Celos aun del aire matan… even groundless jealousy can prove fatal

News just in from Fraser in St Bart’s…

The Irish premiere of Celos aun del aire matan is shortly to be held at St Bartholomew’s Church, in leafy Dublin 4. Celos is the earliest surviving Spanish opera, a tale of love, jealousy and intrigue set to music by Juan Hidalgo, composed in around 1660 to a libretto by leading seventeenth-century dramatist Pedro Calderon de la Barca. The score has only recently been prepared for modern performance, and this will be the first ever performance of the opera in Ireland. Further information about the work can be found at https://www.shef.ac.uk/hispanic/events/celos

It is very exciting to have Andrew Lawrence-King and his superb group of students from the University of Sheffield over for the event, which should be an excellent occasion and will be on Wednesday 2 July at 8.00pm. This is to let you know that tickets (at the very reasonable price of €12; concessions €10; under 16s €5) can now be reserved by calling the parish office on 01 668 8522 or emailing music@stbartholomews.ie (they ask you to pay for them on the night, but once you’ve reserved them by phone or email they will definitely be kept for you). They can also be bought on the door.

There will be a further performance the following evening, 3 July, at St Iberius’ church in Wexford – you may find that one more accessible if you’re in that area! Further information on this performance will be forthcoming shortly.

The last Sheffield Uni production to come to these shores was the South American La purpura de la rosa in 2003, which I saw at the Galway Early Music Festival, directed by Andrew Lawrence-King on that occasion as well. It was great fun, and a real eye-opener, and this proves to equal that success. Well worth checking out!