Over 5,000 people attend Waterford's Blackwater Valley Opera Festival
John Whelan and William Kinsella attending A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Photo: Patrick Browne
Blackwater Valley Opera Festival has wrapped up its most ambitious festival to date, attracting more than 5,000 people to their seven-day programme of opera, concerts, and recitals.
Local school children were the first to get a glimpse of what lay in store this year, as over 400 primary and post-primary students took part in educational workshops on set, attended the Opera Dress Rehearsal, and performed at the festival's opening ceremony.
For the first time, the festival presented two full opera productions this year.
The flagship opera, A Midsummer Night’s Dream on the breathtaking grounds of Lismore Castle, featured a children’s chorus and child performers, receiving rave reviews from audiences.
Meanwhile, conductor David Brophy led the Irish Chamber Orchestra, and a predominantly all-Irish cast directed by Patrick Mason in a playful and atmospheric staging of Benjamin Britten’s 20th-century opera.
Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, featuring Paula Murrihy, Dean Murphy, Kelli-Ann Masterson, and the Irish Baroque Orchestra, was performed in the candlelit surroundings of St Carthage’s Cathedral beneath a giant suspended moon.
The programme at Dromore Yard, a semi-restored 19th-century farmyard on the banks of the River Blackwater, featured standout performances, including When Birds Do Sing, a concert with Irish mezzo-soprano Niamh O’Sullivan and pianist Gary Beecher; while the festival finale Baroque Hits, performed by the Irish Baroque Orchestra under the baton of Nicholas McGegan, featured internationally celebrated Irish mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy.
The programme also featured Shakespeare in Music, The Tinker and the Fairy, and a special poetry and music recital honouring George Bernard Shaw.
People of all ages enjoyed the free open-air recitals in Lismore, Dungarvan, Youghal and Castlemartyr, while food enthusiasts savoured pop-up dining experiences throughout the week.
Eamonn Carroll, Festival Director of Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, expressed his delight with the success of the festival this year, saying: “There was a brilliant energy throughout the week, from the bold opera productions and beautifully curated recitals to our formal opera dining. What stood out most was the level of engagement from audiences of all ages, whether at sold-out performances, free open-air recitals in towns across the region, or taking part in workshops and opening celebrations.”
