reveals that the Marchesa Attavanti
is his sister and her presence in the church was
part of his escape plan. Cavaradossi offers him
refuge in his villa outside the city, but before
they can leave, a cannon shot signals that the
escape has been discovered. Cavaradossi leaves
the church with Angelotti and is determined to
fight for his leader’s life. They both express their
hatred of Scarpia, the sadistic, lecherous head of
the Secret State Police. The Sacristan is overjoyed
by Napoleon’s defeat at Mareno and calls the
children and the clergy to celebrate the victory.
Their revels are interrupted by the arrival of
Scarpia and his cronies. A search confirms his
suspicions that Angelotti had taken refuge in the
church. He finds Attavanti’s fan and the painting
in the church left behind in haste by Cavaradossi
and Angelotti. Tosca returns to tell her lover that
she will be late that night because, instead of the
regular performance, she has to sing in a cantata
for the Queen of Naples. She is distraught to find
Cavaradossi gone. Scarpia, who lusts after Tosca,
tricks her into believing that Cavaradossi was
having a tryst with Attavanti. Tosca, persuaded
that Cavaradossi has been unfaithful, sets off for
the villa to confront the alleged lovers. Sending his
agents after her, Scarpia congratulates himself
on the success of his plans, then joins the
celebrants in the Te Deum.
ACT II
SCARPIA’S OFFICE AT THE VILLA FARNESE
Scarpia is eating his supper and waiting for his
agents to bring in Angelotti from Cavaradossi’s
villa. He sends a note inviting Tosca to see him at
his office after she has sung the cantata for the
Queen. He is furious when his agent Spoletta
confesses that they have not found Angelotti.
Scarpia is mollified by the news that Cavaradossi
has been arrested instead. Cavaradossi
denies knowing anything about Angelotti.
Scarpia orders an interrogation that can use
any means necessary. He is unsuccessful
in his attempt to manipulate Tosca to reveal
Angelotti’s whereabouts, but she caves in when
Cavaradossi’s torture begins and she reveals
Angelotti’s hiding place. The news is brought
that Napoleon had after all had won the Battle
of Marengo. Cavaradossi’s triumphant response
makes Scarpia order his immediate execution.
At first Scarpia ignores Tosca’s plea for mercy,
but then reveals that the price for Cavaradossi’s
life is Tosca herself. Despite her revulsion, in her
despair she can see no way out. Her resistance
only makes her more desirable in Scarpia’s
eyes. In her presence he gives the orders for
a fake execution, expressing himself in such a
way that it is clear to Spoletta that the execution
is not to be faked. Tosca demands a safeconduct
for herself and Cavaradossi, so that
they may leave Rome for ever. As Scarpia writes
it, she notices a knife on the table, and as he is
about to rape her, she stabs him.
ACT III
CASTEL SANT’ANGELO TOWARDS DAWN
The city’s turbulent nightlife is coming to
an end. A young boy is seen singing as he
wanders through the streets of Rome at dawn.
Church bells announce the preparations for
the execution. Cavaradossi bribes a jailer to
let him write his last letter to Tosca. He is out
of his depth as he realises that his longing for
Tosca means more to him than an imminent
threat of death. Tosca runs in with the safeconduct
and their belongings, ready to
embark with Cavaradossi on a ship as soon
as the fake execution has taken place. She
tells Cavaradossi that she has killed Scarpia.
Explaining to him the reasons for the mock
execution, she instructs him how to fall and
wait till the soldiers have gone. Cavaradossi is
shot with what she believes to be blank bullets,
and when he falls he does not move. Tosca
discovers he is dead. Angry cries indicate that
Scarpia’s death had been discovered. Scarpia’s
henchmen run in in pursuit of Tosca, but she
rushes to the top of the citadel ready to take her
own life rather than be caught.
12
13

BEING GRAEME DANBY
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THE
FIRST OPERA YOU WENT TO?
The first opera I went to, I was in. Which
was Beethoven’s Fidelio at Scottish Opera
in 1984, and I was in the chorus. I’d never,
ever been to watch a full opera before in my
entire life. I knew I loved the music, I knew I
loved the artform. But I’d never sat through
an opera. I was 22 when I was taken from
the Academy in London by Sir Alexander
Gibson and Ian Robertson, who was then
the chorus master at Scottish Opera. I
started on 1 August 1984 and my first
rehearsal was Fidelio.
There was extra chorus in this, and the extra
choristers in those days were part-timers. I
had a car chauffeur driver on my right, and
I had Bill Dempsey on my left, who was a
town planner. I was sitting there as the kind
of new boy. We started to sing O welche Lust,
the Prisoners’ Chorus, and I couldn’t hear
myself sing. I was going, O my goodness, I’m
the professional here, these two are parttimers,
and they made me sound like some
kind of little whipper-snapper. It was a very
steep learning curve, that. I had to think, OK,
I’ve done my degree at the Academy and got
whatever prizes and awards and stuff like
that. This is where the learning really starts.
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THE
FIRST OPERA YOU SANG A ROLE IN?
That was Capriccio. I did the fourth servant
at Scottish Opera in Richard Strauss’s
Capriccio. Very exciting! Really exciting to get
to sing on your own on the professional opera
stage. I was never daunted by that, because
that was going to be my path. I always
believed that I would be a soloist eventually.
I knew from my teachers... they said there is
a process that you have to go through to do
that, and I’m pleased that they made me do
that. In the same season I did Benedict in
Offenbach’s La vie parisienne.
I wasn’t nervous. I’m a very prepared
person. I do the same with my students. I
never put them in a situation where I think
they will sink. I always prepare them to be
in that situation. I’ve always done the same
with myself. I’m not a nervous person.
And I never minded the waiting that
comes with small roles. I enjoyed watching
while I was waiting around in rehearsal. I
spent 11 years doing that in the chorus,
watching some incredible people, Charlie
Craig, Della Jones, all of these wonderful,
wonderful singers. And I used to just watch
the whole time and learn.
WHAT WAS THE BEST OPERA-RELATED
ADVICE YOU EVER GOT?
From the conductor Sir Alexander Gibson,
who always told me, never, ever think you’re
good enough. Always work to be better. He
was somebody I really looked up to, who had
made his mark in his home country, and
was very Scottish. In Ireland, in Dublin and
around the area, you will get people who are
very, very, very proud to be Irish, and want to
make their mark here. I really admire that.
It’s a trait that we should try and keep.
WHAT IS THE MOST ANNOYING
MISCONCEPTION ABOUT OPERA?
That it’s elitist. It’s not. I’m fed up with
meeting people who say, “I don’t like opera”
and I say, “Have you ever been to see one?”
and they say, “No”. Then they’ll go, “It’s
very expensive.” No, it’s not. You can go
to Covent Garden for £20. You can go to
English National Opera for £15. You cannot
go and see Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton,
any West End show for that kind of price.
