Castleward Opera was a Northern Ireland opera company which staged an annual opera festival at Castle Ward, a National Trust house near Strangford in County Down. It was founded in 1985 by Ian Urwin and Jack Smith, with performances taking place in a converted stable on the grounds of the castle. Following the cut to its core funding by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the festival saw its final opera performances in June 2009 and in September 2010 held two gala farewell concerts of highlights from the company's 25-year history.Spackman (6 September 2010) In January 2010, a new venture, supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, was proposed—Opera Company NI—which the Arts Council said would "incorporate the best resources from Castleward Opera and Opera Fringe".Arts Council of Northern Ireland (26 January 2010)
Past productions 1985 – Così fan tutte 1986 – Don Giovanni and The Impresario 1987 – The Magic Flute and Dido and Aeneas 1988 – L'elisir d'amore and Trial by Jury 1989 – Pagliacci and Gianni Schicchi 1990 – Don Pasquale and Opera Scenes 1991 – Così fan tutte and Opera Scenes 1992 – La traviata and Gems from the Irish Ring 1993 – Lucia di Lammermoor and La belle Hélène 1994 – La Cenerentola and Orpheus in the Underworld 1995 – I Capuleti e i Montecchi and L'étoile 1996 – Ariadne auf Naxos and La bohème 1997 – Carmen and La bohème (revived for the Grand Opera House, Belfast) 1998 – La traviata and Carmen (revived for the Grand Opera House, Belfast) 1999 – The Barber of Seville, La Sonnambula, and La traviata (revived for the Grand Opera House, Belfast) 2000 – Madame Butterfly, Martha, and The Barber of Seville (revived for the Grand Opera House, Belfast) 2001 – The Marriage of Figaro, Madame Butterfly, and Martha (revived for the Grand Opera House, Belfast) 2002 – Lucia di Lammermoor, La belle Hélène, and The Marriage of Figaro (revived for the Millennium Forum, Londonderry) 2003 – La rondine and Tosca 2004 – Albert Herring and Rigoletto 2005 – The Magic Flute and Carmen 2006 – La bohème and The Bohemian Girl 2007 – Un ballo in maschera 2008 – Così fan tutte 2009 – Die Fledermaus (also performed at Wexford Festival Opera)
See also List of opera festivals Country house opera Country House Theatres
Notes and references
Sources Arts Council of Northern Ireland, "New opera company for Northern Ireland", 26 January 2010 Couling, Della, "Castleward Opera, Northern Ireland", The Independent, 14 June 1995 Dervan, Michael, "North stages opera revamp", Irish Times, 8 February 2010 Spackman, Conor, "The fat lady sings for Castle Ward opera", BBC News, 6 September 2010
External links Official website