Mezzo soprano Tara Erraught is wowing audiences everywhere The Royal Irish Academy of Music, headed by Deborah Kelleher and her team of luminaries such as Kathleen Tynan, Mary Brennan and Dearbhla Collins, has been augmented by singers who now coach like Virginia Kerr, Suzanne Murphy and Anne Murray. The remarkable Dr Veronica Dunne, still working in her 91st year, our most renowned voice coach, has set a high bar for all to follow but follow they have. This raises the question: why, all of a sudden, is Ireland producing so many great opera singers? There have always been historical sensations like Count John McCormack and Margaret Burke Sheridan, however, much like our success in international rugby, our nation is now punching above its weight in the opera world and the difference now, just as in rugby, is the quality of the coaching for our classically trained singers. Erraught, Flavin, and Ring are part of a golden generation of Irish opera singers in big demand by the premier opera companies.

Tara, from Dundalk, Co Louth, who made her debut to critical acclaim at New York's Metropolitan Opera last autumn, appears set for international diva status. Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Patrick Mason, was a joy, in particular for the mesmerising performances from Maire Flavin, Ben McAteer and Ireland's newest international opera star, Tara Erraught. The Kerryman will perform the principal baritone roles in Maurice Ravel's hugely idiomatic L'enfant et les sortileges.Īnd the first Irish National Opera (INO) production finished its sell-out run last night at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. In what is an almost 'tri-coloured' affair, Ring will front the London Symphony Orchestra alongside Irish mezzo-soprano Patricia Bardon under the baton of the undisputed greatest conductor on the planet, Sir Simon Rattle. The honour is all the more remarkable when we see the company he will be in and the challenging repertoire the BBC has selected for him. What a week for Irish opera! It was announced that Gavan Ring will make his debut at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, London this August.

Celtic opera music