Cork Opera House and Gavan Ring Will Bring Puccini To Cahersiveen

Cork Opera House and Gavan Ring, in association with The Cahersiveen Music and Arts Festival, will present Cork Opera House's much-loved production of Puccini's La bohème on Sunday 4 August 2024 at the Daniel O'Connell Memorial Church in Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry. The opera will star Irish and international operatic sensations soprano Rachel Croash as Mimì, Emma Nash as Musetta, Brendan Collins as Marcello and tenor Gavan Ring as Rodolfo.

 

A revival of the Cork Opera House 2022 production, the cast is drawn largely from the Cara O'Sullivan Associate Artist Programme – a collective of opera singers brought together by Cork Opera House in memory of the late, great Cork soprano Cara O'Sullivan. The cast also includes Rory Dunne as Colline, Malachy Frame in the role of Schaunard and the dual role of Benoît/Alcindoro sung by John Molloy.

 

Ring – a proud Cahersiveen native – is not shy about exalting the significance of this event for opera in Ireland, in particular for remote parts of the country. "As an operatic artist, one of my biggest philosophies is that we must get the artform out of the urban centres and into the small towns, parishes and villages around rural Ireland.

 

"What we're doing here in my hometown of Cahersiveen is a milestone for the growth of opera in this country – and I'm so grateful to Cork Opera House for coming on board for this – linking up with our biggest provincial urban hub and transporting the same experience that audiences are accustomed to in Cork city centre to the heart of rural South Kerry. It's a perfect urban/rural, cross-provincial partnership and I think it can absolutely be replicated around Ireland."

 

Ring's sentiments were echoed by Cork Opera House CEO, Eibhlin Gleeson, “We are really pleased to be working with Gavan and the Cahersiveen Music and Arts Festival to bring our semi-staged production of La bohème to Kerry. Presenting this show in the beautiful setting of the Daniel O'Connell Memorial Church is a privilege and patrons are in for a mesmerising experience for sure!”

 

"Obviously on a personal note, it's hugely exciting," Ring continues "When I was 16 in 2004, I produced and sang in my first concert for the Cahersiveen Music and Arts Festival – to think that 20 years later I'm producing and singing in a near full-scale production of La bohème is absolutely mind-blowing; a total pinch-me moment!"

 

Originally adapted by John O'Brien and Conor Hanratty as an outdoor production during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2001, it is a cleverly-conceived piece; tailored to suit non-traditional performance spaces and with a narrator – played by Cork actor Éadaoin O'Donoghue – recounting the ill-fated love story of Mimì and Rodolfo, in perfectly-timed interjections between some of the arias, ensembles and the acts themselves. This production, directed by John O'Brien and conducted by Conor Hanratty, enhances audience engagement hugely. It is at once an example of Irish operatic artistry at its highest level and a masterclass in operatic accessibility, attending to both the tastes of the most seasoned opera-goers and new audiences alike.

 

The performance will also be recorded for broadcast on Radio Kerry, set to air towards the end of 2024. This will be the first time a full opera will be broadcast on a local radio station in Ireland! "I am overjoyed that Radio Kerry are our broadcasting partners for this project!', says Ring. "Not only is it a truly historic moment for the broadcasting of opera in Ireland, but also it ensures that this momentous occasion reaches the tens of thousands of listeners on Radio Kerry and further afield."

 

The Cahersiveen Music and Arts Festival over the past number of years has developed a growing track record in providing a rural platform for serious classical performances on the western seaboard, having played host to several recitals and concerts since 2004 and an historic, orchestral Irish National Opera Gala in 2018 which was attended by over 1000 people. In 2020, the festival cleverly brought the RTÉ Con Tempo Quartet together in a live-streamed, outdoor, midnight performance at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

This production of La bohème is supported by The Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, Cork Opera House,The Skellig Six 18 Distillery and Howard Gatiss.

 

Tickets are on sale now at www.corkoperahouse.ie

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