Opera is very good value, and it’s live!
15

WHAT MOMENT DO YOU MOST LOOK
FORWARD TO WHEN YOU GO TO A
PERFORMANCE OF TOSCA?
If I was going to see a performance of
Tosca, obviously I would look forward to
seeing me as the Sacristan. That’s fairly
obvious! [He grins] I love Tosca as a piece,
because the three main protagonists,
Scarpia, Floria Tosca and Cavaradossi,
they’re really challenging roles. You can’t
busk roles like that. They’re emotionally
draining, vocally draining, and put those
two together and you’ll get a fantastic
performance. But if you’re not in pretty top
form, boy, it’s a struggle.
WHAT’S THE MOST CHALLENGING
ASPECT OF SINGING THE SACRISTAN
IN TOSCA?
Number one, there are a lot of people in
Tosca, especially Act I – because he’s only
in Act I – who are very dependent on the
Sacristan. Cavaradossi is dependent, the
Children’s Chorus are, the chorus, too,
are dependent on the Sacristan getting
everything right, musically. And, creating
that little bit of humour, that tiny bit of
humour. Because Tosca is a very dark
piece, and the Sacristan is the only light
relief. And, of course, the way I want it to
be is probably nothing to do with it. The
director will have his own say on that kind
of thing. It’s my job to create what’s in his
head. I’ve done over 160 performances
of Sacristan throughout my life, in various
places around the world. So I’ve got a lot of
knowledge about him. But, equally, I’ll do
exactly what the director wants.
WHAT IS THE GREAT PLEASURE OF
BEING THE OPERA EQUIVALENT OF A
CHARACTER ACTOR?
I love support cast. I’ve made my career
out of support cast. I admire basses who
sing all night. As a bass you’re very rarely
going to be the love interest. That’s the
tenor and the baritone’s sphere of work.
But as a bass I love being that glue. A lot of
people in the opera world call me the glue
in a cast. Number one, because I’m 60
years old and I’ve been around for a million
years. Number two, because I operate
at the highest level. And number three, I
love my colleagues. There’s very, very few
people in the whole of the opera world that
I don’t get on with. And I love that element
of keeping people together, maybe
diffusing a soprano/tenor little bit of a
problem, or soprano/baritone or whatever.
Diffusing a little situation like that, maybe
with a little bit of humour, a friendly chat or
something. I enjoy that element of my job.
I’ve done hundreds of roles, and I love that.
Over recent years I’ve spent a lot of time
doing some Gerald Barry, for instance. I
played Lady Bracknell in The Importance
of Being Earnest a couple of years ago.
I’ve just done Powder Her Face by Thomas
Adès in Fribourg and Paris. That challenge
of doing very modern music... I’m very
irritating, I’ve got perfect pitch and I can
sight-read. Also, as I say, I’m 60 years old,
so you’ve got to work harder to stay at the
top at this age. And I relish that. Every day.
IF YOU WEREN’T AN OPERA SINGER,
WHAT MIGHT YOU HAVE BECOME?
Blimey! What a question! Nobody’s ever
asked me that before. Because I’ve always
sung. I’ll have to answer what I would love
to have become. I’m a very keen golfer, I’m
a very good golfer. I wouldn’t mind being a
professional golfer. I wouldn’t mind being in
an industry where I can make a difference
– help people who can’t help themselves.
I think that would make me very happy. I
do a lot of charity work, for a lot of charities.
I give my time in a concert or something,
for nothing. Because I think that that’s a
nicer way to give than direct debit. I would
have to do something. I couldn’t sit and do
nothing. That’s not in my remit at all. I can’t
sit still. You know I’ve never watched a film.
Ever. Can’t sit still for long enough. To chill
out I work in the garden, I walk a lot, I play
golf. During lockdown, I lost 31 kilos. I set
myself a weight loss target, with a structure,
hopefully, for the rest of my life that I will
remain slightly slimmer. Which has been
really, really good for me, and focused my
mind during the pandemic, which was
incredibly difficult – to see your diary just
shrinking. Tough for everybody, not just
myself. But, from my perspective, somebody
who is away from home eight-and-a-half
months a year, every year, and have been
for the last 30 years, just about, that was a
difficult thing. So I set myself a goal of losing
weight. And that’s how it will remain.
IN CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL DERVAN
Graeme Danby also takes the title role in INO’s
upcoming touring production of Donizetti’s Don
Pasquale, directed by Orpha Phelan, designed
by Nicky Shaw, and conducted by Teresa Riveiro
Böhm. This will be seen in Letterkenny (Saturday
28 November), Navan (Tuesday 29 November),
Galway (Thursday 1 December), Ennis
(Saturday 3 December), Dundalk (Tuesday 6
December), Kilkenny (Thursday 8 December),
Dún Laoghaire (Saturday 10, Sunday 11
December), Bray (Thursday 2 February 2023),
Waterford (Saturday 4 February), Cork (Tuesday
7 February), Limerick (Thursday 9 February)
and Tralee (Saturday 11 February).
