INO Strauss's Fledermaus

J. Strauss II

JOHANN STRAUSS II 1825 – 1899
FLEDERMAUS
1874
IRISH NATIONAL OPERA
PRINCIPAL FUNDER
OPERETTA IN THREE ACTS
German libretto written by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.
First Performance Theater an der Wien, Vienna, 5 April 1874.
English translation by Daniel Dooner & Stephen Lawless.
First Irish performance The Grand Opera House, Belfast,13 September 1910.
SUNG IN ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SURTITLES
Sung in English in a new arrangement by Richard Pierson, commissioned
by Irish National Opera.
Running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one interval.
PERFORMANCES 2025
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to H.E. Melissa Schubert Austrian Ambassador to
Ireland, Artane School of Music and the Irish Society of
Performance Designers.
Saturday 1 February Siamsa Tíre Tralee
Tuesday 4 February Cork Opera House Cork
Thursday 6 February Watergate Theatre Kilkenny
Saturday 8 February Lime Tree Theatre Limerick
Tuesday 11 February Town Hall Theatre Galway
Thursday 13 February Hawk’s Well Theatre Sligo
Saturday15 February An Grianán Letterkenny
Tuesday 18 February Solstice Arts Centre Navan
Thursday 20 February An Táin Arts Centre Dundalk
Saturday 22 February Pavilion Theatre Dún Laoghaire
Sunday 23 February Pavilion Theatre Dún Laoghaire
#INOFledermaus
03

BOOKING &
INFORMATION
irishnationalopera.ie
INTOXICATION GUARANTEED,
CHAMPAGNE NOT ESSENTIAL
How time flies! It’s the start of Irish National Opera’s eighth year and
we’re taking to the road once more, bringing Johann Strauss II’s fun-filled
Die Fledermaus to all corners of the land.
FERGUS SHEIL
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Opera is an expensive artform and one which, comparatively-speaking,
is underdeveloped here by comparison with most European countries.
Since 2018 we have endeavoured to build a family of artists who
perform with us again and again. It’s a multi-level undertaking. We
nurture evolving early careers through our mentoring and development
programme for emerging artists, the INO Studio. And we also have a
special focus on bringing Irish singers working internationally at the peak
of their powers to audiences in their home country.
Donizetti
The Elixir of Love
25 - 31 MAY
GAIETY THEATRE DUBLIN
WED 4 JUNE
NATIONAL OPERA HOUSE WEXFORD
SATURDAY 7 JUNE
CORK OPERA HOUSE CORK
Tonight’s cast and creative team show the results of this. Mezzo-soprano
Sharon Carty (Prince Orlofsky) and baritone Ben McAteer (Dr Falke) were part
of the “Big Bang” concert that started the INO journey in 2018. Both have
been regular performers with us ever since. Soprano Sarah Shine (Adele)
starred most recently in Massenet’s Werther and Donnacha Dennehy and
Enda Walsh’s The First Child, while baritone Seán Boylan (Frank) appeared
last year in Verdi’s Rigoletto and Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade. Die Fledermaus’s rival
tenors Alex McKissick (Gabriel von Eisenstein) and Aaron O’Hare (Alfred)
were both in our 2024 cast for Richard Strauss’s Salome. Soprano Jade
Phoenix (Rosalinde), tenor William Pearson (Dr Blind) and Megan O’Neill
(Ida) are all former members of the INO Studio, as is director Davey Kelleher
who, after working with us on many different projects, now takes charge of his
first full operatic production. Our conductor and arranger, Richard Peirson,
previously took charge of our award-winning production of Humperdinck’s
Hansel and Gretel and also provided the orchestration for our tour of Werther.
So, while many of the faces and voices on stage may be familiar, my hope is
that you will be continually surprised and delighted by our new production
of the world’s greatest operetta, and that at the end of the show you will be
utterly intoxicated – whether or not you’ve indulged in any champagne!
05

WAITING FOR
THE FLYING
DUTCHMAN
DEVELOPING A BROADER
FOOTPRINT FOR OPERA
“The Flying Dutchman is the gateway
drug to Wagner. The opera is short,
the tunes are hummable, and the
drama has great pace. But it’s also
somewhere that Wagner explored
emotional depth, orchestral grandeur
and the consummation of love
through death. It’s a thrilling mix and
I can’t wait for next March at the Bord
Gáis Energy Theatre.”
FERGUS SHEIL CONDUCTOR
Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) Overture.
Manuscript copy in Wagner’s handwriting with notes to his publisher.
DIEGO FASCIATI
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
What better way to start our 2025 operatic journey than with a
sparkling Viennese comedy? Welcome to the world of Strauss’s Die
Fledermaus, where high jinks and champagne are always on the menu,
delivered to you by a first-rate cast in our new, ten-venue touring
production.
National touring is a core part of our mission. In fact our very first
production was a tour of Thomas Adès’s Powder Her Face, and it
also brought us our first weather-related crisis – the tour was briefly
interrupted by the storm nicknamed the Beast from East. Since then,
we have toured 173 live performances of 22 productions to 35 venues
in 17 counties.
“The Flying Dutchman has it all:
history, mystery, mythology,
adventure, family drama, sorrow,
loss and ambition, all wrapped up
in a tragic love story which provides
Wagner with the framework for his
epic, luscious and ground breaking
score. With an international cast of
outstanding performers alongside
INO’s own sensational orchestra and
chorus, this production promises
to be a unforgettable evening of
storytelling and music, fitting for the
company’s first presentation of an
opera by Wagner.”
RACHAEL HEWER DIRECTOR
“Every INO Season brings new
delights and eagerly anticipated new
productions. I greatly look forward to
their first Wagner opera The Flying
Dutchman,at once an eerie legend and
a great love story. Its stunning score lets
soloists, chorus and orchestra shine.
Both the veteran opera fan and the
opera newcomer will be gripped by the
thrilling drama. I, for one, cannot wait.”
CATHERINE KULLMANN,
MEMBER OF THE INO FLYING DUTCHMAN’S CIRCLE
MARCH 2025
BORD GÁIS ENERGY THEATRE, DUBLIN
SUN 23, TUE 25, THUR 27 & SAT 29 MAR
However, we are well aware that there are still places we have not
visited. In large part this is due to the nature of opera which, even in
touring versions, typically involves a greater number of people than
theatrical productions. There are more people in our orchestras alone
than there are on stage in most plays and, also, many arts centres are
simply not large enough to accommodate our sets. We are on the case,
and it is our long-term ambition to present the work of our singers,
directors, designers and conductors in every county in Ireland,
every year.
It is also our ambition to increase the number of our tours to the larger
venues on the touring circuit, such as the one we are visiting tonight.
Of course, we will only be able to achieve this with increased
investment. Our principal funder is the Arts Council, to whom we
are always grateful, and we also thank the many individuals and
foundations who support us and make our productions possible.
I hope you enjoy our production of Die Fledermaus tonight. Thank you
for joining us and I hope we will see you again soon!
BOOKING on www.irishnationalopera.ie
06
07

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Opera is more than an art form; it’s a journey that stirs the
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Image: Kabin Crew members performing The Sound of the Northside at Everyman, Cork
Photo: Cathal Noonan
08
09

