- Dialogues des Carmélites – Mother Marie
Northern Irish soprano Giselle Allen Mother Marie is celebrated for her compelling portrayals of opera’s most demanding dramatic roles, earning critical acclaim for performances that combine vocal power, emotional intensity and commanding stage presence.
Among her most acclaimed performances are the title roles in Elektra for Irish National Opera, Tosca for Opera Australia and Opera North, Salome for Opera North and Northern Ireland Opera, Marie in Wozzeck and Tatyana (Eugene Onegin) for Canadian Opera Company, Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw for Glyndebourne, Opernhaus Zurich, La Monnaie, Opera North and Opera National de Lyon), Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes for Berlin Komische Oper, Opera North, Bergen International Festival and the renowned Aldeburgh production of Grimes on the Beach and The Foreign Princess in Rusalka for Irish National Opera and the Royal Liverpool Orchestra. She is a regular guest artist at Opera North where she has sung for over the past 25 years. Roles include Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Marenka (The Bartered Bride) title roles in Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová and Jenůfa, the title role in Rusalka, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Santuzza (Cavelleria Rusticana), Gerhilde, Freia and Gutrune (Ring Cycle), Mila (Osud) and Anna Maurrant in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene.
She has established a versatile career across all the major UK companies including singing Mimi in La Bohème for Welsh National Opera and Magda Sorel in Menotti’s The Consul. For English National Opera, Musetta (La Bohème), Liza (Queen of Spades), Gerhilde (Die Walküre ) and the role of Marta in the British première of Weinberg’s The Passenger directed by Sir David Poutney and conducted by Sir Richard Armstrong.
Giselle has appeared in many of the major concert halls in the UK and Ireland. With the Ulster Orchestra she has recorded Sibelius’ Luonnatar with Jac van Steen and the Ulster Otchestra and the Irish première of Mass by Northern Irish composer, Conor Mitchell, under Sir Vernon Hadley. She has sung Britten’s Our Hunting Fathers and Janáček’s Glagolithic Mass with the Halle under Sir Mark Elder and has appeared at the San Sebastien and Edinburgh Festivals. Future plans include Sieglinde in Die Walküre for Grange Park opera and a return to the Royal Opera.