Comedy and tragedy in opera double bill
Our ReporterEntertainment
Two short operas about love and lies, Wolf Ferrari’s Susanna’s Secret and Poulenc’s The Human Voice, will be staged at the Town Hall Theatre on Monday next, November 23 at 8pm,
This double bill is an Opera Theatre Company production, directed by Tom Creed with musical direction by Andrew Synnott. Both pieces will be sung in English.
The first piece, Susanna’s Secret (Il segreto di Susanna), is built on marital misunderstanding, and is full of fun and frothiness. A man suspects his wife is having an affair when he smells cigarette smoke from her clothes. As he strives to discover her secret there are hilarious consequences. Opera Theatre Company artists Rachel Croash (soprano) and Rory Musgrave (baritone) star in Wolf-Ferrari’s opera, which is a wryly observant piece about the secrets couples keep.
The second piece, The Human Voice (La voix humaine) explores themes of love and loss as a young woman is driven to the point of desperation when she tries to tries to connect with her ex-lover over the telephone.
Soprano Kim Sheehan stars in this emotional depiction of the aftermath of a relationship in a new translation by Richard Stokes. Poulenc creates an atmospheric and theatrical soundscape, using unaccompanied singing interspersed with evocative musical outbursts to convey this woman’s heartbreak and loss.
This opera double bill comes to Galway as part of a 10-venue national tour and is described by Opera Theatre Company as being “perfect for opera lovers and newcomers alike”. Tickets 25 / €22 from tht.ie, 091-569777 and from the box office.