With one week to go before the end of the 2022-23 season, the reviews for Garsington Opera's The Bartered Bride are in!
Check out the snippets below, with links to the full articles in orange!
Stephen Walsh, TheArtsDesk.com ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"David Ireland is excellent as the marriage-broker Kecal, self-important, venal, everything nasty within a somehow likeable frame; his wonderful entry song, done here with superb panache, always reminds me of Eisenstein’s entry in Die Fledermaus, a gust of materialism blowing away the sentimental smoke."
John Allison, The Telegraph ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"In strongly-focused voice, David Ireland presents Kecal as a consummate salesman and a bit of a wide boy."
Sam Smith, MusicOMH ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"David Ireland's presence is as commanding as his bass-baritone"
Mel Cooper, PlaysToSee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"David Ireland as Kecal makes a superbly irritating self-serving marriage broker."
Peter Reed, Opera Magazine
"David Ireland as Kecal took control of the drama from the start with impeccable, self-serving deviousness and some powerful singing. The two parental duos...were putty in his hands"
Adrian York, London Unattached
"Bass-baritone David Ireland was splendid as the oleaginous marriage broker Kecal, puffed up with his own sense of cleverness. His voice was bursting with the marriage broker’s self-confidence with his physicality adding depth to his characterisation."
Mark Ronan, The Article
"Star of the show in the first part was David Ireland as the self-important and rather slippery Mayor, acting as a marriage broker."
Mark Aspen, MarkAspen.com
"David Ireland excels as the garrulous Kecal, the corrupt local politician cum marriage broker, whom he plays as an over confident wide-boy, swaggering and wheeler-dealing. Ireland’s splendid bass-baritone has that faux-gravitas of the part and is vocally gymnastic to make the most of Kecal’s quick-fire patter songs."
David