SYNOPSIS
ACT I Gabriel von Eisenstein is a philandering man-about-town, facing a short prison
sentence for insulting a public official (extended thanks to a dust-up with his incompetent
lawyer, Dr Blind). Eisenstein’s charming and conniving friend, Dr. Falke convinces him to delay
his incarceration for one night to attend a lavish masquerade party hosted by an eccentric
“Prince Orlofsky”. Unbeknownst to Eisenstein, “Orlofsky” is a club owner accomplice of Falke’s,
and the entire evening is a con, orchestrated as an elaborate prank to exact revenge for a past
humiliation where Eisenstein had abandoned a very drunk Falke dressed in a bat costume
(Fledermaus is German for Bat and the opera is sometimes called The Revenge of the Bat).
Meanwhile, Eisenstein’s wife, Rosalinde, plans to take advantage of her husband’s absence to
entertain her lover, the enthralled Alfred. Eisentein’s maid, Adele, is also scheming to attend
the party, pretending she needs the night off to visit a sick relative. As Eisenstein leaves for the
ball dressed to impress, Alfred arrives to serenade Rosalinde but is mistaken for her husband
by Frank, the prison Governor, and is arrested in his place.
ACT II At Orlofsky’s party, the atmosphere is charged with champagne and intrigue.
Eisenstein arrives, under an assumed identity for the night, “Le Marquis de Renard”, unaware
that Falke has set a trap to expose his infidelities. Adele, disguised as a glamorous chorus girl,
also attends and confounds Eisenstein with her uncanny resemblance to his maid. She also
captures the attention of Governor Frank who is posing as a patron of the arts, “Le Chevalier
Chagrin”. Rosalinde, invited by Falke, and masked as a mysterious Hungarian countess, arrives
to spy on Eisenstein, and entraps him into shamelessly flirting with her in disguise. The guests
drink, dance, and toast to the joys of life and love, with Orlofsky and Falke reveling in the chaos.
Falke’s plan begins to take shape as he watches the tangled web of disguises and indiscretions
unfold. By the end of the night, the characters are dizzy with champagne and deception,
unaware of the consequences awaiting them in the morning.
Image: Ben McAteer, Sharon Carty & Jade Phoenix in rehearsal.
Photography: Ste Murray
ACT III The action shifts to the local jail, where chaos reigns under the watch of the hapless
jailer, Frosch, and the immensely hungover Frank. Adele and her sister Ida arrive to make good
on a drunken promise, to Frank’s mortification. Eisenstein finally arrives to serve his sentence,
only to discover Alfred in his place, along with Rosalinde, who reveals her own disguise from the
ball. In a fuming confrontation, all the night’s deceptions are exposed. Falke’s grand scheme is
revealed to be a playful act of revenge, and the characters, now sobered and contrite, reconcile
in true operetta fashion, all is forgiven as they toast to love, laughter, and the joys of champagne.
10
11

DIRECTOR’S
NOTE
Humour, recklessness and frivolity.
Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus is a glittering jewel in the world of
operetta. Beneath its bubbly surface lies a sharp exploration of human
nature: the allure of artifice, reinvention, and escapism.
Die Fledermaus was born in 1870s Vienna, a city defined by cultural vibrancy and
social extravagance. The Vienna Opera Ball dazzled, the Café Central buzzed
with intellectual exchange, and the Carnival Fasching offered a joyous escape
from rigid social norms. These spaces, marked by transgression, irreverence,
and abandon, allowed the shedding of identity and revelling in pleasure.
Its roots lie in the boisterous 19th-century stage, taking inspiration from
Julius Roderich Benedix’s 1851 farce Das Gefängnis and the 1872 threeact
vaudeville play Le Réveillon by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. These
works of comedy and heightened drama formed the foundation for Strauss’s
fizzing masterpiece, their spirit of wit and mischief amplified by his giddy,
whirling musical score.
In this production, I sought to channel that spirit of humour, recklessness
and frivolity while creating an intimacy between music, character, and
setting. Grounding the opera’s staging in the spirited pulse of Strauss’s
score, I wanted to bring the orchestra into the centre of the action. Richard
Peirson’s masterful new arrangement for nine players sits at the heart of Paul
O’Mahony’s inventive design. The integration between sound and storytelling
has been central to our process, inspiring a production where every choice is
tethered to the music’s infectious energy.
In touring this piece to contemporary audiences, I wanted to draw a context
that would mirror the extravagance and transgression of 1870s Vienna while
offering an intimate perspective, swapping the opulence of scale for an
immediate intensity and energy. The interwar period of the early 20th century, a
delirious era suspended between euphoric release and electric tension, offered
Image: Davey Kelleher in rehearsal. Photography: Ste Murray
an enticing parallel. Its rich and varied international cultural movements, from
the glamour of Art Deco and early Hollywood to the underground hedonism
of Prohibition speakeasies and the daring freedom of Weimar cabarets, were
filled with urgency, experimentation, indulgence, and transformation.
This context gave us the freedom to reimagine the characters in a transforming
theatrical environment of decadence and duality, through Catherine Fay and
Sinead McKenna’s rich and playful costume and lighting designs. Rosalinde
and Eisenstein’s lifestyle gleams with a Hollywood glamour, Orlofsky emerges
as an androgynous Weimar inspired figure of enigmatic charisma, while Falke
channels the urbane wit of Noël Coward, orchestrating a party as marvelous
as it is treacherous. At the heart of it all, the band and chorus becomes both
witness and participant, seamlessly blending into the intoxicating rhythms of
a hazy, clandestine world of revelry and abandon, with the company swirling
through Stephanie Dufresne’s spirited choreography.
Bringing this vision to life has been a truly collaborative process in crafting an
irreverent champagne cocktail of imagination. Stoßt an!
DAVEY KELLEHER
12
13

OPERETTA’S GLASS
CEILING
Image: Johann Strauss II and his
first wife, Henrietta “Jetty” Treffz.
Photograph: Julius Gertinger ca
1870. From Wien Museum, https://
sammlung.wienmuseum.at/en/
object/409550.
Dublin’s Evening Telegraph newspaper
of Saturday 5 August 1899 carried some
interesting statistics about opera in its Music
and Drama column. It quoted “instructive”
statistics about the operas performed during
the last six months at the National Opera in
Paris. Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète topped the list
with fifteen performances, though Wagner had
a higher overall ranking, with 20 performances
spread over four works, Tannhäuser (nine),
Die Walküre (five), Die Meistersinger (five) and
Lohengrin (two). Also on the list were Gounod’s
Faust (thirteen), Rossini’s William Tell (twelve),
Thomas’s Hamlet (five) and Mozart’s Don
Giovanni (four).
Then the writer, anonymous as was the norm of the times, turned
to other major cultural centres. “At Covent Garden this season
Faust was performed eight times; the popularity of the opera
in both countries is remarkable. At Berlin this year the greatest
success has been the late Johann Strauss’s Fledermaus, which
is a little difficult to understand. Next year the management
will produce the same composer’s Der Zigeunerbaron.”
There’s an open prejudice here which the writer seems to
assume their readers will share. What might that have been
about? Strauss’s music was hugely popular in Ireland at that
time and, in addition to favourite waltzes, the overture to Die
Fledermaus was a concert staple. Could it have been simply
that Die Fledermaus is not an opera but an operetta?
Perhaps. Step outside the world of music for a moment and look at the Oxford English
Dictionary. That venerable institution devotes a whole page and more than 3,000 words to
opera but just 12 lines and 100 words to operetta. Similar distinctions are found also in music
reference books, not least because the history of operetta is so much shorter that that of opera.
Opera is a living artform, operetta has faded away to be replaced by musicals.
Probably what the Evening Telegraph writer had in mind was the fact that opera and operetta
didn’t really mix. Each genre had its own venues, its own performers, its own traditions.
Operetta in the opera house may have seemed like an anomaly. Additionally operetta’s use
of spoken word was alone probably sufficient to make it seem unsuitable for major opera
companies and stages, where some celebrated operas – Gounod’s Faust, Bizet’s Carmen and
Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann among them – had to have spoken words turned into recitative
to get in the door.
The Evening Telegraph writer might even have been aware of how Die Fledermaus arrived on
a stage in London for the first time – as a Christmas show, and not in an opera house, but in
a music hall. It was presented in December 1876 at the Alhambra Theatre, a venue which
was demolished in 1936 to be replaced by what is now the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square. The
theatre had opened in 1854 as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Art, was remodelled with
an indoor circus ring in 1858, and became a music hall before, some transformations later, it
became the venue that would host Die Fledermaus.
The production was anything but pure. There were new words, and new music by the composer
and close associate of Arthur Sullivan, Hamilton Clarke (1840–1912). The review in The Globe
explained it well. “The arrangement of Die Fledermaus, which was last night produced at
the Alhambra, can scarcely be accepted as a reproduction of the original three-act opera of
Strauss. In order to suit the requirements of a theatre in which ballet is paramount it became
necessary to curtail the vocal music, and to interpolate airs de ballet. This task has been cleverly
discharged by Mr Hamilton Clarke, who has with a discreet hand eliminated all the music
which was unessential to the dramatic action, and has written some delightfully fresh and
characteristic music for the ballet, which concludes the second act. Whether it is justifiable to
take such liberties with the works of any composer is obviously open to doubt, and it is certain
that Johann Strauss would find it difficult to recognise his musical offspring in its English attire.”
14
15

