Cosí fan tutte programme book 2023

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TAILWINDS AND HEADWINDS DIEGO FASCIATI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR One of my all-time favourite operatic trios is Soave sia il vento from Act I of Così fan tutte. Da Ponte constructs a simple but affecting poem for this trio that conveys a message of hope and a longing for happy endings: May the winds be gentle / May the waves be calm / And may the elements indulge our desires. The way the lyrics are matched by Mozart’s seemingly simple melody creates an extraordinary effect. It’s all to do with the intertwining and intermingling of the voices, and the way the orchestra creates the effect of undulating waves. It is essentially a “smooth sailing!” farewell. Of course our friends in this opera will encounter some very stormy seas before eventually landing on shore – all metaphorically, of course – but not without having learned a very real lesson or two about life and love. In the course of planning and producing opera we sometimes have to navigate rough and tricky waters. That is part of the business as it requires a large team of people, working at the top of their game, to take an opera from page to stage. Like you, we are now being tossed and turned by circumstances beyond our control. The inflation we have all experienced and endured over the last two years is affecting our work. In particular, the increased costs of transport and accommodation are impacting on our ability to tour extensively and we’ve had to adjust our plans accordingly. We will not, however, increase our ticket prices, as we wish to keep opera accessible. Rossini’s William Tell and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier were two of our most ambitious productions to date. Beyond the obvious vocal and musical demands, both of these visually striking productions were difficult to achieve from a technical and production point of view. Everyone involved was taxed to the limit. The season began with a hardly less spectacular production, Puccini’s Tosca with Sinéad Campbell Wallace in the title role. That production won the Docklands Business Forum Arts Award 2022 and Sinéad received 06
an Olivier nomination for her portrayal of Tosca at English National Opera. We look forward to presenting Sinéad in another major role soon. Director Orpha Phelan and designer Nicky Shaw, the team that created such a magical La Cenerentola for us in 2019, conjured up another highly entertaining evening. Their take on Donizetti’s Don Pasquale amused audiences nationwide and went on to be nominated as Best Opera at The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards. Orpha and Nicky return to INO this autumn for an opera of an altogether different complexion, Puccini’s La bohème, with the always moving Celine Byrne as Mimì, one of her signature roles. We have also just concluded a nationwide tour of Massenet’s Werther with two extraordinary singers making auspicious role debuts: Niamh O’Sullivan as Charlotte and Paride Cataldo in the title role. We were delighted to tour Donnacha Dennehy and Enda Walsh’s The First Child, the final instalment in their trilogy of operas. And in January we revived Brian Irvine and Netia Jones’s Least Like The Other, Searching for Rosemary Kennedy for a run at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre. The production elicited plaudits from the UK press and earned an Olivier nomination for Best New Opera Production, bringing our tally of Olivier nominations to three, with one win. Not to blow our own horn too much, but this is an impressive achievement. Last season, in what we believe is a world first, we also premiered a virtual reality opera, Finola Merivale’s Out of the Ordinary, that was co-created with communities around Ireland. Experienced entirely on VR set, this bilingual opera (English and Irish) will be shown nationally and internationally in the coming months. And now, in Mozart and Da Ponte’s Così fan tutte, we’re offering not one but two excellent casts of principal singers. Our final event of the season is a gala concert featuring our current crop of INO Opera Studio artists at the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire on 18 June. The Opera Studio is bedrock of our work. Investing in talent is key to ensuring the future of opera. We thank everyone who supports our company – our principal funder The Arts Council, Culture Ireland, who support our international work, and the many INO members whose individual contributions significantly contribute to our growth and success. I’m sure you will be as excited as we are about our 2023–24 season, which will be announced next month. Until then, may the winds be gentle and may the waves be calm. 07
Page 1 and 2: MOZART COSÌ FAN TUTTE
Page 3 and 4: WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 1756-91 COS
Page 5: showing me the ropes (helping me al
Page 9 and 10: SHOW YOUR PASSION BECOME AN INO DON
Page 11 and 12: I was interested in the idea that t
Page 13 and 14: A TIME FOR OPERA Photographer: Fran
Page 15 and 16: popular journalism, popular balladr
Page 17 and 18: fashionable movie of maybe 30 years
Page 19 and 20: from CD, but this was my first time
Page 21 and 22: JELLA CULLAGH... WHAT DO YOU REMEMB
Page 23 and 24: Ireland (ACNI) contacted Scottish O
Page 25 and 26: CREATIVE TEAM Conductors Director S
Page 27 and 28: PRODUCTION TEAM Production Manager
Page 29 and 30: POLLY GRAHAM DIRECTOR JAMIE VARTAN
Page 31 and 32: STEPHANIE DUFRESNE ASSISTANT DIRECT
Page 33 and 34: SARAH BRADY SOPRANO FIORDILIGI 24,
Page 35 and 36: GIANLUCA MARGHERI BASS-BARITONE GUG
Page 37 and 38: EMMA MORWOOD MEZZO-SOPRANO DESPINA
Page 39 and 40: INO ORCHESTRA & CHORUS IRISH NATION
Page 41 and 42: FOUNDERS CIRCLE Anonymous Desmond B
Page 43 and 44: “Irish National Opera is one of t
Page 45 and 46: Conductor Elaine Kelly was a member
Page 47: JADE PHOENIX SOPRANO KATHLEEN NIC D

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