Two Irish sopranos have come to the rescue of the English National Opera, which had a politically incorrect moment when two women cast in the lead roles of Mozart's 1789 opera Così fan tutte announced, one after the other, that they were pregnant. Arminta Wallace reports.
Mayo mezzo Anne Marie Gibbons and Cork-born soprano Cara O'Sullivan agreed to fill two of Mozart's most technically demanding roles after Giselle Allen and Stephanie Marshall announced recently they were in the family way.
Anne Marie Gibbons is a company principal and rising star at the English National Opera while Cara O'Sullivan is one of Ireland's most accomplished operatic performers.
Gibbons agreed to take on the role of flirtatious Dorabella while O'Sullivan took on the role of Dorabella's sister, the fiery Fiordiligi, in the production which opened in the Coliseum in London last night.
"It has been a bit crazy," O'Sullivan told The Irish Times yesterday evening, as she made her way to the theatre for a final fitting of her stage wig before curtain-up.
"But we've had three weeks of rehearsals and they've gone very smoothly."
She described conductor Edward Gardner as "fantastic".
"Anne Marie and I have worked together before. I'm staying in her house, and she's minding me. To be honest, though, I'm pole-axed. London is a pretty tiring city. People keep asking me, 'Have you been here?' and 'Have you been there?' And I've just been going home to bed every night."
O'Sullivan, who had to juggle quite a few commitments to fit this production into her schedule, has also been commuting back and forth to Ireland to fulfil engagements here.
In order to get to her first English National Opera rehearsal on time, she had to make a hasty exit from a fundraiser for the Cork hospice.
"After my performance was over I had 15 minutes to get to Cork airport."
She said the Cork Garda Choir happened to be playing at the concert as well, so they put her in a Garda car and "whizzed me to the airport".
Mozart, you can't help feeling, would have loved it.