Image: Johann Strauss II with
Johannes Brahms in 1896.
Few composers would echo these harsh words. Strauss’s fans included Johannes Brahms,
who once signed an autograph for a member of the Strauss family by writing out the opening
of The Blue Danube and writing underneath, “Unfortunately, not by Johannes Brahms.” And
when those high priests of early 20th-century modernism, Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg and
Anton Webern, made five Strauss arrangements for a fund-raising concert in 1921, they devoted
no less than five, five-hour rehearsals to their programme, in which they also performed.
London’s Evening Standard thought that “Die Fledermaus is not so much a grand comic opera,
as it is called, as a comedy with musical interpolations, and the continuity of the story is lost by
the addition of music, while of course in its transposition from French into German, and from
German again into English, much of the wit and brightness of the original disappear. The mixture
of comedy and comic opera is hardly satisfactory, and when we come to four closely-printed pages
of dialogue without any music, as at one time we do, it is difficult to dispel the notion which begins
to assert itself about the middle of the second page, that Die Fledermaus in its present form is not
precisely the best piece that could have been chosen for the Alhambra, where music and spectacle
are so much more effective than talk.” Yet the critic’s conclusion was upbeat: “Taking everything into
consideration, it may be said that if a good deal of superfluous dialogue were cut out of the opera
there would be at present the best bill of fare the Alhambra has offered for a long time past.”
It was Mahler who created a model for others to follow by bringing Die Fledermaus into the
opera house. He was anything but Johann Strauss II’s greatest fan, and he was quite scathing
about the composer’s waltzes.
“They are characteristic and charming inventions, and I accept them as such,” he said to Natalie
Bauer-Lechner in 1901. “But you can’t call them works of art any more than, for instance, the
folksong Ach, wie ist’s möglich denn, however moving that may be. Their asthmatic melodies,
always divided into the same eight-bar periods, and without the slightest attempt at development,
cannot be accepted as ‘compositions’. Compare them with Schubert’s Moments musicaux, for
example, works of art with clear line, development and content in every bar. Strauss is a poor
fellow; with all his melodies and ‘ideas’ going to waste he reminds me of a man who has to pawn
his few possessions in order to keep going, and soon has nothing left, whereas another (the real
composer) can find plenty of notes and small change in his pockets whenever he needs them.”
Yet Mahler conducted Die Fledermaus in Ljubljana in the early 1880s, did it again in Hamburg in 1884
– in a season in which he made 145 appearances in the opera pit, conducted 17 orchestral concerts,
and also finished the orchestration of his Second Symphony! And it was his programming of Die
Fledermaus at the Hofoper in Vienna (today’s State Opera) that made the opera houses of the world
sit up and take notice, especially as he also chose to add the piece to the company’s repertoire.
Opera with spoken words is something that has long fallen out of favour both with opera
planners and opera audiences. And this is reflected in the history of operetta in the annals of
the Dublin Grand Opera Society (DGOS) and Wexford Festival Opera. The DGOS, founded in
1941, did not embrace Die Fledermaus until 1962, and took until 1997 to get around to The
Merry Widow, their first and only production of anything by Franz Lehár. Wexford Festival Opera
has a clean slate. Not a single operetta has yet graced its main stage.
INO’s next production, at Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre from Sunday 23 to Saturday 29
March, is of Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman). By curious coincidence, the
Christmas season that saw the first production of Die Fledermaus in London also brought to the
stage a Flying Dutchman parody. It was titled The Lying Dutchman, and was composed by Alfred
Lee, to words by “Hue and Eye” (aka FW Green and Arthur Swanborough). It ran at the Strand
Theatre and the characters had names like Hans Von Lie-der-Whopper, Captain Coalscuttle and
François Franchipani. The first London Die Fledermaus also changed the role names. Gabriel
von Eisenstein became Baron Essersmith. Prince Orlofsky morphed into Hilda, an opera singer,
with Alfred as her long-lost husband. Dr Falke became a Count, and Rosalind’s disguise was as a
Polish woman who inexplicably sang a Csardas in praise of Poland! So much for people who think
“traditional” (meaning old-style) productions were faithful to the original scenarios.
MICHAEL DERVAN
16
17

BEING SHARON CARTY
Image: Sharon Carty
Photography: Frances Marshall
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THE
FIRST OPERA YOU WENT TO?
I think the first opera I went to might have
been when I was actually teaching in Mount
Sackville secondary school and I brought a
transition year class to see Mozart’s The Magic
Flute. With Ailish Tynan in the role of Pamina,
if memory serves. Both the kids and I were
completely blown away by the the magic of
Mozart. You can’t but marvel at the perfection
that Mozart is. It was with Opera Ireland, like
20 years ago.
I wasn’t even studying singing at that time. I
guess I’m probably unusual in that sense, As
an opera singer I wasn’t someone who went
to operas in my teens or my early 20s. I’m just
trying to think whether we would have actually
gone to see an opera when we were in school. If
we did, I can’t remember it. So my first memory
of actually being at a proper opera was that
Opera Ireland production. All the chorus were in
yellow. I remember that really clearly.
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THE
FIRST OPERA YOU SANG IN?
The first opera that I sang in was one of those
pivotal, life-changing things. I was a part-time
student in the Royal Irish Academy of Music,
and Kathleen Tynan was new in her role as
Head of Vocal Studies. She did a fully-staged
opera with the Academy orchestra and there
were auditions for Mozart’s The Marriage
of Figaro, conducted by David Adams and
directed by Thomas de Mallet Burgess. He
was wonderful. They cast me as Cherubino,
which I think was probably a bit of a shock
to a lot of people. I was still in a secondary
school teaching job, and having a singing
lesson a week.
But, doing Cherubino, I just, you know,
got bitten by the bug then, of what it was,
what it meant to prepare for an opera. To
rehearse and to tease out the psychology of
a character and the interactions. You know,
as in life, you don’t get to control how the
other characters behave and you have to
decide for your character how they behave.
Then there’s the vocal preparation and the
fun of the costumes and the fun of getting
to step into someone else’s shoes. And
the fun and the stress of the adrenaline of
performing. I had always sung in concert. I’d
had a really incredible musical education in
my secondary school and we did the school
musical Calamity Jane in transition year. But
an actual proper opera with full orchestra
in the Academy when I was in my 20s was
was what made me made leave teaching. It
was really important in my life. Some people
thought I was absolutely mad to leave,
because I had been offered a permanent,
pensionable head of department job as a
teacher. It was the time of the SSIA [Special
Saving Incentive Account], I would have had
a house deposit with what I had saved. But
what I spent my SSIA on was going to Vienna
and studying over there for three years, to
kind of catch up a bit. I don’t regret it one bit.
WHAT WAS THE BEST OPERA-RELATED
ADVICE YOU EVER GOT?
Probably from Bernadette Greevy [the Irish
mezzo-soprano, 1937–2008]. She gave me
my first professional gig in 2008 and cast me
as Maddalena in the Verdi Rigoletto in her
last Anna Livia International Opera Festival.
I was very inexperienced going in to do that
and she had kind of taken me under her wing
in master classes. She saw something in me
and was an amazing mentor. She always
said, just get out there and learn on the job.
You’ll figure it out if you’re meant for it. Don’t
overthink it. Just get out and do it. I think
that’s true in a lot of circumstances. You can
prepare all you want. But until you actually
put yourself on stage and have to deal with it
in the moment, you haven’t tested yourself.
So, just do it and get on with it. I’ll always be
really grateful to her for that.
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19

