Well into its second year, and having now switched to a seasonal timetable, on Monday Irish National Opera presented its new programme for 2019-2020. The company will stage seven new productions, including two world premieres: Least Like The Other by Brian Irvine and Netia Jones (in association with Galway International Arts Festival) and the installation opera This Hostel Life by Evangelia Rigaki and Melatu Uche Okorie.

INO has worked hard to integrate itself into the Irish arts ecosystem, across institutions, artists, and audiences—with last year’s Bluebeard’s Castle, for example, a particular highlight of the Dublin Theatre Festival. The themes of collaboration, connectivity, and accessibility were reflected on by both Orlaith McBride (Arts Council) and Fergus Sheil (INO Artistic Director) and visible throughout the programme itself.

In addition to continuing collaborations with Irish orchestras and venues, this year sees INO work with the Abbey Theatre and Theatre Lovett on Humperdinck’s Hansel & Gretel (featuring 2018 PlecPick Amy Ní Fhearraigh as Gretel) in February. Meanwhile, Abbey Theatre Associate Director Caitriona McLaughlin, recently awarded best director in the Irish Times Theatre Awards for her work in On Raftery’s Hill, will direct This Hostel Life, as well as Mozart’s charged comedy The Abduction from the Seraglio, featuring Claudia Boyle in the spectacular role of Konstanze.

Mezzo soprano Paula Murrihy returns to sing the title role in Bizet’s Carmen, an international co-production with Opera Philadelphia and Seattle Opera. Other returning Irish artists feature in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, with Orpha Phelan directing, and Tara Erraught singing the title role—just weeks before she performs it on the stage of the New York Metropolitan Opera.

The autumn season opens with the first staging of a Vivaldi opera in Ireland, Griselda, with Peter Whelan conducting the Irish Baroque Orchestra.

For further details, visit Irish National Opera