16
17

CAST IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE
IRISH NATIONAL OPERA CHORUS
Cesare Angelotti John Molloy Bass
Sopranos
Mezzo-sopranos
Tenors
Basses
Sacristan Graeme Danby Bass
Caroline Behan
Anna Carney
Ciarán Crangle
Desmond Capliss
Mario Cavaradossi a painter Dimitri Pittas Tenor
Rheanne Breen
Áine Cassidy
Ben Escorcio
Lewis Dillon
Floria Tosca a celebrated singer Sinéad Campbell Wallace Soprano
Jessica Hackett
Leanne Fitzgerald
Keith Kearns
Matthew Mannion
Baron Scarpia Chief of Police Tómas Tómasson Bass-baritone
Hailey-Rose Lynch
Madeline Judge
Andrew Masterson
Lorcan O’Byrne
Spoletta a police agent Michael Bell Tenor
Maria Matthews
Sarah Kilcoyne
Keith Matthews
Fionn Ó hAlmhain
Sciarrone a gendarme Rory Dunne Bass-baritone
Hannah O’Brien
Iris-Fiona Nikolaou
Patrick McGinley
George Rice
Shepherd Joe Dwyer Treble
Megan O’Neill
Heather Sammon
Tommy Redmond
David Scott
Jailer Fionn Ó hAlmhain Bass
Niamh St John
Olivia Sheehy
Jacek Wislocki
CREATIVE TEAM
Conductor
Director
Set & Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Chorus Director
Assistant Director
Répétiteur
Assistant Conductor
Nil Venditti
Michael Gieleta
Gary McCann
Ciaran Bagnall
Amy Ryan
Davey Kelleher
Aoife O’Sullivan
Medb Brereton Hurley
CHILDREN’S CHORUS
From Independent
Theatre Workshop
Ellie Bohanna
Paul Dorman
Emma Elliott
Isabella Farrell
Finn Fitzpatrick
Aibhín Hughes
Emma Hughes
Lena Kwiatkowska
Sara Kwiatkowska
Lucy Mahon
Nina Martin
Heidi Maunsell
Darcey Maunsell
Regan Murphy
Clara Quinn Drury
Elodie Quinn Drury
Seána Tully
Costanza Viotti
From Palestrina Choir
Dominik Markowicz
Language Coach
Annalisa Monticelli
18
19

IRISH NATIONAL OPERA ORCHESTRA
PRODUCTION TEAM IRISH NATIONAL OPERA
First Violins
Sarah Sew LEADER
David O’Doherty
Siún Milne
Anita Vedres
Gina Maria McGuinness
Maria Ryan
Christopher Quaid
Brendan Garde
Emma Masterson
Matthew Wylie
Second Violins
Hugh Murray
Cillian Ó Breacháin
Christine Kenny
Brigid Leman
Justyna Dabek
Sarah Perricone
Rachael Masterson
Violas
Adele Johnson
Feargal Ó Dornáin
Aoife Magee
Gawain Usher
Martha Campbell
Thomas McShane
Cellos
David Edmonds
Yseult Cooper-Stockdale
Aoife Burke
Andrew Nesbitt
Norah O’Leary
Matilde Lotti
Double basses
Dominic Dudley
Maeve Sheil
Paul Stephens
Alex Felle
Harp
Dianne Marshall
Celesta/Organ
Aoife O’Sullivan
Flutes
Lina Andonovska
Marie Comiskey
Naoise Ó Briain
Oboes
Aoife McCambridge
Holly Chilton
Cor Anglias
Jenny Magee
Clarinets
Conor Sheil
Suzanne Brennan
Bass Clarinet
Seamus Wylie
Bassoon
Sinéad Frost
Ian Forbes
Contrabassoon
Hilary Sheil
Horns
Nicole Linning
Peter Mullen
Cuan Ó Seireadain
Javier Fernandez
Trumpets
Darren Moore
Colm Byrne
Erick Castillo Mora
Trombones
Ross Lyness
Eoghan Kelly
Colm O’Hara
Paul Frost
Timpani
Noel Eccles
Percussion
Brian Dungan
John Rosseau
Rónán Scarlett
Richard O’Donnell
Ciarán Walsh
OFF-STAGE MUSICIANS
Flute
Meadhbh O’Rourke
Viola
Feilimidh Nunan
Harp
Síofra Ní Dhubhghaill
Production Manager
Peter Jordan
Company Stage Manager
Paula Tierney
Stage Manager
Conleth Stanley
Assistant Stage Manager
Tegan Sutherland
Placement Stage Manager
Mela Sulowska
Master Carpenter
Peter Boyle
Stage Technicians
Abraham Allen
Conor Courtney
Eoin Hannaway
Jason Lambert
Laura Murphy
Pawel Nieworaj
Martin Wallace
Chief Electrician
Pip Walsh
Deputy Chief Electrician
Donal McNinch
LX Programmer & Operator
Eoin McNinch
Lighting Technicians
Simon Burke
Maeubh Brennan
Wigs, Hair and Makeup
Supervisor
Carole Dunne
Wigs, Hair and Makeup
Assistants
Tee Elliott
Trudy Hayes
Costume Supervisor
Sinead Lawlor
Costumer
Breege Fahy
Costume Assistants
Eoin Daly
Aoife O’Rourke
Hazel Ryan
Frances White
Costume Intern
Muriel Mock
Chaperone
Inga Bourke Mullaney
Surtitle Operator
Thomas Neill
Lighting Provider
Production Services Ireland
Cue One
Contract Crew
Event Services Ireland
Technical Adviser Opera
Wrocławska
Maciej Węglarz
Transport
Odhran Sherwin
Trevor Price
Octagon Logistics
ADDITIONAL THANKS
Graphic Design
Alphabet Soup
Programme edited by
Michael Dervan
Rehearsal Photography
Ste Murray
Rehearsal Video
Areaman
Promotional Video
Gansee
Production Photography
Kip Carroll
Patrick Redmond
20
21

2022—2023
SEASON
Booking and information on
irishnationalopera.ie
TOSCA
DUBLIN
11, 13, 14, 16, 17 JUL 2022
BORD GÁIS ENERGY THEATRE
DENNEHY & WALSH
THE FIRST CHILD
GALWAY
18, 20, 21, 23, 24 JUL 2022
BAILEY ALLEN HALL
TOURING 14 – 25 SEPT 2022
MERIVALE & O’NEILL
OUT OF THE
ORDINARY
KILKENNY
9 AUG 2022
KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL
& THEN ON NATIONAL TOUR
ROSSINI
WILLIAM TELL
DUBLIN
8, 9, 11, 12 NOV 2022
GAIETY THEATRE
DONIZETTI
DON PASQUALE
NATIONWIDE TOUR
26 NOV 2022 – 11 FEB 2023
IRVINE & NETIA
LEAST LIKE THE
OTHER
SEARCHING FOR
ROSEMARY KENNEDY
LONDON
15, 17, 18, 19 JAN 2023
LINBURY THEATRE, ROH
STRAUSS
DER
ROSENKAVALIER
DUBLIN
5, 7, 9, 11 MAR 2023
BORD GÁIS ENERGY THEATRE
MASSENET
WERTHER
NATIONWIDE TOUR
22 APR – 14 MAY 2023
MOZART
COSÌ
FAN TUTTE
NATIONWIDE TOUR
19 MAY – 2 JUN 2023

BIOGRAPHIES
NIL VENDITTI
CONDUCTOR
MICHAEL GIELETA
DIRECTOR
GARY McCANN
SET & COSTUME DESIGNER
CIARAN BAGNALL
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Young Italian-Turkish conductor Nil
Venditti has already established
relationships with orchestras
including Orchestra della
Toscana, of which she is Principal
Guest Conductor, Netherlands
Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre national du
Capitole de Toulouse and Ankara-based Ancyra
Ensemble. Throughout the 2020–21 season, she
made successful debuts with the Orchestre national
du Capitole de Toulouse (to which she returns in the
coming season), Orchestre national de Metz, Lemanic
Modern Ensemble, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and
Irish National Opera. Other notable debuts include
Camerata Salzburg in November 2019, conducting
Fazil Say in works by the pianist/composer himself,
who has become a strong supporter since they first
worked together in February 2018. She also served as
Assistant Conductor to the Netherlands Philharmonic
Orchestra from 2019–21 and conducted their
renowned Christmas Concert at Amsterdam’s
Concertgebouw in December 2020. In the 2021–22
season, she makes both her operatic and symphonic
debuts with the Orchestre National Bordeaux
Aquitaine, as well as debuts with the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony
Orchestra in Dublin, Ulster Orchestra, Orchestre
National de Lille, Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento
and Opera North Orchestra. With a strong affinity for
the core classical repertoire of Haydn, Mozart and
Beethoven, she is also expanding her scope into
the operatic field, having conducted Mozart’s Così
fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro and Die Zauberflöte,
Verdi’s Nabucco, Bizet’s Carmen and Salieri’s Prima
la musica poi le parole. In April, she conducted
Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore in Bordeaux.
