Press Releases

"As the married couple trying to rekindle their romance with a second honeymoon and a self-help manual, Matthew Curtis (Bill) and Lylis O’Hara (Tina) were winningly flawed and funny. When her wish that Bill would be more adventurous came true in ways that she couldn’t have imagined – an assignation in the Controller’s lookout with the Steward freeing Bill from his inhibitions – the betrayed Tina’s rage-fuelled coloratura tirades were as energised as Bill’s own wonderous declaration that, far from being “nothing”, as the Steward urged his affronted colleague to believe, the night of passion had been “Fantastic!”"

"Larsen’s merging of different styles and idioms is complex and clever. This is nowhere more evident that in the Act 2 concert sequence which sees Jenny Lind, having swapped her pure white gown for garish concoction of red ankle-boots and yellow-plumed bonnet, perform ‘Casta Diva’ while the chorus plead with her to “Do that fancy thing with your voice!” As Lind, soprano Lylis O’Hara retained her poise as she delivered Bellini’s lyric masterpiece, her tone both rich and sweet, her phrasing a model of beauty and emotion.

The complexity of Bellini’s characterisation seemed here transferred to Lind, creating both sincerity and pathos. This was a terrific performance by O’Hara who communicated strong sentiments in ‘Hear Ye Israel’ from Elijah – which Mendelssohn reportedly composed for Lind so that he could indulge his love of her voice, particularly her F-sharp! He wouldn’t have been disappointed here. And, O’Hara demonstrated superb control over her voice, especially at the top, when she performed Lind’s ‘echo song’, switching from forte to piano on the same pitches with stunning precision and purity.

Larsen’s presentation of Lind is a sympathetic one. Though demure, there is little of Lind’s, perhaps unjust, reputation for primness and prudishness, and both her commitment to her art and her philanthropism – she undertook the tour at least partly to raise money to establish children’s orphanages in Sweden – seemed earnest, O’Hara evincing genuine warmth."

"Lylis O'Hara has a very appealing voice and an impressive range. She also had the confidence to clearly distinguish the different Shakespearean personalities. She was especially convincing with Cleopatra - whose character is reinforced by a march-like motif - but also effective suggesting the vulnerability of Ophelia."

"Lylis O’Hara’s sparky Princess, tinged with sadness in her final scene, was well sung, notes secure and articulation clean... Her final, Puccinian, duet with Dafydd Jones’ Prince April was a moment of intense musicality."

"Louise Bakker’s RCM production of Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld delivered multicoloured silliness with an energetic, fresh-sounding cast from whom Lylis O’Hara (Diana) stood out as a bright and agile coloratura soprano to watch"

"Lylis O’Hara sang strongly as Mother, not surprisingly more exasperated by her husband than by her two children.. They both grabbed reunification opportunity with great gusto."

"Lylis O’Hara’s steely soprano was ideally suited to Mother and she brought real pathos to the role."