(Photo: Siim Vahur) It would be unrealistic to expect a new production of Bizet’s masterpiece to reveal anything that has not already been presented many times before. The best one can reasonably hope for would be a tweak in emphasis that draws attention to elements that are sometimes underplayed. Pierre-Emmanuel Rousseau took exactly this approach for his production for Estonian {…}
(Photo: Clive Barda) It is inevitable, given the Wexford Festival Opera’s commitment to unearthing forgotten and neglected operas, that they will occasionally present a work that ends up flopping. While this was not the case with Camille Erlanger’s largely unknown “L’Aube Rouge,” it is unlikely to signal a change in its fortunes. At best, Erlanger is now considered a minor {…}
(Photo: Clive Barda) Of Dvorak’s 10 operas, only “Rusalka” receives regular stagings outside his Czech homeland. Listening to the recordings of his other operas, it is not clear as to why this should be the case. Certainly, the dramatic quality of the music is strong and contains plenty of engaging melodies, and they would certainly bear comparison with many operas {…}
(Photo: Padraig Grant) As part of Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi’s remodeling of the Wexford Festival Opera, the afternoon performances of “opera shorts,” shortened versions of well-known operas played to piano accompaniment, have been replaced by a production for young singers from the Wexford Factory program and “pocket operas,” new or rarely performed operas, aimed at providing members of the Wexford {…}