Michael Gieleta is considered one
of the most versatile European
stage-directors of his generation,
working internationally in theatre,
musicals and opera. During his
training he was mentored by some
of Europe’s most iconic artists including Franco
Zeffirelli, Richard Eyre, Alan Bennett, Howard Davies,
Oscar-winner Andrzej Wajda, Cameron Mackintosh,
Nicholas Hytner and David Hare. His recent opera
credits include acclaimed productions of Mozart’s
Der Schauspieldirektor and Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol
(Santa Fe Opera), Puccini’s La rondine (Opera Theatre
of St Louis), Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players (Houston
Grand Opera, Florentine Opera), Smetana’s The Kiss
(Opera Theatre of St Louis), Mozart’s The Magic Flute
(Chicago Opera Theater), Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and
Puccini’s La bohème (Yale Opera), Statkowski’s Maria
and Smetana’s Hubička (Wexford Festival Opera),
Massenet’s Manon (Cape Town Opera), Mascagni’s
Cavalleria rusticana, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci,
Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Puccini’s Tosca and
Madama Butterfly, and Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and
Don Pasquale (The State Theatre, Pretoria). Gieleta
was the Artistic Director of the Cherub Company
London, where he produced, directed and premiered
works by renowned playwrights including Peter
Nichols, Tom Stoppard, Gao Xingjian, Glyn Maxwell,
Martin Sherman, Arthur Laurents, Ronald Harwood,
Nilo Cruz, Fabrice Melquiot and Howard Barker. He
is a graduate of Oxford University where he received
an MA in English Language and Literature, going on
to study Theatre Direction at the National Theatre
Studio, London, Università degli Studi di Milano,
Istituto degli Studi Teatrali and the National Theatre
Academy of Warsaw.
Gary McCann has worked extensively as
a set and costume designer for some of
the world’s most significant companies.
His credits include Tchaikovsky’s
Eugene Onegin (Santa Fe Opera),
Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos (Teatro
Comunale di Bologna, Teatro La Fenice, Venice, and Teatro
Massimo, Palermo); Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz (Maggio
Musicale Fiorentino); Britten’s Peter Grimes (Teatro La
Fenice), Puccini’s Tosca (Wrocław Opera); Strauss’s
Der Rosenkavalier (Garsington Opera, Santa Fe Opera),
Beethoven’s Fidelio (Garsington Opera); Weber’s Der
Freischütz, Verdi’s Macbeth (Vienna State Opera); Verdi’s
La forza del destino, Don Carlos and Simon Boccanegra,
Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (Opéra Royal de Wallonie-
Liége); Donizetti’s Anna Bolena (Opéra de Lausanne, Royal
Opera House Muscat, ABAO Bilbao Opera); My Fair Lady
(Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, Palermo); Bizet’s Carmen
(Opera Philadelphia/Seattle Opera/Irish National Opera);
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Smetana’s The Bartered
Bride, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Strauss’s Ariadne
auf Naxos, Ravel’s L’Heure espagnole, Poulenc’s La Voix
humaine, Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel (Nederlandse
Reisopera); Handel’s Faramondo (Göttingen, Brisbane
Baroque); Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus (Norwegian
National Opera); Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel
(Santa Fe Opera/Dallas Opera); and Mozart’s La clemenza
di Tito (Lausanne, Oviedo, Bilbao); The Girl In The Yellow
Dress (Market Theatre Johannesburg, Baxter Theatre Cape
Town, Stockholm City Theatre); Britten’s Les Illuminations
(Aldeburgh Music); Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman
(Ekaterinburg); Three Days in May, Dangerous Corner,
The Shawshank Redemption, La Cage aux Folles, The
Sound of Music, Saturday Night Fever, Cilla the Musical
(Bill Kenwright, UK tours) and Killology (Royal Court).
Gary lives in Brighton, Sussex.
Ciaran is a lighting and set designer
with over 25 years experience
in theatre design. He is based in
Belfast and is an associate artist
with Prime Cut Productions. He
made his Irish National Opera debut
with the set and lighting for Mozart’s The Magic Flute
in 2019. His recent lighting designs include The
Lonesome West, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The
Cripple of Inishmaan (Gaiety Theatre, Dublin); Romeo
& Juliet (Regent’s Park, London); There are Little
Kingdoms (Town Hall Theatre, Galway); Scrapefoot
(The Ark, Dublin); The Anvil (Manchester Theatre
Festival 2019); Hamlet (Octagon Theatre, Bolton);
Pentecost (Lyric Theatre, Belfast); Perseverance Drive
(Bush Theatre, London); Dido, Queen of Carthage
(RSC); Much Ado about Nothing (RSC, Stratford
Upon Avon and London West End). His recent set
and lighting designs include: Cavalcaders (Druid);
X’ntigone (MAC, Belfast/Abbey Theatre, Dublin);
Rough Girls, A Streetcar named Desire, RED, Lovers
(Lyric Theatre, Belfast); The Whip (RSC); A Christmas
Carol, The Great Gatsby (Gate, Dublin); The Merchant
of Venice (Great Theatre, Shanghai); UBU The King,
The Man Who Fell to Pieces, Hard to be Soft, Lally
the Scut, The God of Carnage, Villa, Discurso, Tejas
Verdes (MAC, Belfast); The Train, Observe the Sons of
Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (Abbey Theatre,
Dublin); Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe, London);
Othello (RSC); Shoot the Crow (Grand Opera House,
Belfast); Snookered (Bush Theatre, London); The
Killing of Sister George (Arts Theatre, London); A Slight
Ache and Landscape (Lyttelton Theatre, National
Theatre London).
24
25

AMY RYAN
CHORUS DIRECTOR
DAVEY KELLEHER
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
AOIFE O’SULLIVAN
RÉPÉTITEUR
SINÉAD CAMPBELL WALLACE
SOPRANO
TOSCA
Amy Ryan is a conductor, lecturer
and performer based in Dublin. She
currently lectures at the Royal Irish
Academy of Music, and previously
lectured at Trinity College Dublin.