Image: Sharon Carty
Photography: Frances Marshall
WHAT IS THE MOST ANNOYING
MISCONCEPTION ABOUT OPERA?
That it’s only for, you know, middle-aged
people and older, that there’s nothing for
young people in it. Or that it’s only for people
with money or that it’s elite. Those cliches,
may have been true in the past. But I think
anyone who’s been to any of the touring
productions of Irish National Opera, will
have seen the various different settings that
you can transpose a story onto, you know,
different times and different periods.
One of the things that struck me when we
did Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice was the scene
between Orfeo and Euridice in Act III, where
he comes into the underworld, and she’s
like, “Is it you?” And he’s like, “Yes, it’s me.
We have to go.” And there ensues the very
typical “Does my bum look big in this?” kind
of conversation. She’s like, “Oh, you haven’t
seen me. And the least you could do is tell
me that I’m beautiful.” And he just wants to
go. It’s a couple of hundred years ago that
the text was written. But all of those things
stay relevant. Human technology and media
and all those things have moved on at an
exponential rate. But the essence of what it is
to be human has remained the same.
WHAT MOMENT DO YOU MOST LOOK
FORWARD TO WHEN YOU GO TO A
PERFORMANCE OF DIE FLEDERMAUS?
I have a really clear immediate answer to this
question. You know when you have taken
your seat and the orchestra have just finished
tuning, and the hush descends and the lights
go down...then there’s a kind of collective
acknowledgement that you’re suspending your
disbelief and you’re stepping into another world
for you know an hour and a half until the curtain
goes down. I absolutely love that. I feel it’s like
a drug that completely takes you out of reality,
and there’s a there’s a kind of communion
in witnessing that together, the frisson of
not knowing what’s going to await you when
the curtain rises. It’s like you step into the
wardrobe and you find yourself in Narnia.
WHAT’S THE MOST CHALLENGING
ASPECT OF PERFORMING PRINCE
ORLOFSKY IN DIE FLEDERMAUS?
The characterisation, I guess. Because he’s
described as being a young prince. But then he
talks all the time about being bored and old. So,
trying to figure out how the body language of that
works and getting the jaded cynicism into a young
character is going to be interesting and fun. I’ve
been practicing my Russian accent, so we’ll see
whether that gets to be used or not. Yeah.
WHAT ASPECTS OF BEING AN OPERA
SINGER GIVE YOU MOST AND LEAST
PLEASURE?
The least pleasure is memorising text. I think
people make a mistake about creative work,
thinking that there’s no kind of boring or rote
element to. I find memorising text very boring
unless it’s particularly beautiful, maybe
poetic, like a a good German poem. But that’s
not always the case. I generally gain the most
pleasure from rehearsing. I love singing with
other singers. I love ensemble numbers. I
love Soave sia il vento [the trio from Mozart’s
Così fan tutte], or a duet. Singing with other
people is the greatest pleasure that music
has to offer. It’s just so connected on so many
levels that it’s really an incredible thing to be
able to experience.
IF YOU WEREN’T A SINGER, WHAT
MIGHT YOU HAVE BECOME?
I mean I was a teacher. From when I was young
I only ever wanted to be a PE teacher. I played
football with the lads out in the street. When I
was small, that was my favourite thing in the
world to do. But if I hadn’t been a musician and
teaching wasn’t an option, I would...I actually
had astrophysics down on my CAO, you know,
astronomy and stars and stargazing and black
holes and all that kind of stuff. I don’t think I
was good enough at maths for it, and I think
the work wouldn’t have been social enough
for me. But yeah, science. I would have a big
interest in how things work, or what our place is
in the universe. So, teaching, singing, science.
They would have been the three kind of paths.
Maybe in another in another life!
IN CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL DERVAN
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21

CAST IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE
Alfred Aaron O’Hare Tenor
Adele Sarah Shine Soprano
Rosalinde Jade Phoenix Soprano
Gabriel von Eisenstein Alex McKissick Tenor
Dr Blind William Pearson Tenor
Dr Falke Ben McAteer Baritone
Frank Seán Boylan Baritone
Ida Megan O’Neill Soprano
Prince Orlofsky Sharon Carty Mezzo-soprano
Frosch/Jailer Ben Escorcio Tenor
CREATIVE TEAM
Conductor/Arranger
Director
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Movement Director
Répétiteur
Assistant Director
Assistant Set Designer
Studio Répétiteur
Richard Peirson
Davey Kelleher
Paul O’Mahony
Catherine Fay
Sinéad McKenna
Stephanie Dufresne
Richard Peirson
Grace Morgan
Ronan Duffy
Ella Nagy
IRISH NATIONAL OPERA CHORUS
Mezzo-soprano
Leanne Fitzgerald
Sarah Kilcoyne
Tenor
Ben Escorcio
Baritone
David Kennedy
IRISH NATIONAL OPERA ORCHESTRA
First Volin
Sarah Sew LEADER
Cello
David Edmonds
Clarinet
Conor Sheil
PARTICIPATING INO STUDIO MEMBERS
Assistant Director
Grace Morgan
Studio Répétiteur
Ella Nagy
Second Violin
Larissa O’Grady
Viola
Giammaria Tesei
Flute/Piccolo
Meadhbh O’Rourke
Oboe
Aoife McCambridge
Horn
Hannah Miller
Piano
Richard Peirson
Rosalinde COVER Deirdre Higgins Soprano
Eisenstein COVER Cathal McCabe Tenor
Prince Orlofsky COVER Leanne Fitzgerald Mezzo-soprano
Dr Falke COVER David Kennedy Baritone
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PRODUCTION TEAM
Production Manager
Patrick McLaughlin
Company Stage Manager
Paula Tierney
Stage Manager
Anne Kyle
Assistant Stage Manager
Rachel Ellen Bollard
Technical Crew
Abraham Allen
Martin Wallace
Joey Maguire
Chief LX/LX Programmer
Susan Collins
Matthew Burke
Set Construction
Connacht Production
Services
Scenic Artist
Marcus Molloy
Wigs, Hair & Makeup
Supervisor
Carole Dunne
Costume Supervisor
Sinéad Lawlor
Costume Assistant
Veronika Romanova
Costume Assistant
& Tour Costume Supervisor
Maisey Lorimer
Costume Makers
Denise Assas Tynan
Surtitle Operator
Maeve Sheil
Lighting Provider
QLX
Production Photography
Ros Kavanagh
Rehearsal Photography
Ste Murray
Behind the scenes video
Charlie Joe Doherty
Graphic Design
Detail
Promotional video
Gansee Films
Transport
Trevor Price
Image: Aaron O’Hare, David Kennedy, Megan O’Neill and William Pearson
Photography: Ste Murray
26 25

BIOGRAPHIES
RICHARD PEIRSON
CONDUCTOR
DAVEY KELLEHER
DIRECTOR
PAUL O’MAHONY
SET DESIGN
SINÉAD MCKENNA
LIGHTING DESIGN
Richard Peirson made his Irish
National Opera debut conducting
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel
in 2020 and rescored Massenet’s
Werther for chamber orchestra
for INO in 2023 as part of its
Nationwide Tour. A graduate of Cambridge University,
the Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera
Studio, he worked with Scottish Opera from 1993
to 2001 as répétiteur, played solo piano in Britten’s
The Turn of The Screw and Strauss’s Ariadne auf
Naxos, and harpsichord in Mozart’s Don Giovanni,
Così fan tutte and The Marriage of Figaro. He was
chorus master for Gavin Bryars’s Medea and was
music director for Scottish Opera’s production of
Puccini’s La bohème. He joined English National
Opera in 2005 and has worked with many leading
conductors including Charles Mackerras, Edward
Gardner, Richard Hickox, Richard Armstrong and
Mark Wigglesworth. He was also music director of
the Norfolk-based Orange Opera from 2001 to 2006.
He has given numerous recitals with international
singers including John Tomlinson, Stuart Skelton, Lisa
Milne, William Dazeley, and Mary Bevan. He works
as a freelance coach and accompanist and has given
many lecture recitals for the Chelsea-based opera
group Divas and Scholars. His setting of W.B. Yeats’s
He wishes for the cloths of Heaven is published by
Stainer and Bell.
Davey is a Dublin-based director
working across opera and theatre.
Opera credits include Conor
Mitchell’s A Message for Marty for
Irish National Opera’s acclaimed
20 Shots of Opera series, Mozart’s
The Magic Flute for Cork Opera House, and Music
Rooms with The Ark/INO. With INO, he was Associate
Director for Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Assistant
Director for Puccini’s Tosca, Bizet’s Carmen, Verdi’s
Aida, and Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. He was a
member of the INO Opera Studio 2021–22. In theatre,
he developed and directed the award-winning Tom
Moran is a Big Fat Filthy Disgusting Liar, presented
by the Abbey Theatre. Other credits include the Irish
premieres of Tim Price’s Isla and Michelle Read’s
Bang! for Dublin Theatre Festival, as well as A Short
Cut to Happiness (Edinburgh Fringe, nominated for
the Scotsman Mental Health Award). His work spans
multi-form productions such as Glowworm, Birdy,
and These Lights (Dublin Fringe) and international
touring, The Olive Tree (European Theatre Festival of
Lebanon). Davey has directed Absolute Hell by Rodney
Ackland, The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman,
and Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and As You Like
It for the Lir Academy, Dublin, where he is a visiting
tutor. He is an associate artist at The Civic, Tallaght, a
mentor on the Tenderfoot programme and a member
the Dramaturgs Network of Ireland. He is the Artistic
Director of Dublin Youth Theatre. Upcoming projects
include The Cork Proms 2025 and Humperdinck’s
Hansel and Gretel for Cork Opera House.
This is Paul’s first time to work
with Irish National Opera. Previous
opera set designs include
Handel’s Acis and Galatea and
Andrew Synnott’s Dubliners for
Opera Theatre Company, and
Dvořák’s Rusalka for Lyric Opera Productions. He
has designed for The Abbey Theatre, The Gate
Theatre, Landmark Productions, Rough Magic
Theatre Company, Everyman Theatre, Cork, Corn
Exchange, Hatch Theatre Company, Bedrock
Productions, Siren Productions, Lyric Theatre, Belfast,
Liverpool Everyman Theatre, The Ark, Theatre Lovett,
Calipo Theatre Company, Peer to Peer, Prime Cut
Productions, b*spoke Theatre Company, Upstate
Theatre Project, Cork Opera House, CoisCéim Dance
Theatre, and The Lir. He also lectures at SETU, Carlow,
and has also worked as a Production Designer for RTÉ
and several of Web Summit’s global events including
Web Summit, Portugal and Collision, Toronto. Paul
trained at the Motley Theatre Design School, London,
after graduating from IADT Dún Laoghaire.
Sinéad is an internationally
renowned designer working across
theatre, opera, dance and film. Her
previous designs for Irish National
Opera include Mozart’s Così fan
tutte, Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda,
Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman, Vivaldi’s Griselda
and Puccini’s La bohème. She has won two Irish Times
Irish Theatre Awards for Best Lighting Design and a
Drama Desk nomination for Best Lighting Design for
a Musical. Her many credits include: The Fair Maid
of the West (RSC); The President (Landmark/Sydney
Theatre Company); Walking with Ghosts (Landmark);
Emma, Somewhere Out There You, Faith Healer, Drama
at Inish, The Unmanageable Sisters, Othello, Aristocrats,
The Plough and the Stars, The Burial at Thebes (Abbey
Theatre); Reunion, Bedbound, Straight to Video, The
Approach, Asking for It, Howie the Rookie, Greener,
October, The Last Days of the Celtic Tiger and Blackbird
(Landmark); Ghosts (Landmark/Abbey Theatre); Parade
(Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris); Teenage Dick (Donmar
Warehouse); Fun Home, PIAF, The Children, Beginning,
Assassins, The Beckett/Pinter/Friel Festival, Private Lives,
Juno and the Paycock, A Month in the Country (Gate
Theatre); Heaven (Fishamble/NYC); Sentient, Dēmos
(Liz Roche Company); Once Upon a Bridge, Epiphany,
Furniture (Druid Theatre); Angela’s Ashes The Musical
(Bord Gáis Energy Theatre); Watt (Ireland/International
tour); Famished Castle, Travesties, The Importance
of Being Earnest, Improbable Frequency, The Parker
Project, Life is a Dream and Attempts on Her Life (Rough
Magic). Sinéad has designed for many other major
Irish companies including Fishamble, CoisCéim, Gúna
Nua, Decadent, Gare Saint Lazare, Corn Exchange,
THISISPOPBABY, Siren, Second Age, Performance
Corporation and Semper Fi.
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27

