For Your GRAMMY® Consideration
Donnacha Dennehy The First Child
An opera by Donnacha Dennehy and Enda Walsh. Premiere recording with the original cast. Irish National Opera · Crash Ensemble · Ryan McAdams, conductor. Signum Records, released February 13, 2026.
Entered for the 2027 GRAMMY® Awards
- Best Opera Recording Dennehy: The First Child — Ryan McAdams, conductor; Sarah Shine, Niamh O'Sullivan, Dean Power, Emmett O'Hanlon, Eric Jurenas; René Möller, producer (Crash Ensemble; Irish National Opera)
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Purchase: Signum Records
Press
★★★★★“High-octane triumph.”
The Sunday Times
★★★★★“A remarkable conclusion to the Dennehy–Walsh partnership.”
The Irish Times Read the full review →
“I find it hard to detect any real weaknesses here; the writing is ceaselessly inventive and finely calibrated to the emotional content of each scene. Ryan McAdams and Crash Ensemble have delivered a performance of real clarity that makes the vibrant sonorities of Dennehy’s music glow.”
Adrian Smith, The Journal of Music Read the full review →
“Like a volcano waiting to explode, the music is shot through with ominous poundings, disruptive cross-rhythms, and startlingly uncommon timbres… the music’s brilliance is plainly a consequence of the diabolical energies that drive it.”
Opera Magazine
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The First Child | Behind the scenes
About the Album
The First Child is the final opera in the acclaimed trilogy by composer Donnacha Dennehy and writer Enda Walsh, following The Last Hotel (2015) and The Second Violinist (2017). Commissioned by Irish National Opera and Landmark Productions, it premiered at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2021 and was nominated for Best Opera at the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards.
This premiere recording reunites the original cast with Crash Ensemble under conductor Ryan McAdams. It was recorded at Cork Opera House in September 2022 and released by Signum Records in February 2026.
Album notes coming soon.
Tracks
- The First Child · Opera in one act · 89 minutes
- 1. An Opera. Beginning1:39
- 2. Ignored by time3:11
- 3. So, this is your first child, how exciting4:29
- 4. The woman I was yesterday has been changed1:12
- 5. Room2:11
- 6. I'm sheltering from the rain4:19
- 7. When you find the right person2:23
- 8. If bottles aren't sterilised properly3:13
- 9. Does the light forget ever2:32
- 10. Karen checks out Simon on Instagram1:30
- 11. I saw you in the yard this morning1:23
- 12. Only last week I was saying to the boys4:26
- 13. Could the moon decide to leave me there6:28
- 14. And you said1:50
- 15. Dance5:23
- 16. Do you live around here6:21
- 17. From this day a line is drawn3:18
- 18. Well over our weekly consumption of alcohol4:08
- 19. From where I'm standing3:15
- 20. Will you see him again6:46
- 21. In their bed within their room8:49
- 22. Could the moon have decided6:44
- 23. The story is beginning again…3:32
Credits
Music
Donnacha Dennehy
Libretto
Enda Walsh
Karen
Sarah Shine, soprano
Alva
Niamh O'Sullivan, mezzo-soprano
Gary
Dean Power, tenor
Simon
Emmett O'Hanlon, baritone
Nurse
Eric Jurenas, countertenor
Older Woman
Joan Sheehy, actor
Ensemble
Crash Ensemble
Conductor
Ryan McAdams
Producer
René Möller
Balance engineer
Wolfgang Schiefermair
Editing & mix
René Möller, Teldex Studio Berlin
Recorded
Cork Opera House, September 2022
Label
Signum Records · Irish National Opera
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