She founded Cuore Chamber Choir
and led them to first prizes at all the major choral
competitions in Ireland. As conductor of Jubilate
Choir recent performances include the requiems of
Mozart, Fauré and Duruflé and the Irish premiere
of Graun’s Der Tod Jesu. Amy is Artistic Director
of the UCD Philharmonic Choir, and has appeared
as a guest conductor with the UCD Symphony
Orchestra at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.
She has previously worked with North Dublin Opera,
Lyric Opera Productions chorus, and St Mary’s
Pro-Cathedral Girls’ Choir. She regularly sings with
the choir of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, and has
performed throughout Europe and the United States
as a cellist, flautist and choral singer. She completed
her studies at the Kodály Institute of the Liszt
Academy of Music, Hungary, earning both a Master’s
degree in Kodály Music Pedagogy (Distinction) and
Advanced Diploma in Choral Conducting (Distinction),
studying under Péter Erdei and László Nemes. She
earned her Bachelor of Music at CIT Cork School of
Music with first-class honours.
Davey is a director based in Dublin,
working across opera and theatre.
His work with INO includes directing
Conor Mitchell’s A Message for
Marty (or “The Ring”) for the
company’s acclaimed 20 Shots of
Opera series in 2020. He was assistant director with
INO for Bizet’s Carmen and Verdi’s Aida, and also
for Rossini’s The Barber of Seville with Wide Open
Opera. He has directed outreach projects with Music
Generation and Maynooth University. He is currently
a member of INO’s ABL Aviation Opera Studio 2021–
22. Theatre directing credits include Michelle Read’s
Bang! for Dublin Theatre Festival 2020 and 2021,
A Short Cut To Happiness for the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival (nominated for the Scotsman Mental Health
Award), comic drama Seahorse, multi-form music
and puppetry works, Glowworm and Birdy, spokenword
sci-fi, These Lights, and the geopolitical allegory
The Olive Tree, which has toured internationally. He
produced the revival and tour of TRYST with Sickle
Moon Productions (The Civic/Project Arts Centre/
Lyric Theatre Belfast/VAULT London), and has worked
as an associate director with the Cork Opera House
(ProdiJig: The Revolution, The Wizard of Oz, and
The Cork Proms), and continues to work with their
emerging outreach programme. He is the Artistic
Director of Dublin Youth Theatre, a guest tutor and
director at The Lir Academy, Dublin, an associate
artist at The Civic, Tallaght, and a director and
playwriting mentor for Tenderfoot, The Civic’s youth
arts apprenticeship theatre programme. He holds
an MFA Theatre Directing (Distinction) from The Lir
Academy, and a BA (Hons) in Drama Studies and
English Literature, from Trinity College Dublin.
Aoife O’Sullivan was born in Dublin
and studied at the College of Music
with Frank Heneghan and later
at the RIAM with John O’Conor.
She graduated from TCD with
an honours degree in music. In
September 1999 she began her studies as a Fulbright
scholar at the Curtis Institute of Music and in 2001
she joined the staff there for her final two years. She
was awarded the Geoffrey Parsons Trust Award for
accompaniment of singers in 2005. She has worked
on the music staff at Wexford Festival Opera, and on
three Handel operas for Opera Theatre Company
(Orlando, Xerxes, and Alcina), and for Opera Ireland
on Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Britten’s
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She also worked at
the National Opera Studio in London and was on the
deputy coach list for the Jette Parker Young Artist
Programme at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.
She has played for masterclasses including those
given by Malcolm Martineau, Ann Murray, Thomas
Allen, Thomas Hampson and Anna Moffo. She worked
on Mozart’s Zaide at the Britten Pears Young Artist
Programme and on Britten’s Turn of the Screw for
the Cheltenham Festival with Paul Kildea. She has
appeared at the Wigmore Hall in concerts with Ann
Murray (chamber versions of Mahler and Berg),
Gweneth Ann Jeffers, Wendy Dawn Thompson and
Sinéad Campbell Wallace. She is now based in Dublin
where she works as a répétiteur and vocal coach at
TU Dublin Conservatoire and also regularly for INO.
Having started her career as a lightlyric
soprano, Sinéad has moved into
fuller dramatic repertoire, to roles
including Leonore in Beethoven’s
Fidelio, the title role in Strauss’s
Ariadne auf Naxos, Agathe in
Weber’s Der Freischütz, Helmwige in Wagner’s Die
Walküre and Kaiserin in Strauss’s Die Frau ohne
Schatten. She made her Salzburg Festival debut in
2020 as Vierte Magd in Strauss’s Elektra, conducted
by Franz Welser-Möst, returning the following
season as Aufseherin. Highlights of the 2021–22
season include Leonore in Fidelio and the title role
in Puccini’s Tosca for Irish National Opera and her
ENO debut as Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème. Further
ahead, she will make role debuts in three operas by
Puccini, in the title role of Suor Angelica, as Giorgetta
in Il tabarro and in the title role of Madama Butterfly
as well as Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin,
with returns to ENO, INO, Scottish Opera and her
debut at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. She was
a member of the ensemble of Theater Regensburg
for the 2018–19 season, and returned as a guest in
the 2019–20 season in the title role of Tosca. She
is a graduate of the DIT Conservatory of Music and
Drama, the National Opera Studio and the Britten-
Pears Young Artist Programme.
26
27

DIMITRI PITTAS
TENOR
CAVARADOSSI
TÓMAS TÓMASSON
BASS-BARITONE
SCARPIA
JOHN MOLLOY
BASS
ANGELOTTI
GRAEME DANBY
BASS
SACRISTAN
American tenor Dimitri Pittas has
appeared on leading opera stages
throughout North America and
Europe, including the Bavarian
State Opera, the Vienna State
Opera, the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden, the Bolshoi, Moscow, and the
Canadian Opera Company. He is a graduate of
The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist
Development Program and has been heard on the
Met stage as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème, Macduff
in Verdi’s Macbeth, Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir
d’amore, Cassio in Verdi’s Otello, Alfred in Johann
Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus, and Tamino in Mozart’s
Die Zauberflöte. His repertoire includes the title
roles of Verdi’s Don Carlo, Massenet’s Werther, and
Gounod’s Faust, Lieutenant Pinkerton in Puccini’s
Madama Butterfly, Riccardo in Verdi’s Un ballo in
maschera, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Alfredo in La
traviata, Tebaldo in Bellini’s I Capuletti e i Montecchi,
Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Oronte
in Verdi’s rarity, I Lombardi, the Duke of Mantua in
Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Michele in the world premiere
of Marco Tutino’s La Ciociara (Two Women) with
San Francisco Opera. This season he makes house
debuts as Cavaradossi in Tosca with Opera Utah,
Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Irish National Opera.
