Digital Album Release of Donnacha Dennehy & Enda Walsh’s The First Child

This new digital album is the fourth release in the partnership between Irish National Opera and Signum Records, including most recently the Grammy nominated Trade / Mary Motorhead. Preview tracks will be released on the 16 December, 13 & 27 January 2026 with the full album available from 13 February 2026. 

The First Child continues the ground-breaking exploration of multi-media and cross-artform disciplines that have been the hallmark of Walsh and Dennehy’s collaboration. Their trademark suburban gothic style combines the ultra-slick with the disturbingly dystopian. The music and drama create a visceral and highly theatrical world. A cast of five singers, two actors and a haunting children’s choir come together with Crash Ensemble to imagine a terrifying story of lost innocence—a baby on a beach—and the sea. 

Composer Donnacha Dennehy who is nominated for two GRAMMY awards this year, describes The First Child as the most intense opera of the trilogy, “It’s a piece about the impact of circular forces on our existence. It’s terrifying but I have sought to find a human melody in even the most broken character. This reaches its apex in Karen’s slowly unfolding song of irreversible despair, In their bed within their room, towards the end of the opera.”  

Irish National Opera’s Artistic Director Fergus Sheil adds “Donnacha Dennehy and Enda Walsh’s three operas are electrifying experiences. Together both artists lift the lid on the darker impulses of human emotions, desires and needs. A glossy contemporary world is a veneer under which unimaginable events unfold. In The First Child an injustice from long ago leads to a cataclysm decades later. Was this inevitable? Is there another way out? Are we imprisoned by our own history? The First Child’s hauntingly beautiful music takes us to places we don’t often go.” 

Anne Clarke, Producer, Landmark Productions says “The three operas dreamed into being by Donnacha Dennehy and Enda Walsh - The Last Hotel, The Second Violinist and The First Child - are a wild ride. The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon supported two major Irish artists to collaborate a breathtaking trilogy that pushed boundaries, won multiple awards, and toured internationally. We are delighted that, with this digital album release, the music from The First Child will continue to reach audiences worldwide.” 

The First Child features soprano Sarah Shine in the role of Karen, mezzo soprano Niamh O’Sullivan as Alva, and tenor Dean Power as Gary. The cast also includes baritone Emmett O’Hanlon, countertenor Eric Jurenas, actor Joan Sheehy and dancer/actor Caia Leseure. Ryan McAdams conducts the Crash Ensemble.  

The opera was premiered as part of Dublin Theatre Festival in 2021 in a co-production with Landmark Productions and the album was recorded at the Cork Opera House in September 2022. The recording producer was René Möller, the Balance Engineer was Wolfgang Schiefermair with Editing and Mix by René Möller at Teldex Studio Berlin.  

Preview tracks will be released on the 16 December, 13 & 27 January 2026 with the full album available from 13 February 2026. The album will be available to download from Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, Apple Music and more.