History will be made on Sunday March 23 when Irish National Opera return to the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre with their first Richard Wagner production, The Flying Dutchman.

Sung in German with English subtitles, this epic masterpiece will also be staged in the acclaimed Dublin Docklands venue on Tuesday (March 25), Thursday (27) and Saturday (29).

Wagner’s tumultuous score brilliantly captures the vast scale of the story, from the stormy overture to the final scene of tragedy and redemption.

“The Flying Dutchman is an intoxicating mix," enthuses INO’s Artistic Director Fergus Sheil. "The opera is short, the tunes are memorable, and the drama has great pace. But it’s also somewhere that Wagner explored emotional depth, orchestral grandeur and the consummation of love through death.”

Director Rachael Hewer agrees, proclaiming that, "The Flying Dutchman has it all: history, mystery, mythology, adventure, family drama, sorrow, loss and ambition, all wrapped up in a tragic love story which provides Wagner with the framework for his luscious and ground-breaking score."

Toby Spence (Eric) and Director Rachael Hewer in rehearsals for INO’s Production of The Flying Dutchman 2025. Photo: Ste Murray

The stellar cast for the show includes soprano Giselle Allen as Senta and baritone Jordan Shanahan as the cursed Dutchman. Bass James Creswell plays Daland, with tenor Toby Spence as Eric, mezzo-soprano Carolyn Dobbin as Mary and tenor  Gavan Ring as the steersman.

Fergus Sheil conducts the Irish National Opera orchestra and chorus, with set and costume design by Francis O'Connor and lighting design by Howard Hudson.

The other star of the show is the Bord Gáis, a theatre that was purpose-built to stage major productions that otherwise might have had to bypass Dublin.

Toby Spence (Eric) and Giselle Allen (Senta) in rehearsals for INO’s Production of The Flying Dutchman 2025. Photo: Ste Murray

The INO, too, has been winning major plaudits. Their 2022 co-production of Vivaldi’s Bajazet with the Royal Opera House in London resulted in conductor Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra winning an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement. Returning to the Royal Opera House in 2023, their staging of Brian Irvine and Netia Jones’ Least Like The Other, Searching for Rosemary Kennedy earned them a 2023 Olivier Award nomination for Best New Opera Production.

The company recently completed an Olivier hat-trick, when their critically acclaimed production of Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade, a co-production with the Royal Ballet & Opera and Nouvel Opéra Fribourg, in partnership with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, was nominated for the prestigious TAIT Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production. By any standards, it is a remarkable run of successes, which makes their production of The Flying Dutchman an even more tantalising prospect.

For more information visit irishnationalopera.ie