Night at the Opera brings audiences to their feet

Irish opera company Lyric Opera brings Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini to the Grand Opera House for two nights only, tonight (Tuesday) and tomorrow night, 13th and 14th March.

It follows a sensational run in Dublin which left audiences standing after each performance. This is the first time Lyric Opera has performed in Belfast.

Korean soprano Jee Hyun Lim resumes her signature role of Madama Butterfly – a role she is acclaimed for in opera houses all over the world.

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This beautiful and evocative production is one of the world’s best loved operas and is fully staged and accompanied by the RTE Concert Orchestra and Lyric Opera chorus, conducted by Fergus Sheil.

Director Vivian Coates has assembled an international cast of exceptional talent, including Norwegian tenor Marius Roth Christensen who performs the role of heartless cad B.F. Pinkerton.

Welsh baritone Wyn Pencarreg returns to Lyric Opera as Sharpless, while Northern Ireland native – and parish priest of Ballyclare – Fr. Eugene O’Hagan is wonderful in the role of Goro.

And, in keeping with the Lyric Opera tradition of nurturing young Irish talent, mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty, makes her Lyric Opera debut in the role of Suzuki. A native of Celbridge, Co.Kildare, Sharon is a rising star of Irish opera.

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Puccini’s dramatic tale of East meets West is set in the mysterious world of the Japanese geisha, a world of red silk and rituals, imbued with fragile beauty.

Cio-Cio San is only fifteen when Pinkerton, a visiting U.S. Navy Lieutenant, acquires her as a bride. Their love burns brightly for a while but within a year Pinkerton is gone, and his promises to return hold little value.

But Madama Butterfly knows in her heart that one day he will return - and when he does, the story meets its tragic climax.

Tickets are priced at £16 through to £36.50. For more information visit www.goh.co.uk or telephone the Box Office on 9024 1919.