The Bord Gáis New Year Opera Gala
City Hall, Cork, Saturday 19th January @ 8.00pm
University Concert Hall, Limerick, Thursday 24th January @ 8.00pm
National Concert Hall, Dublin, Saturday 26th January @ 8.00pm
The second half of the 2001/2002 Opera Gala season, which is directed by Deirdre O’Tuama, Managing Director of Barra Ó Tuama Promotions, promises to be a spectacular series, beginning with the sparkling Bord Gáis New Year Opera Gala tour which opens at the City Hall in on Saturday 19th January, goes on to the University Concert Hall in Limerick on Thursday 24th January, with the final concert in the tour taking place at the National Concert Hall, Dublin on Saturday 26th January.All your favourite arias, duets and choruses from the world’s best loved operas will be performed in a drawing room setting and introduced by the entertaining concert narrator, David McInerney.
A top-class Irish and international cast features in the gala and is led by Australian tenor Julian Gavin who possesses a magnificent voice and has a magnetic stage presence. Born in Melbourne, Australia, he is one of the best tenors around.He has performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with the English National Opera and with Opera North, with Norwegian Opera in Oslo, Australian Opera and for Deutsche Oper Berlin and also in France, Holland and America.His recordings include Ernani for Chandos, The Tales of Hoffmann and Verdi’s Requiem and his debut in the Opera Gala series is awaited with great enthusiasm.
Ireland’s leading soprano Cara O’Sullivan returns to this country especially for the tour.She has excelled on the international stage and her voice has been described as a ‘stream of opulent tone’ and is a ‘fearless vocal artist whether singing Mozart, Donizetti,Verdi or Puccini’.She has performed with Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Welsh National Opera, Garsington Opera, Opera Nantes, Opera da Vlaamse, English National Opera, Opera Ireland, Opera National de Paris and her US debut as Queen of the Night with the Cincinnati Festival Opera was a huge success.Some of the comments in the US reviews included:‘Cara O’Sullivan dominated her scenes with a voice of steel and sparkle’ and ‘her voice practically reaches into the audience and pulls you from your seat!’
Wonderful stage presence and fluid musical phrasing ensures that Italian baritone Marzio Giossi is a great favourite with Opera Gala audiences. His performance in the City and Port of Cork Millennium Opera Gala and the Bank of Ireland Asset Management Millennium Opera Gala alongside the legendary José Cura was a major triumph for him. He has sung in all the great opera houses in Europe performing principal baritone roles in famous operas such as Tosca, La Forza del Destino, Un Ballo in Maschera, Fedora, La Traviata, Madame Butterfly, La Boheme and I Pagliacci.
A star in his own right, Phillip Thomas is in constant demand as one of the world’s most respected accompanists and vocal coaches.He has given recitals world wide with a long list of distinguished colleagues including Dame Josephine Barstow, Dame Anne Evans, Sally Burgess, Robert Lloyd, Jane Eaglen, Susan Bullock, Sergei Leiferkus, Leslie Garrett, Felicity Palmer and John Tomlinson.He performed the opening recital of the Waterfront Hall, Belfast.
Special guests in Cork are the Willcolane Singers and the Cork Garda Choir who will combine forces under the baton of Anne Dunphy, in Limerick Voices of Limerick will be on stage with conductor Colette Davis and in Dublin it will be Glasnevin Choral Society, with conductor Jackie Curran Olohan.As well as backing the principal artistes in some of their arias, the choirs will also contribute their own individual pieces.
Bord Gáis have sponsored the New Year Opera Gala for the past eleven years, and their generosity has ensured the continuation of this extremely popular and festive event in the Opera Gala calendar.The Sunday Independent, The Irish Examiner,RTÉ and Choice Hotels Ireland also support this event.
The Opera Gala tour is sure to be a sell-out and tickets can be purchased at the following outlets:Central Box Office, Grand Parade, Cork Tel 021 4543210, University Concert Hall, Limerick Tel. 061 331549 and at the National Concert Hall, Dublin Tel. 01 4170000.Credit card and telephone booking is available and concessions are available for choirs, musical societies, OAPs, the unemployed and students. |
