L'OLIMPIADE by Vivaldi at The Everyman, Cork

OLD PARTNERS, NEW PARTNERS, AND A HAPPY ENDING.

Four young people, one an Olympic champion. Tangled relationships. Forbidden love, twice over. An unsuccessful assassination. An execution avoided. And a royal father who has to accept his children as they are.

Irish National Opera continues its award-winning exploration of Vivaldi’s operas with the work that started the 20th-century revival of the composer’s works for the stage. L’Olimpiade brims with opportunities for all seven characters, showing their personalities and feelings through arias that range from the explosive, and almost instrumentally virtuosic, to the slow exploration of more tender thoughts.

Sung in Italian with English surtitles.

“Nicklausse… a trouser role performed with warmth and understated lyrical ease by the mezzo-soprano Gemma Ní Bhriain.” – The Irish Times

“Alexandra Urquiola deployed her rich and capacious mezzo-soprano winningly” – San Francisco Chronicle

“it was Sarah Richmond’s performance as Lucrece that pulled things together. Her voice was bright and clear, her acting wholly convincing, not least in the Tragedia finale.” – Opera Magazine

“The emotional temperature rose when Chuma Sijeqa’s powerful Rigoletto made his entrance.” – Opera Magazine

“…with delicately floated high notes, the singing of soprano Rachel Redmond has infinite grace.” – The Independent [UK]

“Russell has a juicy baritone with a warm timbre in the middle register and an effortless top end.” – Der Opernfreund