Gerard
O'Connor bass
Born
in Galway, Gerard O’Connor read Music at University College, Cork,
and furthered his studies at the National Opera Studio. He has sung
with companies including English National Opera, Opera Ireland, Opera
North, Castleward Opera, Chelsea Opera Group, Garsington Opera, Lyric
Opera, Dublin, Opera Holland Park, Singapore Lyric Opera, Stanley Hall
Opera and the Edinburgh and Wexford Festivals.
His repertoire
has included Abbott Curlew River, Snug A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
Raimondo Lucia di Lammermoor, Priam The Trojans, Dulcamara L’elisir
d’amore, Zuniga Carmen, Mephistopheles Faust, Dikoi Katya Kabanova,
Baron Mirko Zeta Die lustige Witwe, Cieco Iris, Sarastro Die Zauberflöte,
Varlaam Boris Godunov, Don Basilio Il barbiere di Siviglia, Alidoro
La cenerentola, Boris Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Colline La bohème,
Frank Die Fledermaus, Croucher The Silver Tassie, The Mayor Cherevichki,
Sparafucile Rigoletto, Fafner Das Rheingold / Siegfried, Reinmar Tannhäuser,
King Marke Tristan und Isolde and Hunding Die Walküre.
Current
engagements include George Benton Dead Man Walking for Opera Ireland,
Sarastro The Magic Flute and Mustafa L’Italiana in Algeri for
Opera Project, Don Basilio Il barbiere di Siviglia for OTC, Dublin,
Gremin Eugene Onegin for Longborough Festival Opera, Rossini Petite
Messe Solennelle in Bury St Edmunds Cathedral, Rossini Stabat Mater
for Billingshurst Choral Society and Verdi Requiem for Haddo House Choral
Society.
“Galway
born bass, Gerard O’Connor provided a powerhouse performance as
Mephistopheles...”
Mephistopheles: Faust / Opera Ireland / Sunday Business Post
“...Gerard
O’Connor’s melancholy Parson-doubling-Badger – the
performance of the evening, I thought...”
Parson / Badger: The Cunning Little Vixen / Opera Northern Ireland /
The Times
“Gerard
O’Connor as her father wields an impressive bass baritone...”
Cieco: Iris / Opera Holland Park / Evening Standard
“Gerard
O’Connor’s fruity bass-baritone made its mark, too, in Varlaam’s
song.”
Varlaam: Boris Godunov / Opera Ireland / Sunday Times
“...a
wonderfully commanding and sonorous Sarastro from Gerard O’Connor...”
Sarastro: Die Zauberflöte / Opera
“...the
other outstanding performance was that of Ireland’s own Gerard
O’Connor as the brutal, hypocritical father-in-law Boris Ismailov:
his big, resonant black bass is ideal for the role.”
Boris: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk / Opera Ireland / Sunday Times
“As
Boris, her powerful father-in-law, Gerard O’Connor dominated proceedings,
musically and physically. It was a remarkable performance, catching
the power and ambition of the man and the hint of a personal desire
for his recalcitrant daughter-in-law was one of the production’s
many felicitous touches. O’Connor has developed into an outstanding
bass, acting with terrifying conviction and singing his music with remarkable
assurance and power.”
Boris: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk / Opera Ireland / The Sunday Tribune
“Special
mention should be made of bass Gerard O’Connor as Croucher, who
dominated Act 11 with his sonorous voice and fine presence.”
Croucher: The Silver Tassie / Opera Ireland / Opera Now