BIOGRAPHIES
CATHERINE FAY
COSTUME DESIGN
STEPHANIE DUFRESNE
CHOREOGRAPHER
GRACE MORGAN
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
RONAN DUFFY
ASSISTANT SET DESIGNER
Catherine is an award-winning
Costume Designer for theatre,
dance and opera. Her previous
designs for Irish National Opera
include Strauss’s Elektra and
Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice.
Recent credits include The Crucible (West End/
National Theatre), Emma, Grania, The Quare Fellow,
Somewhere Out There You, Translations, Portia
Coughlan, iGirl, 14 Voices from the Bloodied Field
and Our Few and Evil Days (Abbey Theatre), Piaf,
Romeo and Juliet and The Threepenny Opera (Irish
Times Theatre Award nomination) (Gate Theatre),
The Plough and the Stars (Abbey Theatre/Lyric
Hammersmith), The United States vs. Ulysses
(Once Off Productions/ Pavilion), GATMAN! (Cork
Everyman), Gold in the Water (Project Arts Centre/
Mermaid), Outrage, Embargo and The Treaty
(Fishamble), Breaking Dad (Landmark Productions,
Irish Times Theatre Award nomination), GLUE (Rough
Magic), Näher...nearer, closer, sooner, 12 Minute
Dances, Totems (Liz Roche Company), Monteverdi’s
The Return of Ulysses (Opera Collective Ireland),
Britten’s Owen Wingrave (Opera Collective Ireland),
Handel’s Semele (Opera Collective Ireland), Handel’s
Acis and Galatea (Opera Theatre Company), The
Importance of Nothing (Pan Theatre Company),
Owen Wingrave (Opera Bastille, Paris), Girl Song and
Dogs (United Fall, Winner Best Production and Best
Design for ABSOLUT Fringe Festival).
Stephanie is a dancer, actor and
choreographer from the west of
Ireland. Stephanie has worked
with Irish National Opera on
Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Gerard
Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Under
Ground, Bizet’s Carmen and Rossini’s William Tell
and made her opera-directing debut in Benedict
Schlepper-Connolly’s Dust in the highly praised
20 Shots of Opera. Stephanie was one of four
performers in INO’s production of Brian Irvine and
Netia Jones’s Least Like the Other at the Royal Opera
House in London, where it was nominated for an
Olivier Award. She holds a BA in Dance from the
Rotterdam Dance Academy and is a graduate of the
full-time programme for screen-acting at Bow Street
Academy, Dublin. Since graduating she has enjoyed
combining her skills as a performer for companies
and choreographers like CoisCéim Dance Theatre,
Protein Dance, Chrysalis Dance, Dam Van Huynh,
Marguerite Donlon, Liz Roche, Emma Martin/United
Fall and Junk Ensemble. She played the lead role
of Karen in Selina Cartmell’s production of The Red
Shoes for Gate Theatre in 2017 and has appeared as
a performer in music videos for Junior Brother, Talos,
Dean Lewis, Crash Ensemble and Galia Arad among
others. As an actor Stephanie most recently finished
playing the lead role of Ellie in Deirdre Kinahan’s
Tempesta and was an ensemble member/movement
director of Cathal Cleary’s production of A Streetcar
Named Desire in December 2024. As choreographer,
Stephanie’s show After Love premiered at the Galway
International Arts Festival in 2021.
Grace Morgan is a theatre and
opera maker and director and is
a member of the Irish National
Opera Studio. For INO she worked
as assistant director for Verdi’s
Rigoletto. She is co-artistic director
of theatre company tasteinyourmouth (Dublin Fringe
Artists in Residence 2024). Her recent directing
credits include: Hysterically Shopping! to some sort
of end... a new opera with Glasshouse Ensemble as
part of Dublin Theatre Festival+ in October 2024,
Landmark Productions and Octopus Theatricals
Theatre for One (Cork Midsummer Festival), Puccini’s
Suor Angelica as part of Wexford Festival Opera 2023
and You’re Needy (sounds frustrating) (Summerhall,
Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2024, Dublin Fringe
Festival, nominated for best production 2023 and
First Fortnight award), Narcissus (Dublin Fringe
Festival 2021 and The Chiswick Playhouse), The
Sudden (Associate Director, Dublin Dance Festival,
Pan Pan), and MESPIL IN THE DARK LIVE (codirector,
Pan Pan). She also directed Drop in 2023
as part of the Druid Debuts in Galway International
Arts Festival. Grace has worked as an Assistant
and Associate Director for leading Irish companies
such as Pan Pan, Dead Centre and OneTwoOneTwo.
She has toured with shows to international venues
including Lincoln Center (New York), Centquatre-
Paris, Skirball Center (New York), FFT Düsseldorf and
BAM New York. Grace was previously the Associate
Artistic Director of Pan Pan theatre.
Ronan is a native of Co. Monaghan
and a recent graduate of the Lir
Academy with a MFA in Stage
Design. This is his first production
with Irish National Opera, and he is
delighted to have the opportunity
to work with the company as part of the Irish Society
of Performance Designers Assistant Designer
Programme. Previous design credits include Super-
Bogger and The Whispering Chair (Livin’ Dred),
King Lear, The Merchant of Venice and Jack & the
Beanstalk (Mill Theatre Dundrum), The Aliens,
Bent, Absolute Hell, The Government Inspector and
Eurydice (Lir Academy), and The Cartographer’s
Pen (Ramor Arts Centre). He also recently worked
as Design Assistant on Somewhere Out There You
(Abbey Theatre), Palimpsest (CoisCéim) and Tarry
Flynn (Livin’ Dred).
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BIOGRAPHIES
AARON O’HARE
TENOR
ALFRED
SARAH SHINE
SOPRANO
ADELE
JADE PHOENIX
SOPRANO
ROSALINDE
ALEX MCKISSICK
TENOR
GABRIEL VON EISENSTEIN
Irish tenor Aaron O’Hare
transitioned from baritone in 2021.
He recently made his Irish National
Opera debut singing Fourth Jew in
Strauss’s Salome, and also sang
Spoletta in Puccini’s Tosca and
Monsieur Triquet in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onégin,
both for NI Opera. As a former Associate Artist
with Welsh National Opera, he sang the title role in
Mozart’s Don Giovanni on tour, Stárek in Janáček’s
Jenůfa and March Hare/White Knight in Will Todd’s
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In 2021 he sang
Schaunard in Puccini’s La bohème for NI Opera and
performed in Michael Gallen’s opera Elsewhere at the
Abbey Theatre Dublin. Aaron completed his BMus
(Hons) degree at the University of Ulster and MMus
at the Royal Northern College of Music, under the
tutelage of Matthew Best. He won NI Opera’s Voice of
2015 competition, and is also a recipient of the BBC
NI and Arts Council NI Young Musician’s Platform
Award. Aaron joined Garsington Opera’s Alvarez
Young Artist’s programme (2016) and was a member
of the Opera Holland Park Young Artists (2018). Other
appearances include: Chorus and cover Sciaronne in
Puccini’s Tosca, David in Samuel Barber’s A Hand of
Bridge, Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Buff in
Mozart’s Der Schauspeildirektor (NI Opera), Dancaïre
in Bizet’s Carmen (North West Opera), Chorus and
Cover Marcello La bohéme (Nevill Holt Opera), Chorus
and Cover Papageno in Mozart’s Magic Flute (NI
Opera/Nevill Holt Opera), Demetrius in Britten’s A
Midsummer Night’s Dream and Guglielmo in Mozart’s
Così fan tutte, (RNCM), Schaunard La bohème (Ulster
Orchestra and NI Opera), and Dottore Grenvil in
Verdi’s La traviata (Opera Holland Park).
Sarah Shine is a soprano from
Limerick based in Turin, Italy.
Sarah created the role of Karen
in Donnacha Dennehy and Enda
Walsh’s The First Child in 2021 at
Dublin Theatre Festival (Landmark
Productions/Irish National Opera). For INO she also
appeared as Sophie in Massenet’s Werther and in
Linda Buckley’s Glaoch in the much-praised 20
Shots of Opera. In 2024 she performed the title role
of Handel’s Atalanta at the Barokkfest Festival in
Norway and joined French ensemble Miroirs Étendus
for the revival and nationwide tour of Michael
Gallen’s Elsewhere. In May, she began the process
of workshopping a new opera Lucia Joyce by New-
York based composer Patrick Zimmerli. Sarah made
her debut at the Bregenzer Festspiele in 2023 as
Sophie in Massenet’s Werther and was seen on stage
once again with the Académie de l’Opéra national de
Paris in a staging workshop of Looking for Bernstein.
Other engagements have included soprano soloist for
Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Orchestre de Pau
Pays de Béarn, Nannetta in the Falstaff Chronicles (after
Verdi’s Falstaff) with Wexford Festival Opera and her
role debut as Adele in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus with
the Académie de l’Opéra national de Paris. During
the 2018/2019 season, Sarah was a member of
the prestigious Salzburg Young Singers Project and
was an artist in residence for two seasons at Opéra
national de Paris. After a performance at the Palais
Garnier in 2018, Sarah was awarded the Siemens
Opera Award. Upcoming engagements include a
concert tour in Japan with musicians of the Opéra
national de Paris and a recital tour for Music Network
Ireland with French harpist Emmanuel Ceysson.
Jade made her Irish National Opera
debut as Nora in Evangelia Rigaki’s
Old Ghosts in 2023, and also
appeared that season in Strauss’s
Der Rosenkavalier as first Noble
Orphan. She graduated Bachelor of
Music Performance from the Royal Irish Academy of
Music with First Class Honours in 2020, studying with
Mary Brennan and Dearbhla Collins. While there she
sang her first major role, Charlotte Badger in Stephen
McNeff’s Banished at Kilmainham Goal, before going
on to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in
London. In 2020 Jade won the Flax Trust Music Bursary
in Belfast. That year she also participated in Wexford
Festival Opera’s Academy programme, where she
received coaching and masterclasses from such worldrenowned
musicians as Juan Diego Flores, Ernesto
Palacio, Dmitry Vdovin, and Ermonela Jaho, and sang
the role of Alice in the Falstaff Chronicles (after Verdi’s
Falstaff) as part of Wexford Festival Opera. In 2021 Jade
won both the Veronica Dunne International Singing
Competition Bursary and the Danone Ireland Young
Outstanding Female Artist Award, and participated in
the Rossini Opera Festival Academy in Pesaro, singing
the role of Modestina in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims.
Jade won the ESB Feis Ceoil Dramatic Cup in 2022.
Highlight performances include Iris in Handel’s Semele
(Opera Collective Ireland) and Ariele in Halévy’s La
Tempesta (Wexford Festival Opera). Jade’s most recent
success was for her role as Rosetta in Marco Tutino’s
La Ciociara with Wexford Festival Opera 2023, which
received a five-star review from The Irish Times
and Best Performance of the Year from Operawire.
Jade would like to dedicate her performance to the
memory of Professor Mary Brennan.
American tenor Alex McKissick made
his Irish National Opera debut in 2024
when he performed Narraboth in
Strauss’s Salome. During the 2024
–25 season, he joins the roster of the
Metropolitan Opera to cover the roles
in Jeanine Tesori’s Grounded (Mission Commander),
Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar (Bullfighter), John Adam’s
Antony and Cleopatra (Eros), and Tchaikovsky’s Queen of
Spades (Master of Ceremonies), working with conductors
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, John Adams, Keri-Lynn Wilson,
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, as well as stage directors Michael
Mayer, Deborah Colker, and Elkhanah Pulitzer. In concert,
he will join Orchestra of the Triangle for De Falla’s La vida
breve with Niccoló Muti on the podium. In previous
seasons, he has performed with Washington National
Opera, San Diego Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, North
Carolina Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Wolf Trap Opera,
Georg Solti Accademia, Berkshire Opera Festival, as
well as the Cleveland Orchestra, Richmond Symphony
Orchestra, and Charleston Symphony Orchestra, working
with conductors Franz Welser-Möst, John Adams, Eun
Sun Kim, Daniele Callegari, Yves Abel, Keri-Lynn Wilson,
Steven Mercurio, Nicole Paiement, in addition to stage
directors David Alden, Francesca Zambello, Michael
Mayer, Tomer Zvulun, and Octavio Cardenas. Alex also
toured with trumpeter Chris Botti to Texas, Arizona,
Utah, and California performing Satori and Puccini. His
recording of Bernstein’s Songfest, released on Naxos,
was considered for a Grammy Award nomination and
his CD Una notte a Napoli, recorded live at the Victoria
Hall in Geneva, is available at select locations. Alex
graduated from the Juilliard School of Music and is
an alumnus of the Cafritz Young Artist Program at
Washington National Opera.
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31

