First lady of opera Ellen Kent returns to Cork

WE CAN relax at last and know that spring is really here because Ellen Kent Opera arrives in Cork today with two spectacular performances at Cork Opera House — Die Fledermaus tonight, and Carmen tomorrow.

Neither Kent nor the productions need any introduction to aficionados, but when it’s the doyenne’s hand on the directorial baton, you can always expect something special.

So which is it to be? Frankly, you shouldn’t miss the chance to see both. The wonderful lilting operetta by Johann Strauss II, set in the hedonistic Vienna of the 1890s, boasts some of the most well-known arias and music in the popular canon: ‘The Laughing Song’, ‘Brother Mine and Sister Mine’, the Champagne chorus, and of course those unforgettable waltzes. But it’s the characters that make Die Fledermaus