(Photo: Padraig Grant) Interest in Frederick Delius’ operas has never been particularly high; even his best-known opera, “A Village Romeo and Juliet,” receives only the occasional performance. Wexford Festival Opera‘s decision to stage a production of “The Magic Fountain,” his second of six operas, written between 1893 and 1895, was therefore a welcome, if not a surprising, choice for the {…}
(Photo: Padraig Grant) As well as its featured operas, the Wexford Opera Festival also puts on an array of other events, including performances of its “pocket operas,” that is, short works or abridged versions of larger works, sung to a piano accompaniment, presented in the smaller Jerome Hynes Theatre, rather than on the theatre’s main stage. One of the “pocket {…}
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Wexford Festival Opera announces it 2026 season. This article only features opera events. Main Stage Operas First up is Pietro Mascagni and Luigi Illica’s “FIris.” Rosetta Cucchi directs and Francesco Cilluffo conducts. Performance Dates: October 15, 20, 23, 28, & 31, 2026 “L’equivoco stravagante” by Gioachino Rossini and Gaetano Gasbarri is next. Max Hoehn directs. Riccardo Bisatti conducts. Performance Dates: October {…}
As it prepares for its 75th anniversary, the Wexford Festival Trust has announced the appointment of Dr. Terry Neill as its sixth President. Neill, who has spent 32 years with Andersen Worldwide/Accenture in Dublin, Chicago, and London, serving as Chair of the worldwide board and Global Managing Partner for the firm’s change management practice, will officially assume the role on {…}
(Photo: Guiseppe Tricarico) Countertenor Nicolò Balducci first came to attention at the 2022 Early Music Festival in Innsbruck, where he won 3rd prize as well as the Young Artist Award in its Cesti singing competition. Three years later, he is now an established singer with an impressive CV, boasting a wide repertoire of roles from operas of the baroque era, {…}
(Photo: Alan Neilson) The main presentation at this year’s Bayreuth Baroque Festival was a lavish, fully staged production of Francesco Cavalli’s 1666 opera, “Pompeo Magno,” boasting a large cast of high-quality singers and actors. Playing the role of Giulia was the Belgian soprano Sophie Junker, who, since winning both the London Händel Competition in 2010 and Innsbruck’s Cesti Competition in {…}
(Photo credit: Derek Speirs) For the first time, Wexford Festival Opera is inviting audience members to vote for the opera they would like to be performed at the upcoming 75th anniversary Festival. Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi has announced that the public can vote between Rossini’s “L’equivoco stravagante,” which was last staged at Wexford Festival Opera in 1968; Paisiello’s “Il barbiere {…}
(Credit: AJ Coots) Wexford Festival Opera has named Suzanne Nance to the position of Executive Director. Nance, who was recently stepped down from her position at All Classical Radio after 10 years with the company, will take up her new role in January 2026, taking over for Interim Executive Direcor Loughlin Deegan. “I am deeply honoured to join Wexford Festival {…}
(Photo: Armati Bacciardi) Over the next few months, OperaWire will be reviewing a number of productions at a variety of festivals across the globe. One name that keeps cropping up, at least in Europe, is that of Rosetta Cucchi. Blessed with a never-ending supply of energy and ideas, she always has one project on the go with others in the {…}
The Board of Wexford Festival Trust has announced Randall Shannon’s term as Executive Director of Wexford Festival Opera will end when his contract finishes on Feb. 14, 2025. The Chair of the Board Paul Cleary announced the news and extended his gratitude to Shannon for his commitment to the festival over the past four years. During his four years with {…}