RTÉ lyric fm and RTÉ.ie to bring the 75th Wexford Festival Opera to audiences across Ireland and around the world
RTÉ lyric fm and RTÉ.ie will broadcast and stream all three WFO mainstage productions, alongside the glittering 75th anniversary concert featuring opera stars Ermonela Jaho, Daniela Barcellona, Joseph Calleja and Giorgi Manoshvili
This year, Wexford Festival Opera celebrates its 75th anniversary with a stellar programme of productions. Opening on 15 October at Ireland’s National Opera House in Wexford, Wexford Festival Opera and RTÉ have today announced that they are joining forces to bring the festival to audiences across Ireland and around the world. With the support of ARTE and the European Broadcasting Union, those unable to be there in person will have the opportunity to experience the very best of Wexford on-air and on-line.
Sinead Wylde, Head of RTÉ lyric fm said: “We’re delighted that audiences in Ireland will be able to tune into Opera Night with Paul Herriott on RTÉ lyric fm or watch live on www.rte.ie/culture to experience both the 75th anniversary concert and the three mainstage operas from Wexford Festival Opera this year.”
The three mainstage operas this year are built around the theme The Best of: one for the head, one for the heart, one for fun. All three have been previously performed during the Festival’s history and will appear in new productions this October. They are: Iris - Pietro Mascagni (last performed at Wexford Festival Opera in 1995) Gioachino Rossini’s L’equivoco stravagante (last performed at WFO in 1968) and The Gambler - Sergei Prokofiev (last performed at WFO in 1973).
WFO and RTÉ are also delighted to announce that they will also broadcast and stream the one-off glittering 75th anniversary concert – Cróí na Féile (The Heart of the Festival) – live from the National Opera House on Saturday 17 October. In what is expected to be a highlight of the 75th season, an international constellation of opera superstars – Ermonela Jaho, Daniela Barcellona, Joseph Calleja, and Giorgi Manoshvili – will join forces with the Wexford Festival Opera Orchestra, conducted by Daniele Callegari, to perform music by Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi and more.
“For 75 years, Wexford Festival Opera has brought together artists and audiences from around the world through discovery, extraordinary storytelling and artistic excellence,” said Suzanne Nance, Executive Director of Wexford Festival Opera. “As we celebrate this milestone anniversary, our partnership with RTÉ and RTÉ lyric fm allows us to share what happens onstage at Ireland’s National Opera House with audiences across Ireland and around the world. It is a fitting celebration of Wexford’s remarkable legacy and of our commitment to making great opera accessible to all.”
HOW TO LISTEN / STREAM
15 October: Live stream Iris @ 8pm
Experience the Festival’s opening production Iris. Listen Live on RTÉ lyric fm or RTÉ Listen or watch on RTE.ie/culture. Iris will also be available on ARTE platforms from 18 November.
This year RTÉ lyric fm audio production will also be shared with and broadcast on the EuroRadio (European Broadcasting Union) network in Spain, Belgium, Croatia, Serbia, Catalonia, The Netherlands, Australia and Latvia as part of the EBU Premium Opera Season.
16 October: Live stream L’equivoco stravagante @ 7.30pm
Listen Live on RTÉ lyric fm or RTÉ Listen or watch on RTE.ie/culture
This RTÉ lyric fm audio production will also be shared with and broadcast on the EuroRadio (European Broadcasting Union) network in Spain and Catalonia as part of the EBU Premium Opera Season.
17 October: Live stream the unmissable 75th Anniversary Concert, Croí na Féile @7.30pm
Listen Live on RTÉ lyric fm or RTÉ Listen watch on RTE.ie/culture
24 October: The Gambler at 7pm
Listen on RTÉ lyric fm or RTÉ Listen watch on RTE.ie/culture
More about the operas
Iris Pietro Mascagni, 1898. Libretto by Luigi Illica
This year’s ‘opera for the heart’ marks a personal milestone for director, Rosetta Cucchi, and Mascagni specialist, conductor, Francesco Cilluffo. Rosetta’s journey with the Festival began in 1995 when Iris was the very first production she worked on; now, she returns to it alongside Cilluffo, who debuted at Wexford with Mascagni in 2015. His reputation as a definitive interpreter of Mascagni’s lush scores is further cemented by this, his third production of the composer’s work at the Festival.
Set not in a literal Japan, but a mythical one, it is a striking, symbolic masterpiece exploring the fragility of innocence in an uncaring world. A rare opportunity to experience Italian opera at its most atmospheric and emotionally raw.
Creative Team includes: Conductor - Francesco Cilluffo, Stage Director - Rosetta Cucchi; Set Designer - Tiziano Santi; Costume Designer - Claudia Pernigotti.
L'equivoco stravagante Gioachino Rossini, 1811. Libretto by Gaetano Gasbarri
This year’s ‘opera for fun’ is a joyous early work by Gioachino Rossini. A sparkling farce of absurd misunderstandings, youthful wit, rapid-fire ensembles and comic excess, L’equivoco stravagante was Rossini’s first large-scale opera. It vanished from the repertoire after falling foul of the censor due to its subversive libretto. Wexford was one of the first companies to present it in 1968.
This production returns following a historic public vote last summer. In a first for the Festival, audiences from 30 countries chose (by way of a vote) the ‘fun’ opera for the 75th Anniversary, marking the first time a production has been selected by popular demand.
Creative Team includes: Conductor - Riccardo Bisatti; Stage Director - Max Hoehn; Set Designer - Darko Petrovich; Costume Designer – Massimo Carlotto.
The Gambler Sergei Prokofiev, 1929. Libretto by the composer after Fyodor Dostoevsky
This year’s ‘opera for the head’ is Sergei Prokofiev’s The Gambler, written in 1917 during the First World War when the composer was 26 years old and still considered to be in his enfant terrible phase.
Last staged at WFO in 1973, the opera has remained on the fringes of the repertoire for the major opera houses and festivals. Set in 1865 in the fictional German spa town of Roulettenburg, everything is deliberately artificial. The opera follows the protagonist, Alexei, a young tutor, as he spirals into gambling debt while being obsessed with his employer’s stepdaughter, Polina. First performed at WFO in English translation in 1973, the opera will be performed in its original Russian.
Creative Team includes: Conductor - Valentin Uryupin; Stage Director - Ivan Popovski; Set & Costume Designer - Maria Tregubova.