Soprano Majella Cullagh makes her debut as Elisabetta in Gaetano Donizetti's Roberto Devereux in London conducted by M° Richard Bonynge for Opera Holland Park. Performance dates are: June 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 18, 20, 2009. Celebrated soprano Dame Joan Sutherland, married to M° Bonynge, will attend the performance on June 2, 2009.

Here are some reviews of Majella Cullagh in Roberto Devereux's opening night:

"In the lead role of Queen Elizabeth is the soprano Majella Cullagh, who as it happens is more in the mould of Maria Callas than of Sutherland: that is to say, prioritising dramatic intensity and colour over light, trilling virtuosity. Given those qualities she is an excellent choice as Elizabeth, since the role calls for musical intelligence rather than mere pyrotechnics.

She has a fine entrance aria in Act I, in which Cullagh established her credentials with secure, heartfelt singing, and an even weightier number to end the work. The latter, in which the desolate queen gives way to lovesick grief, becomes almost a mad scene. Cullagh rose to the occasion with throbbing, plangent tone, tearing off her wig hysterically to reveal a balding, elderly woman no longer wishing to rule."
Barry Millington, The Evening Standard - June 3, 2009

"Leading the show is Majella Cullagh, a comprehensively fine Elizabeth, who conquers each and every flamboyant difficulty in the role and gives a riveting interpretation of the pressures that weigh upon a queen trying to balance political realities with her inner feelings and a jealous nature. The result is an outstanding evening and a fine beginning to London’s main summer opera season."
George Hall, The Stage - June 3, 2009

"The result is a taut and dramatic opera, with a proper starring role for Elizabeth, here taken by a red-bewigged Majella Cullagh who, after a cautious start, blossomed both vocally and dramatically as the tortured Queen, desperately wanting Essex to return her ring so that she can save him from Parliament’s death sentence, even when she knows she has a rival for his love. Her finger fidgeting and haughty disposition was topped at the end, Essex dead (to Nottingham’s delight), with her Glenda Jackson-like wig removal, showing her age-worn, white-painted face topped only by whispy grey hair, as she calls for James’ succession."
Nick Breckenfield, Whatsonstage - June 3, 2009

"Majella Cullagh sang Elizabeth with a pure style and considerable skill: rich tone in the middle of her voice, precise articulation of the runs, clean phrasing and a gleaming top register."
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph - June 4, 2009

"This opera may not often be performed, but it’s dramatically gripping, and musically first-rate - provided it has a first-rate singing actress in the role of Elisabetta. And in soprano Majella Cullagh it gets exactly that: she brings to her laments and rages a glorious purity and versatility of tone."
Michael Church, The Independent - June 4, 2009