Viva Verdi, Viva Wagner at the National Concert Hall

The concert features two titans of Romantic opera, Verdi and Wagner. The Irish National Opera Orchestra will be in its largest ever formation, taking on some of the most lavish, powerful and hauntingly-beautiful music ever written.  

Opening with the overture to La forza del destino, the concert moves through a selection of Verdi’s key works, including arias from Il trovatore, Macbeth, and Don Carlo. Verdi’s music, known for its dramatic tension and lyrical beauty, captures characters wrestling with fate, ambition and loss. 

Wagner’s contributions highlight his rich orchestration and philosophical complexity, featuring selections from Tannhäuser, Götterdämmerung, and Die Walküre. These pieces offer both lyrical and orchestral contrast, from the introspective “Wie Todesahnung” to the striking “Siegfried’s Funeral Music.” 

Known for her powerful performances and nuanced interpretations, soprano Sinéad Campbell Wallace is a familiar face on Irish stages. She wowed audiences and earned widespread critical acclaim for her commanding title role portrayals in Irish National Opera’s Tosca in 2022 and Salome in 2024. With a voice that combines vocal clarity and dramatic depth, Sinéad has firmly established herself as a leading figure in Ireland’s operatic landscape. 

Canadian Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson is the founder and Music Director of the highly regarded Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra.  Highlights of her 2025/26 season include return engagements with the Metropolitan Opera to conduct Puccini's La bohème, Opéra national de Paris to conduct Bizet’s Carmen, and the Staatsoper Berlin to conduct Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. She also makes her debut at the Santa Fe Opera conducting Tchaikovsk’s Eugene Onegin.  

Viva Verdi, Viva Wagner presents audiences with the work of two titans of opera —allowing  an opportunity to reflect on the enduring appeal of their music and its continued resonance on the concert stage.

Conductor 
Keri-Lynn Wilson 

Soloists  
Sinéad Campbell Wallace (soprano) 
Ryan Capozzo (tenor) 
Yngve Søberg (baritone) 
Irish National Opera Orchestra 

Programme

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)  

Overture La forza del destino  
Tacea la notte placida Il trovatore  
Perfidi! All'anglo contro me Macbeth  
La vita è inferno all'infelice La forza del destino  
Tu, che le vanità Don Carlo  
Dio, che nell'alma infondere Don Carlo  

Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883) 

Dich, teure Halle Tannhäuser   
Wie Todesahnung… O! du mein holder Abendstern Tannhäuser  
Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond Die Walküre  
Siegmund heiß ich Die Walküre  
Siegfried’s Funeral Music Götterdämmerung  
Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene Götterdämmerung