Recent performances include his role debut as Don
José in Carmen at Welsh National Opera, directed
by Jo Davies and conducted by Tomáš Hanus, and
Pinkerton in Anthony Minghella’s iconic production
of Madama Butterfly for his house debut at English
National Opera, conducted by Martyn Brabbins.
Following his studies in Reykjavík
and London, Tómas Tómasson
regularly guests at the most
renowned houses and institutions,
including the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden, Vienna State
Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Semperoper Dresden,
Berlin State Opera, La Scala, Teatro dell’Opera
di Roma, Teatro Real de Madrid, Gran Teatre del
Liceu, Barcelona, Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels,
Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam, Lyric Opera
of Chicago and Los Angeles Opera. His concert
repertoire includes Verdi’s Requiem, Mozart’s
Requiem, Haydn’s Creation, Beethoven’s Choral
Symphony and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and he
has collaborated with conductors such as Riccardo
Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Antonio Pappano, Andris
Nelsons, Simone Young and René Jacobs. Recent
highlights include his Wotan in Wagner’s Ring at
Grand Théâtre de Genève, Wotan in Die Walküre
and Tomsky in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades
at Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, Amfortas in Wagner’s
Parsifal in Palermo, Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila at
Washington National Opera, and Dmitri Tcherniakov’s
new production of Janáček’s The Makropulos Case at
Zurich Opera House under the baton of Jakub Hrůša.
In 2021–22 he performed in the world premiere of
Péter Eötvös’s Sleepless at the Berlin State Opera with
revivals in Geneva and Budapest. He made his debut
with INO as Orest in Strauss’s Elektra, a role which
he will perform again at the Opéra Bastille in Paris.
Other future engagements include Janáček’s Kát’a
Kabanová in Geneva, Strauss’s Salome in Tokyo, and
the title role in Aribert Reimann’s Lear at the Bavarian
State Opera.
John Molloy is one of Ireland’s
leading basses on stage and in
concert and he hails from Birr. He
studied at the DIT Conservatory
of Music and Drama, the Royal
Northern College of Music in
Manchester and the National Opera Studio in London.
He made his INO debut in 2018 as Antonio in Mozart’s
The Marriage of Figaro, in March 2021 performed Colline
in Puccini’s La bohème, and last year was Arthur in
INO’s film and live tour of Peter Maxwell Davies’s The
Lighthouse. Roles he has undertaken for Opera Theatre
Company include Sparafucile in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Trinity
Moses in Weill’s Mahagonny, the title role in Mozart’s
The Marriage of Figaro, and Zuniga in Bizet’s Carmen.
Other roles include Alidoro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola
(Scottish Opera), Guccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi
(Royal Opera House, London), Masetto in Mozart’s
Don Giovanni (English National Opera), Arthur in
The Lighthouse and the title role in Mozart’s The
Marriage of Figaro (Nationale Reisopera, Netherlands),
Le Commandeur in Thomas’s La cour de Célimène
(Wexford Festival Opera), Angelotti in Puccini’s Tosca,
Luka in Walton’s The Bear, Banco in Verdi’s Macbeth
and Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (OTC
and Northern Ireland Opera), Raimondo in Donizetti’s
Lucia di Lammermoor (Opera Holland Park), Leporello
in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Sarastro in Mozart’s Die
Zauberflöte, Bonze in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (Lyric
Opera Productions), Snug in Britten’s A Midsummer
Nights Dream (Opera Ireland) and Henry Kissinger in
John Adams’s Nixon in China (Wide Open Opera).
Graeme Danby is one of Britain’s
finest character basses. For the
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,
he has sung Billy Jackrabbit in
Puccini’s La fanciulla del West,
Charrington in Lorin Maazel’s
1984, Gonzalo in Thomas Adès’s The Tempest and il
Sacristano in Puccini’s Tosca. The roles he has sung in
over 1,000 appearances with English National Opera
include Bartolo in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro,
Basilio in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Collatinus
in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Dulcamara in
Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Pistol in Verdi’s Falstaff,
Pooh-Bah in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado, Sarastro
in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Somnus in Handel’s
Semele. In the UK he has appeared with Opera North,
Scottish Opera and the Garsington, Glyndebourne and
Buxton Festivals, and has performed internationally
at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Opéra de Rouen, the Los
Angeles Philharmonic, the Teatro Nacional de São
Carlos, Lisbon, De Vlaamse Opera, the Salzburger
Landestheater, Opéra national du Rhin, Strasbourg,
La Scala, Milan, and the Palau Reina Sofia, Valencia.
Recent engagements include Bartolo in Rossini’s Il
barbiere di Siviglia with the Israeli Opera, Thomas
Adès’s Powder her Face with the Nouvel Opéra
Fribourg, and in Paris and at the Bolzano Festival.
He made his INO debut in Mozart’s The Marriage of
Figaro in April 2018.
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29

MICHAEL BELL
TENOR
SPOLETTA
RORY DUNNE
BASS-BARITOINE
SCIARRONE
FIONN Ó hALMHAIN
BASS
JAILER
JOE DWYER
BOY SOPRANO
SHEPHERD BOY
Northern Irish tenor Michael Bell
is currently studying at the Royal
College of Music in London with
Russell Smythe having previously
held a choral scholarship at
St John’s College, Cambridge.
Michael gave the Moscow premiere performance
of the Madwoman in Britten’s Curlew River,
created the role of the Pilot in Nicholas Jackson’s
Le Petit Prince and sang Nemorino in Donizetti’s
L’elisir d’amore for Duchy Opera. In the 2021–22
season, roles have included Grimoaldo in Handel’s
Rodelinda, Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and
the Witch in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel for
the Royal College of Music’s International Opera
School. Additionally, he sang Almaviva in a schools’
production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville for
Jackdaws Music Trust. Later in the season he
looks forward to singing Pastore in Monteverdi’s
Orfeo for Garsington Opera, and the Prince in Alma
Deutscher’s Cinderella for Wexford Festival Opera.
Michael has enjoyed relationships with the Lewes
Festival of Song, Drogheda Classical Music and the
London Song Festival, among others. A recent concert
highlight was stepping in as Evangelist and to sing
the tenor arias in Bach’s St Matthew Passion for St
Endellion Festival. He makes his Irish National Opera
debut in Tosca.
