Cork Opera House production of La Boheme continues legacy of Cara O'Sullivan
Emma Nash stars in La Boheme at Cork Opera House on Monday, December 5.
It has been described as the perfect opera, the universally loved story of a group of struggling bohemians living in Paris that has entered the cultural lexicon through its famous set pieces and also musicals and movies such as Moonstruck, Rent and Moulin Rouge. For Cork soprano Emma Nash, there are many reasons for the enduring appeal of Puccini’s La Boheme but at the end of the day, it’s all about the music.
“It’s up there with the greatest operas ever written, purely because Puccini’s score is absolutely beautiful. It’s a really accessible story and the characters are fantastic. But the music — the music is just amazing. It pulls at the heartstrings. It’s romantic. It's colourful. It’s flamboyant. And then you have the really expansive, beautiful, lyrical lines. It’s amazing.”
Nash is one of the four recipients of the inaugural Cara O’Sullivan Associate Artist programme at Cork Opera House who are starring in an abridged and semi-staged production of La Bohème, conducted by John O’Brien and directed by Conor Hanratty. The programme, named in honour of the late soprano Cara O’Sullivan, has provided a host of opportunities for four singers — the others are Rachel Croash, Gavan Ring and Rory Musgrave — to perform for local audiences over the last 18 months.
This production came out of lockdown, when the artists performed songs from La Bohème at locations across the city. Eibhlín Gleeson, CEO of Cork Opera House, says to see it being realised on stage and performed to an audience has been a moving experience.
“To see it go from being performed to an audience outside, masked, and socially distanced to our stage, it’s really poignant," says Gleeson. "It feels important because we’ve been on a journey, all of us, including the audience.”
For Nash, who plays Musetta, the performance is a much-needed release after the challenges and constraints of Covid.
“I actually get emotional if I think about it too much," says Nash. "If you were to pick one opera to do this mad, full-circle journey with, La Boheme is a very special one. It's a good one to get out all the emotion from the last two years.” Gleeson describes the reimagined production as ‘the moment in between concert opera and full-scale opera’. There will be costumes and props but no set, while the singers will perform off-book."
According to Nash, while the opera is abridged, it has all the essential ingredients of La Boheme, as well as an energy all of its own. “We have the orchestra on stage with us. So they are the set, we are the set, we will create the world hopefully with how much fun we’re having on stage, our characterisation,” says Nash.
The production is also the culmination of the Cara O’Sullivan Associate Artist programme for this cohort of four singers. It has been an invaluable experience, says Nash.
“We’re all fairly established but at the beginning of our careers and the opportunities we’ve had have been endless. I can’t think of anything I would add to this journey. We’ve had an amazing opera gala in the summer together and obviously that incredible outdoor series, which brought us from the City Gaol to Emmet Place to St Mary’s Church and then for all that to culminate in being back on stage, with the orchestra, with the audience in the auditorium is just amazing.”
The recent scrapping of government funding at the prestigious English National Opera has ignited debate about the importance of opera as an art form. Full productions can be hugely expensive to stage, but Gleeson is unequivocal about the continuing need for opera and its pipeline of talent to be nurtured.
“It’s a really important art form and there’s a real appetite for it. There’s a body of work that should be performed and needs to be performed, and there are third-level institutions sending exceptional singers out into the world to do this work," says Gleeson.
"It’s devastating seeing these cuts because it says that somebody’s making this decision that this work isn’t valuable…. As the person who's making this work in Cork, I see the value to every patron who sits down and has this experience, how it brings them to another place. It gives them the space and time to collect their thoughts and have real experiences of live art. And that’s really what it’s about.”
Nash has seen at first-hand the value of bringing opera out into the community through the associate artist programme.
“I did a project a few weeks ago with Majella Cullagh where we went to the city library and we sang opera for kids. It was so enlightening — the kids were hungry for it. They were just in awe, so many of these stories are fairy tales, they are romantic stories, they are stories that move people, that people still feel a connection with. And they have stood the test of time.”
Gleeson says opera has always occupied a special place in the hearts of Cork people and that is something she is keen to continue. “Cork is a very special place for opera, it means so much to so many people in the city. And I feel very strongly that we owe it to the younger generation to give them the same exposure and the same access to opera that previous generations had.”
The new intake of artists on the Cara O’Sullivan Associate Artist programme will be announced early next year. For Gleeson, the continued commitment to the development of new artists is a particularly fitting way to remember the much-missed singer.
“We felt that it was really important to focus on the influence that Cara had on her colleagues and other singers, and to protect that legacy. We’ll never do it as well as Cara did it. She was always looking for ways to develop other singers. She was extraordinarily generous with her time and her talent.” Nash herself felt the impact of the late singer’s support and friendship.
“My first ever opera was with Cara, when I was about 19 — it was [Verdi’s] A Masked Ball and she sang Amelia, and I was just in awe of her. I just loved her voice. There is still no voice like it, it was silvery and lyrical, it was just a million voices in one, with an amazing personality. She was always a big champion of mine, and all young singers."
Nash also recalls moving to Cardiff to study at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. "She sent me a care package with Barry’s tea, Dairy Milk and Tayto and everything. I wasn’t homesick or anything but it was just because she was Cara.”
- Cork Opera House Cara O’Sullivan Associate Artists present Puccini’s La Boheme, Monday, December 5, 8pm; corkoperahouse.ie
