Wexford Festival Opera has been allocated €1.68 million in strategic funding from the Arts Council for 2023. The money allocated in 2023 is an increase of 3 percent or €45,000 from 2022. The Opera Festival is one of 107 arts organizations throughout Ireland sharing in more than €50 million in financial support, from theatre, music, and visual arts to literature {…}
(Photo: Patrick Redmond) Soprano Kelli-Ann Masterson continues to notch up wonderful reviews for her performances across Ireland with Irish National Opera, Opera Collective Ireland, Blackwater Valley Festival and Wexford Festival Opera. At present, she is on tour with Irish National Opera wowing audiences with her Norina in the company’s riotous “Don Pasquale” OperaWire: What was the first opera you saw? {…}
The Wexford Festival Opera has announced its 2023 season which will include 70 events across 13 days. Entitled “Women and War,” the season will kick off with three mainstage opera productions. First up is Donizetti’s “Zoraida di Granato” starring Claudia Boyle and Konu Kim. Bruno Ravella directs with Diego Ceretta conducting. The production will be presented in a co-production with {…}
(Photo: Clive Barda) For this year’s Wexford Festival Opera, its artistic director, Rosetta Cucchi, decided upon “Magic & Music” as its defining theme. As an umbrella term, it gives plenty of scope for selecting the operas for performance. The term can be applied narrowly, restricted to spells, wizards and witches, or more widely, bringing in fairy tales, legends, myths, ghosts, {…}
(Photo: Padraig Grant) One of the attractions for the young singers participating in Wexford Festival Opera’s Factory program is the chance to perform on the main stage in an opera in front of a large audience. Last year, they starred in a very successful production of Bellini’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi” which featured such artists as Jade Phoenix and {…}
(Photo: Clive Barda) Once upon a time, a magician named Prospero was overthrown and expelled from his kingdom by his brother Antonio. He eventually found refuge, with his daughter Miranda, on a small island that belonged to an evil sorceress called Sicorace, whom he imprisoned in a rock, then turned her monstrous son, Calibrano, into his slave. Using his powerful {…}
(Photo: Padraig Grant) Few people will be familiar with the operas of the 19th century British composer Alfred Cellier. Yet during his day, he was well-known for his comic operas, which are very much in the mould of Gilbert & Sullivan, although he never really posed a threat to their dominance. In 1886, his opera “Dorothy” broke all records with {…}
(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 {…}
Hila Baggio is an Israeli soprano with an international career who now resides in Europe. She has a wide repertoire ranging from the standard operatic roles to contemporary and liturgical music, and has appeared in numerous high profile productions, alongside many eminent musicians, including Daniel Barenboim for a staged production of “Pierrot Lunaire” in Berlin. Currently, she is performing Miranda {…}
(Photo: Clive Barda) Jade Phoenix was one of the first students to pass through Wexford Festival Opera’s Factory, a learning program for young singers starting out in their careers. As part of the course, she performed on the festival’s main stage in the role of Giuliette in Bellini’s “I Capuletti e i Montecchi.” Such was the strength of her interpretation {…}
(Photo: Frances Marshall) Following a series of glowing reviews for her performance as Elsa in Covent Garden’s 2018 production of “Lohengrin,” Irish soprano Jennifer Davis’ meteoric rise continues apace. Currently, she is performing the title role in Dvorak’s “Armida” at the Wexford Festival Opera. OperaWire: What was the first opera you saw? Jennifer Davis: “Porgy & Bess” at Cork Opera {…}