BIOGRAPHIES
WILLIAM PEARSON
BARITONE
DR BLIND
BEN MCATEER
BARITONE
DR FALKE
SEÁN BOYLAN
BARITONE
FRANK
MEGAN O’NEILL
SOPRANO
IDA
William joined Irish National Opera
as a member of the company
chorus in 2022, and made his
INO debut as the Major Domo in
Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, before
joining INO Studio in 2023–24. A
graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and
Drama, he completed his MA in Opera Performance
along with his BMus (Hons) in Music Performance
there, under the tutelage of Adrian Thompson. William
has performed roles including Ferrando in Mozart’s
Così fan tutte, Quint in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw,
the Mayor in Britten’s Albert Herring, Don Ottavio in
Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva in Rossini’s
Il barbiere di Siviglia and Don Basilio in Mozart’s Le
nozze di Figaro. William is also an avid oratorio singer,
performing Mozart’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah,
Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.
For Irish National Opera, Northern
Irish baritone Ben McAteer has
performed Malatesta in Donizetti’s
Don Pasquale, Officer Two and
Blazes in Maxwell-Davies’s The
Lighthouse, Count Almaviva in
Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Father in Humperdinck’s
Hansel & Gretel, and Schaunard in the 2021 concert
performance of Puccini’s La bohème. Ben’s current
and recent highlights include Sir Walter Raleigh in
Stanford’s The Critic at Wexford Festival Opera, Falke
in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus at The Grange Festival,
and Pangloss in Bernstein’s Candide with Marin
Alsop in a new production by Lydia Steier at Theater
an der Wien, and with the Hamburger Symphoniker
and Martin Yates. A natural performer of the works
of Gilbert & Sullivan, he recently appeared as
Mountararat in Iolanthe at English National Opera,
and as The Grand Inquisitor in The Gondoliers and
King Paramount in Utopia Limited, both at Scottish
Opera. Recent concert work includes Mendelssohn’s
Elijah with the Ulster Orchestra, Brahms’s German
Requiem with the National Symphony Orchestra,
Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Royal Scottish
National Orchestra, and soon joins Marin Alsop
and the Polish National Radio Orchestra for
Szymanowski’s Stabat mater. Ben has recorded the
role of Jesus in Arthur Sullivan’s oratorio The Light of
the World and Rupert Vernon in his operetta Haddon
Hall, both with the BBC Concert Orchestra. In 2023 he
featured on a new disc of orchestral music by Peter
Warlock, Maltworms & Milkmaids.
Seán most recently appeared with
Irish National Opera as Marullo
in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and has also
performed with INO as Moralès in
Bizet’s Carmen and Alcandro in
Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade. Other recent
operatic roles include Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan
tutte (Garsington Opera); Tarquinius in Britten’s The
Rape of Lucretia (Potsdam Winteroper); and the title
role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Nevill Holt Opera &
Garsington Opera). In the 2024/2025 season Seán
makes his Electric Picnic debut, and returns to the
Abbey Theatre for Augusta Gregory’s Grania. He
graduated with Distinction from the Guildhall School
of Music and Drama, where he studied with Robert
Dean, and also studied at the Royal Irish Academy
of Music with Virginia Kerr. At the Guildhall he was a
Guildhall School Scholar and a Gwen Catley Scholar,
supported by the Amar-Frances & Foster-Jenkins
Trust. He won the NI Opera Festival of Voice 2014 and
was a semi-finalist in the 42nd International Hans
Gabor Belvedere Competition 2024.
Megan O’Neill is a soprano from
County Kerry. She has most
recently completed the Doctor in
Music Performance Degree at the
Royal Irish Academy of Music
and is a past member of the Irish
National Opera Studio. Most recently, she made her
National Symphony Orchestra Debut at the National
Concert Hall, conducted by Samy Rachid. In
February 2024, she played the lead role of ‘Jane’ in
the film-opera DreamCatchr by Kevin O Connell,
which premiered at The Lighthouse Cinema as part
of the Dublin International Film Festival. In 2022,
Megan made her National Opera House debut,
playing the titular role of Cinderella in Alma
Deutscher’s Cinderella, Wexford Festival Opera.
Megan won the Gervase Elwes Memorial Cup at the
2022 Feis Ceoil. She was also awarded the RDS
Music Bursary of €15,000 in the same year, and
the RDS Collins Memorial Award in 2023. Megan
played the role of ‘Teen polar bear’ in John McIlduff
and Brian Irvine’s The Scorched Earth Trilogy, a
street art opera produced by Irish National Opera
and Dumbworld. The Scorched Earth Trilogy was
played in venues across Wales in June 2023 in
association with ‘Cardiff Singer of the World’.
Megan’s upcoming engagements include Sally and
covering Adele in Strauss’s Fledermaus with Irish
National Opera in February 2025. Megan is
currently an INO company chorus member
2024/2025
32 33

