Fairytale start for young soprano

Kathryn Rudge is savouring her role in Opera North’s production of Giulio Cesare in Dublin next week, Nikki ffrench Davis reports

OPERA NORTH will make its Irish debut with five landmark performances at Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre (formerly the Grand Canal Theatre) next week. The company will bring two of its acclaimed current productions, Puccini’s beloved Madama Butterfly and Handel’s Giulio Cesare for their final performances of the season.

These performances of Giulio Cesare mark the end of a whirlwind year for a fresh soprano on the opera scene, Kathryn Rudge from Liverpool. Landing a role immediately on leaving college with the English National Opera’s production of The Marriage of Figaro was an extraordinary opportunity for Rudge. To find herself, a year later, onstage with some of her heroes for Opera North is something of a fairytale. That her place in this prestigious production was elevated from understudy to main cast member was a dream come true for any young opera singer.