Rory Dunne studied as a singer and
as an actor, and is a graduate of
both the TU Dublin Conservatoire
(BMus Hons) and The Bull Alley
Theatre Training Company. He has
worked with Irish National Opera,
Wexford Festival Opera, Vienna Opera Academy,
Cork Opera House, Northern Ireland Opera, Opera
Collective Ireland, Lyric Opera Productions, Opera
in the Open and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra Chorus,
performing roles in the National Opera House,
Wexford, National Concert Hall, Dublin, Bord Gáis
Energy Theatre, Dublin, and Buxton Opera House. He
has been awarded prizes from Feis Ceoil, Bernadette
Greevy Bursary, Navan Choral Festival and the
John McCormack Society, as well as being selected
as a finalist in Northern Ireland Opera’s Glenarm
Festival of Voice. Performed roles include Capellio in
Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Colline in Puccini’s
La bohème, the title role in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The
Mikado, Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto, the title role
in Verdi’s Falstaff, Angelotti and Sciarrone in Puccini’s
Tosca, the title role in Telemann’s Pimpinone, Haly
in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri, Dottore Grenvil in
Verdi’s La traviata, Greatrakes in Raymond Deane’s
Vagabones, Bartolo in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro,
David in Barber’s A Hand of Bridge, Boatswain in
Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore, Fiorello in Rossini’s
Il barbieri di Siviglia, and Dancaïre in Bizet’s Carmen.
This season he returns to Wexford Festival Opera to
sing the role of Bohumir in Dvořák’s Armida. He is a
past member of the ABL Aviation Opera Studio and
the Opera Factory at Wexford Festival Opera.
Fionn Ó hAlmhain is a young,
German-born bass who grew up
in Co. Wicklow and is now based
in Dublin. In 2019 he completed
a degree in Irish Traditional Music
at the TU Dublin Conservatoire of
Music and Drama, where he met his singing teacher
Robert Alderson and began singing opera. Since
then he has performed across Ireland and the UK,
including work with Irish National Opera, Opera
Collective Ireland, the Blackwater Valley Opera
Festival, Lyric Opera Productions, the Salford Choral
Society, Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra, North Wales
Opera, and the Yorke Trust Opera. He was fortunate
to be accepted onto the Glyndebourne Academy
for talented young singers in 2017 where he was
nominated for the Gus Christie Award. He is also a
founding member and chair of the TU Dublin Operatic
Society, where he both organised and performed in
several operatic events as well as a series of song
recitals, and masterclasses with Gavan Ring, Orla
Boylan and Deirdre Grier-Delaney. He is also currently
a member of the Northern Ireland Opera Studio and
will be undertaking postgraduate study at the Royal
Academy of Music in London from September.
Joe Dwyer is currently a Deputy
Head Chorister of the Palestrina
Choir in St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral,
Dublin. He has been a member of
the choir for the past five years. He
is in second year in St Vincent’s
Castleknock College, Dublin. He enjoys playing the
piano and also plays the saxophone in the school
orchestra. He makes his Irish National Opera debut in
Tosca and the production also sees him appearing at
the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre for the first time.
IRISH NATIONAL OPERA
ORCHESTRA
The Irish National Opera Orchestra is made up
of leading freelance musicians based in Ireland.
Members of the orchestra have a broad range of
experience playing operatic, symphonic, chamber
and new music repertoire. The orchestra plays
for contemporary opera productions – Thomas
Adès’s Powder her Face and Brian Irvine and Netia
Jones’s Least Like the Other – as well as chamber
reductions of larger scores – Offenbach’s The
Tales of Hoffmann and Humperdinck’s Hansel
and Gretel. The orchestra, which appeared in its
largest live formation to date in Rossini’s Cinderella/
La Cenerentola at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in
Dublin in 2019, numbered even more – 79 players
– for the sessions to produce the soundtrack for
INO’s spectacular, site-specific, outdoor production
of Strauss’s Elektra at Kilkenny Arts Festival in 2021.
The Irish National Opera Orchestra has been heard in
17 venues throughout Ireland.
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HANDEL
Semele
★★★★★
“High–octane triumph”
THE SUNDAY TIMES
With Akademie für Alte Musik
Berlin & Sestina
4, 5, 7 AUGUST
Kilkenny Arts Festival,
Watergate Theatre
2, 3 SEPTEMBER
Pavilion Theatre,
Dún Laoghaire
★★★★★
“Magnificent”
THE ARTS REVIEW
DONNACHA DENNEHY & ENDA WALSH
THE FIRST CHILD
18, 20, 21, 23, 24 JULY 2022
BAILEY ALLEN HALL, NUI GALWAY
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15 JULY
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22 JULY
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PUCCINI
Grand Théâtre de Genève
29 JULY
Ernani
VERDI
Teatro dell’Opera di Roma
ROSSINI
WILLIAM TELL
ROSSINI’S GREATEST SCORE – AN OPERA OF EPIC PROPORTIONS
8, 9, 11 & 12 NOVEMBER 2022
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PAULA
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NEAR AND FAR,
HIGH AND LOW
IRISH NATIONAL OPERA IS FOR EVERYONE
Photo: Pupils from Bennekerry
Primary School giving an operatic
blast in a Popera project with Irish
National Opera, the Royal Irish
Academy of Music, and Music
Generation Carlow
Opera is our passion. And we want to share that
passion. Not just through live events in cities and towns,
large and small, but also through educational initiatives
in schools and colleges, and community activities that
appeal to young and old alike.
Image: Hannah Irvine,
Amy Cawley, Aisling O’Farrell,
Aoife Alyssa-Reyes and
Ana Ní Dhubhda in Horse Ape Bird
Photograph: Ste Kennedy
OPERA WHEREVER YOU ARE
We take our productions to all corners of the land, from Dublin to
Galway, Tralee to Letterkenny, Wexford to Sligo. Projects such as our
site-specific production of Strauss’s Elektra in Kilkenny’s Castle Yard
and our street art projected operas offer a unique way of engaging
with our work. And if you’re not able to come to us, we can come
to you wherever you are in the world. Over the past two years, INO
has developed its digital output and grown its online content. Our
innovative project 20 Shots of Opera was highly praised, as well as
film productions of Gerald Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground,
Peter Maxwell Davies’s The Lighthouse and Amanda Feery’s A Thing I
Cannot Name. Through the generosity of our donors, we invested in a
large outdoor screen (made possible by William and Catherine Earley)
which allows us to take our filmed productions to some of the most
remote corners of Ireland. Our new partnership with Signum Records
to release some of our productions in high-resolution audio is
bringing our work to new audiences worldwide.
TRAILBLAZING DEVELOPMENTS
IN THE COMMUNITY
Our innovative virtual reality community opera, Finola Merivale’s,
Out of the Ordinary is premiering at the Kilkenny Arts Festival on 9
August. It’s a voyage into the unknown and will place people from the
communities involved directly at the heart of the creative process.
