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‘Ghosts of Versailles’ nominated ‘Best Opera Production’ in Irish Times Theatre Award announ

Wexford Festival Opera’s 2009 production of ‘The Ghosts of Versailles’ by John Corigliano was one of four nominees in the ‘Best Opera Production’ category in the Irish Times Theatre Award announcement.

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The Ghosts of Versailles was originally commissioned by the New York Metropolitan Opera and performed in 1987.  John Corigliano re-wrote it for the Met for their 2009 season, but due to costs, The Met was forced to scrap their plans.  Wexford Festival Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis decided to take the opportunity to produce this epic production, by the Oscar winning composer. 

James Robinson, Artistic Director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis directed this stunning production, much acclaimed by critics and audience members alike.  The Ghosts of Versailles melds together the worlds of Marie Antoinette, the French Revolution and the theatrical world of Beaumarchais’ Figaro. 

Comprising of a cast of nearly 60, The Ghosts of Versailles also featured 2 Irish singers.  Baritone, Owen Gilhooly, (King Louis XVI) who was part of the Wexford Festival Production of ‘The Mines of Sulphur’ which won the Irish Times Theatre Award for ‘Best Opera Production’ in 2008 and Mezzo-Soprano, Paula Murrihy (Cherubino), who appeared with Wexford Festival Opera in 2006, in another Wexford award-winning production, ‘Transformations’. 

The Winner will be announced at a special ceremony in Dublin on Sunday, February 28, 2010.  For a complete list of all the nominees, visit http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2010/0116/1224262450715.html.  Congratulations to all involved! 

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‘Corigliano’s score, expressive in aria and ensemble and brilliant in orchestral colour, is away with parody from Mozart and Rossini to the post-Romantics of Europe and America.  All this ‘opera within opera’ [The Ghosts of Versailles] is fantastically staged by James Robinson and with James Schuette’s wonderful costumes – grey, white and black for the dead court – vivid shades for the theatrical interlopers’ – ‘The Ghosts of Versailles’ is a veritable feast for the eyes.’

- Pat O’Kelly, Irish Independent

‘Robinson’s sure-footed production with beautifully observes sets by Allen Moyer, simplified much of the action and made use of a number of striking visual elements, including footage from the 1938 Norma Shearer movie ‘Marie Antoinette’.  Robinson’s work with the large cast was also memorable; all of the minor characters lingered in the memory.


- Brian Kellow, Opera Now

 

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