Hello again and greetings from Kilkenny!
We are so excited that a new Opera Season has begun and we have been in the swing of things already.
Our first day out was on Tuesday 8th September when we were taken to the National Concert Hall to see the wonderful Dublin Soprano, Sandra Oman, sing with the National Symphony Orchestra. It was incredible - and even more so when the presenter, Eileen Dunne, reminded us that Sandra had given birth to a beautiful baby girl just four week before. We were very privileged to meet Sandra and her family after the concert.
Art and Music with Sandra, her husband, Conor Farren and their beautiful Baby Emily Nuala.
The following evening we were warned to be on our best behaviour and discovered we were on our way to the RHA to attend the Opera Theatre Company launch of the 2009/2010 Season. It was so exciting. There were lots of people there and some of them even gave us cuddles. We were the belles of the ball until that witch, Alcina, arrived. Well, actually, it was Sinead Campbell-Wallace who will play Alcina – don’t know how she will do it – OTC will have to spend a fortune on make-up! She is very beautiful and she was accompanied by her very handsome husband, the counter-tenor, Steven Wallace. They both enthralled the gathering with arias from Handel’s great opera. We are so looking forward to seeing Alcina, even if Art is a bit scared of the idea of a witch and her sister turning men to stone. But after a hug from Sinead, Art felt a little better.
Music, Sinead Campbell-Wallace, Steven Wallace and Art
Art and Music with some new friends of OTC, Aoife O'Sullivan (repetiteur), Tim Sweetman and our Brendan
We were informed by Dermot that the Spring Production from OTC will be Gianni Schicchi by Puccini. It’s a comedy about a man who has just died – we’re not sure about this one but maybe it will be dead funny!
We also met Imelda Drumm who was OTC’s Xerxes. She was in mighty form and told us she will be Carmen for Lyric Opera in the National Concert Hall in a few weeks time.
Imelda Drumm with Music and Art
The following evening – what busy bears we are – we met Imelda again when she replaced Virginia Kerr at the fund-raising night for Dublin Simon in Trinity College. Poor Auntie Virginia wasn’t well but she is fine again, we are pleased to say. Imelda joined the Young Associate Artists for a night of popular opera arias.
What a wonderful night it was. Imelda gave us a taster of what Carmen will be like and she threw us a kiss as she made her exit – if only we could blush!!! Dean Power and Gavan Ring were as brilliant as ever and we were delighted to see two new young ladies who gave us, among others, a wonderful rendition of the ‘Flower Duet’ from Lakmé. We even got cuddles – look!
Music with Chloe Hinton and Art with Gabriela Istoc
We have two pieces of big news to share with you. We are off to Spain with our friends Alan and Brendan and we have been told if we are very good we will be brought to the Liceu in Barcelona to see a performance of L’Abore di Diana by Martin y Soler. He is a Spanish composer we have never heard of but the libretto is by da Ponte who wrote for Mozart. As always we will bring you a full report and let you all know how it went.
Our second piece of news is that we can now be found on Facebook. If you have a problem you can contact us at ArtandMusic@eircom.net and we will send you a link. We can’t promise a prompt reply as we are not allowed to turn on the computer ourselves and have to wait for Alan to do it. But we will definitely get back to you.
Until then,
HUGS
Art and Music
We are so excited that a new Opera Season has begun and we have been in the swing of things already.
Our first day out was on Tuesday 8th September when we were taken to the National Concert Hall to see the wonderful Dublin Soprano, Sandra Oman, sing with the National Symphony Orchestra. It was incredible - and even more so when the presenter, Eileen Dunne, reminded us that Sandra had given birth to a beautiful baby girl just four week before. We were very privileged to meet Sandra and her family after the concert.
Art and Music with Sandra, her husband, Conor Farren and their beautiful Baby Emily Nuala.
The following evening we were warned to be on our best behaviour and discovered we were on our way to the RHA to attend the Opera Theatre Company launch of the 2009/2010 Season. It was so exciting. There were lots of people there and some of them even gave us cuddles. We were the belles of the ball until that witch, Alcina, arrived. Well, actually, it was Sinead Campbell-Wallace who will play Alcina – don’t know how she will do it – OTC will have to spend a fortune on make-up! She is very beautiful and she was accompanied by her very handsome husband, the counter-tenor, Steven Wallace. They both enthralled the gathering with arias from Handel’s great opera. We are so looking forward to seeing Alcina, even if Art is a bit scared of the idea of a witch and her sister turning men to stone. But after a hug from Sinead, Art felt a little better.
Music, Sinead Campbell-Wallace, Steven Wallace and Art
Art and Music with some new friends of OTC, Aoife O'Sullivan (repetiteur), Tim Sweetman and our Brendan
We were informed by Dermot that the Spring Production from OTC will be Gianni Schicchi by Puccini. It’s a comedy about a man who has just died – we’re not sure about this one but maybe it will be dead funny!
We also met Imelda Drumm who was OTC’s Xerxes. She was in mighty form and told us she will be Carmen for Lyric Opera in the National Concert Hall in a few weeks time.
Imelda Drumm with Music and Art
The following evening – what busy bears we are – we met Imelda again when she replaced Virginia Kerr at the fund-raising night for Dublin Simon in Trinity College. Poor Auntie Virginia wasn’t well but she is fine again, we are pleased to say. Imelda joined the Young Associate Artists for a night of popular opera arias.
What a wonderful night it was. Imelda gave us a taster of what Carmen will be like and she threw us a kiss as she made her exit – if only we could blush!!! Dean Power and Gavan Ring were as brilliant as ever and we were delighted to see two new young ladies who gave us, among others, a wonderful rendition of the ‘Flower Duet’ from Lakmé. We even got cuddles – look!
Music with Chloe Hinton and Art with Gabriela Istoc
We have two pieces of big news to share with you. We are off to Spain with our friends Alan and Brendan and we have been told if we are very good we will be brought to the Liceu in Barcelona to see a performance of L’Abore di Diana by Martin y Soler. He is a Spanish composer we have never heard of but the libretto is by da Ponte who wrote for Mozart. As always we will bring you a full report and let you all know how it went.
Our second piece of news is that we can now be found on Facebook. If you have a problem you can contact us at ArtandMusic@eircom.net and we will send you a link. We can’t promise a prompt reply as we are not allowed to turn on the computer ourselves and have to wait for Alan to do it. But we will definitely get back to you.
Until then,
HUGS
Art and Music
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