BIOGRAPHIES
SHARON CARTY
MEZZO-SOPRANO
PRINCE ORLOFSKY
BEN ESCORCIO
TENOR
FROSCH/JAILER
IRISH NATIONAL OPERA
ORCHESTRA
IRISH NATIONAL OPERA
CHORUS
Irish mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty
was seen most recently with Irish
National Opera as Dorabella in
Mozart’s Così fan tutte. 2019 saw
her tour in the title role in INO’s
critically acclaimed production of
Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, as well
as making her London and Amsterdam opera debuts
with Donnacha Dennehy and Enda Walsh’s The
Second Violinist. Sharon is a respected interpreter
of both early and contemporary works. Her opera
repertoire includes many of the important lyric and
coloratura mezzo-soprano roles, and on the concert
platform she has sung most of the major sacred
concert works, including all the major works of Bach,
as well as Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Mass in C minor,
and numerous chamber-music works. She is also a
dedicated song recitalist, most recently appearing in
song recitals with pianists Finghin Collins, Jonathan
Ware and Graham Johnson. She received critical
acclaim for her first disc of Schubert Songs with
pianist Jonathan Ware, released in May 2020. Recent
highlights include her Wexford Festival Opera debut
as Lucy Talbot in the European première of William
Bolcom’s Dinner at Eight, and Bach’s St Matthew
Passion in the Netherlands, as well as her debut at
the Spoleto Festival in Italy, in Silvia Colasanti’s new
opera, Proserpine. She is an alumna of the Royal Irish
Academy of Music, University of Music and Performing
Arts, Vienna, and the Oper Frankfurt Young Artist
programme, and was a creative associate on the Arts
Council’s pilot Creative Schools scheme.
Ben Escorcio is a tenor based in
Dublin, and a member of Irish
National Opera’s company chorus,
making his INO debut in 2023 as
First Waiter in Richard Strauss’s
Der Rosenkavalier. A graduate of
the Royal Irish Academy of Music
in Dublin, he has also performed Belfiore in Mozart’s
La finta giardiniera, The Grandfather in Judith
Weir’s Scipio’s Dream, Monostatos in Mozart’s
Die Zauberflöte, Ruggero in Puccini’s La rondine
and Trout in Victor Herbert’s The Enchantress. In
oratorio, he has performed solo roles in Handel’s
Messiah, Haydn’s Creation and Mozart’s Requiem.
The Irish National Opera Orchestra performs in most
of INO’s productions and is made up of leading Irish
freelance musicians. Members of the orchestra
have a broad range of experience playing operatic,
symphonic, chamber and new music repertoire.
The orchestra’s work includes Strauss’s Elektra in
2021, Der Rosenkavalier in 2023 (“delivers all the
swelling romanticism and range of tone and colour
you could ask for,” Irish Examiner) and Salome in
2024 (“a thumping triumph” Irish Examiner). It is
equally at home in music by Donizetti and Rossini
(“wonderful energy and musical vision,” Bachtrack in
2022 on Rossini’s William Tell) and Puccini (“the INO
Orchestra handled the sweeping moods in masterly
fashion,” Business Post in 2023 on La bohème).
The orchestra also performs chamber reductions
for touring productions, including Donizetti’s Don
Pasquale (2022) and Massenet’s Werther (2023). The
orchestra’s contemporary repertoire has included
Thomas Adès’s Powder Her Face (2018), Maxwell
Davies’s The Lighthouse (2021), and Brian Irvine and
Netia Jones’s Least Like The Other, Searching for
Rosemary Kennedy, in which it made its international
debut at the Royal Opera House in London in 2023.
The orchestra can be heard on the INO recording of
Puccini’s La bohème on Signum Classics.
The Irish National Opera Chorus is a dynamic
ensemble of leading professional singers that has
ranged in number from four, in Gluck’s Orfeo ed
Euridice, to 60, in Verdi’s Aida. The INO Chorus has
been heard in venues large and small throughout
Ireland as well as internationally. There is a core of
16 members of the INO Company Chorus who are
engaged to perform in all of the company’s mainscale
productions requiring chorus. Additional singers are
engaged in the Extra Chorus for each individual opera
as required. In 2022 the chorus appeared in Rossini’s
William Tell, one of the most chorally demanding
operas. INO Company Chorus members are regularly
featured in solo roles and have most recently been
heard in INO’s productions of Richard Strauss’s
Der Rosenkavalier, Puccini’s La bohème and Verdi’s
La traviata. During the 2024/25 Season, chorus
members will also feature in solo roles Donizetti’s
L’elisir d’amore and in a touring production of Johann
Strauss’s Die Fledermaus.
34
35

www.blackwatervalleyopera.ie
JOIN THE FLYING
DUTCHMAN’S
CIRCLE
We are ready
for these artistic
challenges, but
we need your
help as we
set sail.
FERGUS SHEIL
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, INO
Our first Wagner opera, The Flying Dutchman, represents a milestone
for Irish National Opera and with it, the Flying Dutchman’s Circle, an
initiative offering supporters a chance to be closely associated with this
historic first for the company. As a Seafarer of the Flying Dutchman,
you will be part of an exclusive group of visionaries who appreciate
the transformative power of opera and are committed to expanding
its reach and impact. The Flying Dutchman demands the highest
levels of artistry, creativity and technical expertise to fully capture its
depth and complexity. Your investment will ensure that we can meet
these demands and present a production of scale and beauty.
AS A MEMBER OF THE CIRCLE, YOU’LL ENJOY A HOST OF
EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITIES INCLUDING:
Premium Seating:
2 premium seats to the opening
night of The Flying Dutchman at
Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.
Behind-the-Scenes Access:
Invitations to exclusive rehearsals,
offering a glimpse into the creative
process behind this monumental
production.
Meet-the-Cast Event:
An opportunity to meet the cast and
creative team, providing intimate
insights into the making of the opera.
Acknowledgement:
Your name listed in the programme
and on our website as a key supporter
of INO’s first Wagnerian venture.
Exclusive ‘Flying Dutchman’ Dinner:
Be our guest at an exclusive Flying
Dutchman-themed dinner. This
unforgettable evening promises
a fusion of culinary delights and
thematic elegance, celebrating the
spirit of Wagner’s masterpiece in
grand style.
VIP Updates: Regular updates and
insider information, keeping you
informed and engaged with the
production’s progress.
Opera Concerts Recitals Dining Lismore Castle, Waterford
For more information or to join the Flying Dutchman’s Circle,
please contact Aoife Daly at aoife@irishnationalopera.ie
40
37

