Reviews Mary McCabe Eugene Onégin Northern Ireland Opera

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"The evening belonged to Mary McCabe's Tatyana (her debut in the role), moving, tremulously at first, from youthful vulnerability to mature strength and resolve

with admirably graduated aplomb." - Opera Magazine 

Northern Ireland Opera’s Eugene Onégin in the Grand Opera House Belfast - Reviews Mary McCabe as Tatyana

"Mary McCabe's Tatyana is a tour de force, always confident, moving from innocence and first love in her dramatic and sensitive Letter Scene, through lovelorn rejection by Onegin, to become the haughty Princess Gremin who rejects Onégin despite still being in love with him." - The Irish Times

Northern Ireland Opera’s Eugene Onégin in the Grand Opera House Belfast - Reviews Mary McCabe as Tatyana

“...Tatyana, her soprano voice strong and creamy at the top of her range and well suited to Tchaikovsky's undulating score in the letter tableau."

- The Stage

Northern Ireland Opera’s Eugene Onégin in the Grand Opera House Belfast - Reviews Mary McCabe as Tatyana

"Mary McCabe plays the overthinking, romantic Tatyana who pours out her heart before accepting Onégin's harsh response. The talented Downpatrick soprano finally makes her operatic principal mainstage debut in this production and sustains a sense of inner anguish during the elongated 'letter aria' in Act One (assisted by the complementary acting of her older self). But it's the final scene between Tatyana and Onégin that really brings out McCabe's fieriness and passionate presence.

Her performance on opening night was rewarded with sustained applause from an appreciative home audience." - Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) northern ireland opera’s eugene onégin in the grand opera house belfast reviews mary mccabe

“...this Tatyana (Mary McCabe) was particularly touching; impetuous and shy in the early scenes and singing with a lovely mixture of fragility and ardour." - The Spectator

Northern Ireland Opera’s Eugene Onégin in the Grand Opera House Belfast - Reviews Mary McCabe as Tatyana

"The soprano Mary McCabe, from Downpatrick and building a promising career, sang her first Tatyana,

at once vulnerable and resolute." - The Observer

Northern Ireland Opera’s Eugene Onégin in the Grand Opera House Belfast - Reviews Mary McCabe as Tatyana

"Her soprano is hugely rewarding and she acts persuasively Tatyana's transition from naive country girl to sophisticated aristocrat." - The Times

Northern Ireland Opera’s Eugene Onégin in the Grand Opera House Belfast - Reviews Mary McCabe as Tatyana

"But it is soprano Mary McCabe in the role of Tatyana who steals the day. Equally convincing as the love-struck maiden besotted with the dashing Onégin and then as the conflicted but resolutely faithful married woman who refuses his later advances, her near fifteen-minute recital as she pens a love letter to Onégin in Act i, one of opera's great emotive solos, is worth the price of admission alone." - Theatre News northern ireland opera’s eugene onégin in the grand opera house belfast reviews mary mccabe

“...his final scene tore at the heartstrings with the soprano Mary McCabe who was particularly impressive as the agonising Tatyana in her delivery and

dramatic presence." - News Letter

Northern Ireland Opera’s Eugene Onégin in the Grand Opera House Belfast - Reviews Mary McCabe as Tatyana

"She was successful in charting Tatyana’s transformation from shy and smitten country girl to the dazzling aristocrat who greets us at the end of the opera... convincing in the final two scenes and her final rejection of Onégin was dramatic and compelling." - Seen and Heard International

Northern Ireland Opera’s Eugene Onégin in the Grand Opera House Belfast - Reviews Mary McCabe as Tatyana

"Her final rejection of the man she ultimately loved was thrilling and her pianissimo entries were nothing short of magical in the second scene of Act 1." - Bachtrack

Northern Ireland Opera’s Eugene Onégin in the Grand Opera House Belfast - Reviews Mary McCabe as Tatyana