Irish National Opera presents “Sisters, Lovers and Traitors” featuring operatic highlights from Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro and La Clemenza di Tito with soprano Anna Devin, mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty, bass-baritone Gianluca Margheri, and pianist Finghin Collins.
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Anna Devin
Irish soprano Anna Devin is widely admired for her “impeccable Baroque style” (Bachtrack), and “vocal control ... artistry and musico-dramatic intelligence” (Opera News). In the 2019-20 season she performed Almirena in Handel’s Rinaldo with Glyndebourne Tour and Michal in Handel’s Saul at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The 2018-19 season began with her Zurich Opera House debut as Rosane Vivaldi’s La verità in cimento, followed by her return to Teatro Real, Madrid, to perform the title role in Cavalli’s La Calisto and her Irish National Opera debut in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Her concerts include a Handel programme with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Irish Baroque Orchestra and at the Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a New Year’s Day concert with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 (Lobgesang) with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Handel’s Esther with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, Handel’s Athalia at the London Handel Festival, and concerts at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival. In addition to her work on stage, she is proud to be an Ambassador for the British Dyslexia Association. She is passionate about nurturing new talent and has given masterclasses at the Royal Irish Academy of Music as well as coaching at the Royal Academy Opera Course, London. When not on stage, she is a keen runner and enjoys keeping fit and relaxing with her husband, two daughters and a Norwegian Forest Cat in their Bedfordshire home.
Sharon Carty
Irish mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty has firmly established a reputation as a respected interpreter of both early and contemporary works, and she also has a busy schedule in mainstream opera and concert repertoire. She is an alumna of the RIAM, Dublin, University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, and the Oper Frankfurt Young Artist programme. She is currently an Irish National Opera Artistic Partner, as well as being a Creative Associate on the Arts Council’s pilot Creative Schools scheme. Her opera repertoire includes many of the important lyric and coloratura mezzo-soprano roles, and on the concert platform she has sung most of the major sacred concert works, including all the major works of Bach, as well as Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, and numerous chamber-music works. She is also a dedicated song recitalist, most recently appearing in song recitals with pianists Finghin Collins, Jonathan Ware and Graham Johnson. Recent highlights include her London and Amsterdam opera debuts with Donnacha Dennehy and Enda Walsh’s The Second Violinist, and her Wexford Festival Opera debut as Lucy Talbot in the European première of William Bolcom’s Dinner at Eight. 2019 saw her tour in the title role in Irish National Opera’s critically acclaimed production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and Bach’s St Matthew Passion in the Netherlands, as well as her debut at the Spoleto Festival in Italy, in Silvia Colasanti’s new opera, Proserpine. She received critical acclaim for her first disc of Schubert Songs with pianist Jonathan Ware, released in May 2020.
Gianluca Margheri
Born in Florence, Gianluca Margheri began to study music dramaturgy before studying singing at the Cherubini Conservatory of Music in Florence. In 2009 he won the Toti dal Monte International Competition in Treviso, and debuted as Villotto in Haydn’s La vera costanza under Jesús López-Cobos at Teatro Real Madrid, at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège and the theatres of Saint-Étienne, Rouen and Reggio Emilia. Recent highlights include his debut in the title role of Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Hungarian State Opera), Rossini’s Stabat Mater (Opera Firenze), Alidoro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Teatro Massimo, Palermo), Purcell’s The Fairy Queen (Hungarian State Opera), the title role in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (Theater St Gallen), Asdrubale in Rossini’s La pietra del paragone and the Count in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (Teatro Lirico di Cagliari), and Talbot in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda in Riga. He sang Asdrubale under Daniele Rustioni for his Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro debut, and Garibaldo in Handel’s Rodelinda for his Gran Teatre del Liceu debut in Barcelona. He made his INO debut in the title role of Vivaldi’s Bajazet and the production’s run at the Royal Opera House in London was nominated for two Olivier awards and won one. He is an enthusiastic concert singer with a repertoire encompassing works by Charpentier, Handel, Mozart, Fauré and Brahms. Conductors he has collaborated with include James Conlon, Zubin Mehta, Marco Armiliato, Friedrich Haider, Riccardo Frizza, Andrea Battistoni, Roland Böer, Alan Curtis, Jonathan Webb and Gabriele Ferro.
Finghin Collins
One of Ireland's most successful musicians, Finghin Collins was born in Dublin in 1977 and studied piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music with John O'Conor and at the Geneva Conservatoire with Dominique Merlet. He took first prize at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland in 1999. Since then he has continued to enjoy a flourishing international career that takes him all over Europe and the United States, as well to the Far East and Australia. Finghin Collins is very active as a programmer, commissioner and concert presenter in Ireland. He is Artistic Director of the New Ross Piano Festival, Music for Galway and the Dublin International Piano Competition. In October 2017, the National University of Ireland conferred on him an honorary Degree of Doctor of Music, in recognition of his outstanding achievements. www.finghincollins.com