IRISH NATIONAL OPERA
STUDIO – NURTURING THE FUTURE OF IRISH OPERA
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
The Irish National Opera Studio is at the heart
of our mission to nurture the next generation
of Irish opera talent. This programme offers
a unique opportunity for emerging artists to
develop their skills and build their careers.
Highlights include:
Performance Opportunities: Members
participate in Irish National Opera productions,
learning from seasoned artists, performing
onstage, singing in the chorus, understudying
lead roles or assisting in rehearsals.
Professional Mentoring: Participants receive
individual coaching, attend masterclasses and
benefit from the expertise of renowned Irish
and international artists and coaches including
Brenda Hurley, Elīna Garanča, Danielle de
Niese, Joseph Calleja and Tara Erraught.
Skill Development: Support on all aspects
of the industry is a key feature of the
programme including advice on performance,
presentation, language skills, personal musical
growth and professional career guidance.
For information contact Studio
& Outreach Producer James Bingham at
james@irishnationalopera.ie
STUDIO SPOTLIGHT
Elaine Kelly served as a conductor
with the INO Studio from 2019 to 2021
before taking on the role of Resident
Conductor and Chorus Director for
Irish National Opera from 2022 to May
2024. During her tenure, she conducted
several main stage productions for INO,
including Gounod’s Faust in 2023. Elaine
has received a 2025 Grammy Award
nomination for Best Choral Performance
as the conductor of Benedict Sheehan’s
composition, Akathist.
Image: Elaine Kelly conducts Proms Rhapsody, Cork
Opera House, Cork. Photography: Shane J Horan
38
39

WELCOMING NEW
AUDIENCES WITH
TECHNOLOGY
REIMAGINING THE BOUNDARIES OF OPERA IN THE DIGITAL AGE
At Irish National Opera, we believe opera is for everyone.
By infusing our work with a pioneering spirit and cuttingedge
technology, we invite an ever-growing audience to
access the dynamism of opera.
Our innovative ‘Isolde’ project offers a ground-breaking
platform for synchronising visuals and audio on personal
devices, allowing audiences to use their mobile phones with
projected or screened performances in public or site-specific
locations. Isolde’s user-friendly interface replaces amplified
audio equipment, with potential applications for museums,
galleries, and audio descriptions for the visually impaired in
theatre settings.
INO is part of an exciting new project funded by Horizon
Europe, titled Hybrid Extended reAliTy, or HEAT, exploring
the impact of hologram technology on the opera experience.
HEAT paves the way for next-generation multi-sensory, hyperrealistic,
immersive experiences. We look forward to this latest
journey in the opera-meets-innovation space.
Our award-winning virtual reality community opera, Out of the
Ordinary/As an nGnách, was created by communities from
Inis Meáin to Tallaght in collaboration with composer Finola
Merivale, librettist Jody O’Neill, and director Jo Mangan.
Images: Clockwise from top,
Photos 1 & 2, Screening of
Brian Irvine’s Scorched Earth
Trilogy at Trinity College Dublin,
photos: Dumbworld; Screening
of Peter Maxwell Davies’s The
Lighthouse at Hook Head,
photo: Pádraig Grant; Audience
member at Finola Merivale’s
virtual reality opera, Out of
the Ordinary/As an nGnách, at
Dublin Fridge Festival, photo:
Simon Lazewski.
40
47 41

INO FUTURE LEADERS
NETWORK
Wagner
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA IS A GREAT
WAY TO MEET PEOPLE AND EXPAND
YOUR NETWORK.
This new initiative is tailored to young
professionals across a variety of industries
looking for an enjoyable way to expand
their professional network.
INO is a vibrant, dynamic company and our operas
attract a broad and varied audience. Developing a
robust network is crucial to a successful career and
we have created a unique opportunity for professionals
to meet and connect before an opera performance.
With this network, we want to create a space for you to
connect with individuals across a range of sectors, who
have the potential to be your future colleagues, clients,
customers or collaborators. We aim for this network to
empower you to forge meaningful connections that can
open doors to new opportunities, enhance your skill
set, and broaden your perspective – all while enjoying
a world-class opera performance!
Photo: participants at an INO Future Leaders
Network event
Photographer: Mark Stedman
This initiative is proudly supported by a partnership
with Spencer Lennox.
23 - 29 MARCH 2025
BORD GÁIS ENERGY THEATRE
TICKETS FROM €15
bordgaisenergytheatre.ie
To sign up to this network, or if your company
is interested in hosting an event for the
INO Future Leaders Network, please contact
us on development@irishnationalopera.ie
or +353 1 6794962
52
CO-PRODUCTION WITH GARSINGTON OPERA. GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED
BY THE JOHN POLLARD FOUNDATION. IN ASSOCIATION WITH BORD GÁIS ENERGY THEATRE.
irishnationalopera.ie
43

INSPIRATIONAL
INNOVATIVE IMPACTFUL
SHARING OUR PASSION FOR OPERA
WITH AUDIENCES AROUND IRELAND AND BEYOND
INO OPEN FOYER
Our Open Foyer initiative unites communities through opera.
During our recent tour of Emma O’Halloran’s Trade and Mary
Motorhead we worked with local community groups in Cork,
Tralee and Ennis to produce creative responses to the opera,
which were showcased in the theatre foyers before each
show. They included art exhibitions, poetry recitals and music
performances by singer songwriters. All participants received
free tickets to our performances. The INO Open Foyer Series is
generously supported by INO Member, William Earley.
INO ON OPERAVISION
Through OperaVision, select INO productions have reached
over 210,000 viewers worldwide, with our recent production
of Salome attracting over 50,000 views. We look forward to
sharing more in 2025 including our 2024 Studio Gala and The
Flying Dutchman.
INO SCHOOLS PROGRAMME
This season we will welcome over 400 school students to
productions at the Gaiety and Board Gáis Energy Theatre with
subsidised tickets. Our outreach team will provide resource
packs and school workshops with opera professionals
including directors, singers and dancers. The INO Schools
Programme is generously supported by Mary Canning in
memory of Timothy King.
“I didn’t know there were so many components that go
together in an opera. There’s so much work that goes
into it. It’s really amazing.”
“Outstanding performance, outstanding orchestra,
wonderful production. Thoroughly engrossing, and
the finale was spellbinding.”
45

INO TEAM
Pauline Ashwood
Head of Planning
James Bingham
Studio & Outreach Producer
Janaina Caldeira
Bookkeeper
Sorcha Carroll
Communications Manager
Aoife Daly
Development Manager
Diego Fasciati
Executive Director
Lea Försterling
Digital Communications
Executive
Ciarán Gallagher
Marketing Executive
Cate Kelliher
Business & Finance Manager
Lauren Kelly Maternity cover
Studio & Outreach Executive
Anne Kyle
Stage Manager
Amy O’Dwyer Maternity cover
Digital Producer
Gavin O’Sullivan
Head of Production
Renata Rîmbu
Development Administrator
Muireann Sheahan
Orchestra & Chorus Manager
Fergus Sheil
Artistic Director
David Smith
Accountant part time
Paula Tierney
Company Stage Manager
RJ Walters-Dorchak
Artistic Administrator
Board of Directors
Jennifer Caldwell Chair
Gerard Howlin
Dennis Jennings
Paula Murrihy
Suzanne Nance
Davina Saint
Imelda Shine
Bruce Stanley
Jonathan Friend
Artistic Advisor
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
46

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