Bachtrack logo

Performer: Orpha Phelan

Latest reviewsSee more...

A noble Norma trapped in a hollow dystopia

Salome Jicia (Norma) © Ruth Medjber
Salome Jicia delivers a vocally impressive and emotionally committed Norma, but Orpha Phelan’s post-apocalyptic staging fatally weakens Bellini’s sacred tragedy.
***11
Read more

Freudian slip: Handel’s Tamerlano recast as Trumpian tantrums

Jonathan Brown (Leone) © Craig Fuller
Opha Phelan’s staging presents the action as a grand, Freudian social experiment. It’s a risk – but the production is lifted by outstanding performances from the cast and the Academy of Ancient Music.
***11
Read more

Orpha Phelan delivers farcical Donizetti at the Wexford Festival Opera

Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali © Patricio Cassinoni
Superlative singing, hilarious antics and an energetic production make Donizetti's Le Convenience ed inconvenience an exhilarating success. 
****1
Read more

A magnificent Bohème at Irish National Opera

Merūnas Vitulskis (Rodolfo) and Celine Byrne (Mimì) © Ros Kavanagh
Orpha Phelan directs a terrific cast of singers in an inventive and faithful production making for an evening to remember. 
*****
Read more

Riotous nonsense and royal nuptials: Lalla-Roukh at Wexford

Niamh O’Sullivan (Mirza) and Gabrielle Philiponet (Lalla-Roukh) © Clive Barda | ArenaPAL
Orpha Phelan has fun staging Félicien David’s opéra comique, moving the action from Kashmir and Samarkand to Leila O’Rourke’s Tea Emporium.
****1
Read more

An entertaining Cenerentola from Irish National Opera

Andrew Owens (Prince Ramiro) and Tara Erraught (Cinderella) © Patrick Redmond
Excellent soloists, inventive sets and fine direction from Sheil and Phelan makes for an entertaining Cenerentola at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre Dublin. 
***11
Read more
Watch VideoSee more...

DublinNormaNew production

Salome Jicia (Norma) © Ruth Medjber
Bellini: Norma
Maurizio Benini; Orpha Phelan; Irish National Opera; Madeleine Boyd; Matthew Haskins; Irish National Opera Orchestra