The project is not just embracing new technologies and widening
participation in the arts at a community level. It is also exploring the
cutting edge relationship between opera and digital technology. We are working with our partners
in The Civic, Tallaght, Conradh na Gaeilge and Music Generation Offaly/Westmeath to have the
project ready for nationwide touring in August. And our first youth opera, David Coonan and
Dylan Coburn Gray’s Horse Ape Bird, premiered at the end of June.
ABL AVIATION OPERA STUDIO
The professional development and employment of Irish artists are key to the success of Irish
National Opera itself, and the ABL Aviation Opera Studio is our artistic development programme.
It provides specially tailored training, professional mentoring and high-level professional
engagements for a group of individuals – singers, répétiteurs, conductors, directors, composers
– whose success will be key to the future development of opera in Ireland.
IN FOCUS
Our pre-performance In Focus talks aim to provide background to the works in our major
productions. They delve into all aspects of opera, from the histories of specific works, the
development of the characters and the issues facing performers and composers – where
possible with the actual performers and composers themselves.
INSPIRING MUSIC STUDENTS
We work with third-level music students through workshops designed to give them a fuller
understanding of the inner workings of the world of opera, that heady mixture of musical and
theatrical skills that make possible the magic that is opera. Colleges and universities we have
worked with include University College Dublin, National College of Art and Design, Maynooth
University, NUI Galway, TU Dublin and the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
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ABL AVIATION OPERA STUDIO
FOUNDERS CIRCLE
Anonymous
Desmond Barry & John Redmill
Valerie Beatty & Dennis Jennings
Mark & Nicola Beddy
Carina & Ali Ben Lmadani
Mary Brennan
Angie Brown
Breffni & Jean Byrne
Jennifer Caldwell
Seán Caldwell & Richard Caldwell
Caroline Classon, in memoriam
David Warren, Gorey
Audrey Conlon
Gerardine Connolly
Jackie Connolly
Gabrielle Croke
Sarah Daniel
Maureen de Forge
Doreen Delahunty & Michael Moriarty
Joseph Denny
Kate Donaghy
Marcus Dowling
Mareta & Conor Doyle
Noel Doyle & Brigid McManus
Michael Duggan
Catherine & William Earley
Jim & Moira Flavin
Ian & Jean Flitcroft
Anne Fogarty
Maire & Maurice Foley
Roy & Aisling Foster
Howard Gatiss
Genesis
Hugh & Mary Geoghegan
Diarmuid Hegarty
M Hely Hutchinson
Gemma Hussey
Kathy Hutton & David McGrath
Nuala Johnson
Susan Kiely
Timothy King & Mary Canning
J & N Kingston
Kate & Ross Kingston
Silvia & Jay Krehbiel
Karlin Lillington & Chris Horn
Stella Litchfield
Jane Loughman
Rev Bernárd Lynch & Billy Desmond
Lyndon MacCann S.C.
Phyllis Mac Namara
Tony & Joan Manning
R. John McBratney
Ruth McCarthy, in memoriam Niall
& Barbara McCarthy
Petria McDonnell
Jim McKiernan
Tyree & Jim McLeod
Jean Moorhead
Sara Moorhead
Joe & Mary Murphy
Ann Nolan & Paul Burns
F.X. & Pat O’Brien
James & Sylvia O’Connor
John & Viola O’Connor
Joseph O’Dea
Dr J R O’Donnell
Deirdre O’Donovan & Daniel Collins
Diarmuid O’Dwyer
Patricia O’Hara
Annmaree O’Keefe & Chris Greene
Carmel & Denis O’Sullivan
Líosa O’Sullivan & Mandy Fogarty
Hilary Pratt
Sue Price
Landmark Productions
Riverdream Productions
Nik Quaife & Emerson Bruns
Margaret Quigley
Patricia Reilly
Dr Frances Ruane
Catherine Santoro
Dermot & Sue Scott
Yvonne Shields
Fergus Sheil Sr
Gaby Smyth
Matthew Patrick Smyth
Bruce Stanley
Sara Stewart
The Wagner Society of Ireland
Julian & Beryl Stracey
Michael Wall & Simon Nugent
Brian Walsh & Barry Doocey
Judy Woodworth
STUDIO MEMBERS 2021–22
CATHERINE DONNELLY SOPRANO
AMI HEWITT SOPRANO
FRANCESCO GIUSTI COUNTERTENOR
CONOR PRENDIVILLE TENOR
MOLLY DE BÚRCA CONDUCTOR
ÉNA BRENNAN COMPOSER
DAVEY KELLEHER DIRECTOR
ABL Aviation, the international aviation investment company
with offices in Dublin, New York, Casablanca, Dubai and
Hong Kong, is the principal sponsor of Irish National Opera’s
studio mentoring programme.
Members of ABL Aviation Opera Studio are involved in all
of Irish National Opera’s productions, large and small. They
sing onstage in roles or in the chorus, understudy lead roles
– enabling them to watch and emulate great artists at work –
and, for non-singing members, they join in the world of opera
rehearsals as assistants.
Studio members also receive individual coaching, attend
masterclasses and receive mentorship from leading Irish and
international singers and musicians. Brenda Hurley, Head of
Opera at the Royal Academy of Music, London, is the vocal
consultant who guides our singers throughout the year.
Other areas of specific attention are performance and
language skills, and members are assisted in their individual
personal musical development and given professional career
guidance. They benefit from Irish National Opera’s national
and international contacts and ABL Aviation Opera Studio
also develops and promotes specially tailored events to help
the members hone specific skills and showcase their work.
For information contact Studio & Outreach Producer
James Bingham at james@irishnationalopera.ie
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INO TEAM
James Bingham
Studio & Outreach Producer
Sorcha Carroll
Marketing Manager
Aoife Daly
Development Manager
Diego Fasciati
Executive Director
Sarah Halpin
Digital Communications
Manager
Cate Kelliher
Business & Finance Manager
Elaine Kelly
Resident Conductor
Audrey Keogan
Development Assistant
Anne Kyle
Stage Manager
Patricia Malpas
Project Administrator
James Middleton
Orchestra & Chorus Manager
Muireann Ní Dhubhghaill
Artistic Administrator
Gavin O’Sullivan
Head of Production
Fergus Sheil
Artistic Director
Sarah Thursfield
Marketing Executive
Paula Tierney
Company Stage Manager
Board of Directors
Jennifer Caldwell (Chair)
Tara Erraught
Gerard Howlin
Gary Joyce
Stella Litchfield
Sara Moorhead
Ann Nolan
Yvonne Shields
Bruce Stanley
Irish National Opera
69 Dame Street
Dublin 2 | Ireland
T: 01–679 4962
E: info@irishnationalopera.ie
irishnationalopera.ie
@irishnationalopera
@irishnatopera
@irishnationalopera
Company Reg No.: 601853
Registered Charity: 22403
(RCN) 20204547
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