Wexford Festival Opera unveils programme for 2027
Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi has today announced the programme for Wexford Festival Opera 2027, which will run from Thursday 14 October to Saturday 30 October. Wexford Festival Opera has earned an international reputation for rediscovering neglected operatic works while launching the careers of many of opera's leading stars. This year’s offerings celebrate the courage and tenacity of women – both the female protagonists in the operas themselves, and the female creatives behind the scenes.
Speaking at the announcement of the 2027 programme, Rosetta Cucchi said: “The 2027 Festival is a tribute to the extraordinary courage, resilience and creative power of women, who continue to make a difference even in the face of silence. Through both the remarkable female characters who command our main stage and the pioneering women composers and librettists whose voices echo across history, this season celebrates those who dared to defy expectations and shape the world of opera. At the heart of the 2027 Festival is a single word: love. Next year’s Festival will also continue to embrace the artistic philosophy that has become a cornerstone of our identity: one for the heart, one for fun, and one for the head. These three distinct emotional and intellectual journeys offer three unique ways to experience the operas - all bound together by a single, powerful feeling.”
Main Stage Operas
Anna di Resburgo (1835) Carolina Uccelli (1801-1858)
Tajemství (The Secret) (1878) Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884)
Déjanire (1911) Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Casting for all three main stage operas is underway. Building on the exceptional work of the Wexford Factory over the last seven years in nurturing the next generation of opera singers, the three leading female roles will all be performed by Wexford Factory alumni.
Anna di Resburgo (1835) Carolina Uccelli (1801-1858) | 14, 19, 22, 27, 30 October, 2027
Libretto by Gaetano Rossi, revised by the composer
The daughter of minor Florentine aristocracy, Carolina Uccelli began composing early and had already written two operas before her 25th birthday — a remarkable achievement for anyone, let alone a woman in an era that scorned and thwarted women composers. Regrettably, Uccelli could not sustain a career in composition, and her second opera, Anna di Resburgo, first performed in Naples, fell into obscurity for nearly two centuries. Now, audiences have the opportunity to discover an early work by a composer who deserved more recognition. The second act in particular, says Rosetta Cucchi, is a musical masterpiece.
The opera will be performed in its original Italian.
Creative Team includes
Conductor - Sieva Borzak
Stage Director - Rodula Gaitanou
Set & Costume Designer - Cordelia Chisholm
Tajemství (The Secret) (1878) Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) | 15, 20, 23, 28 October, 2027Libretto by Eliška Krásnohorská
The story for Tajemství (The Secret) — which centres on a long-standing feud between two prominent families, a forbidden romance and a quest for hidden treasure — came from Smetana’s frequent collaborator, the Czech feminist author Eliška Krásnohorská, who wrote libretti for four of Smetana’s operas. Director Polly Graham’s new production moves the action to the present day.
The opera will be performed in its original Czech.
Creative Team includes
Conductor - Sasha Scolnik Brower
Stage Director - Polly Graham
Set & Costume Designer - Anisha Fields
Déjanire (1911) Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)| 16, 21, 24, 29 October, 2027
Libretto by Louis Gallet and the composer, adapted from Sophocles’ The Trachiniae
A classic drama of mythic proportions, Saint-Saëns’ Déjanire combines passion, jealousy and tragic consequences. The title character Déjanire is an epic heroine desperate to win back her husband Hercule’s affections at any cost. WFO’s 2027 production brings back conductor / director George Petrou and set & costume designer Georgina Germanou from Wexford’s 2025 production of Handel’s Deidamia.
The opera will be performed in its original French.
Creative Team includes
Conductor - George Petrou
Stage Director - George Petrou
Set & Costume Designer - Georgina Germanou
Maria Callas Mon Amour Concert | Sunday 17 October, 2027
Celine ByrneRTÉ Concert Orchestra
Closing out the opening weekend of the 2027 Festival and marking 50 years since her death is the Maria Callas Mon Amour Concert. Irish soprano Celine Byrne, described by Opera magazine as a performer of ‘fine lyrical quality and a touching actor,’ performs some of Callas’s defining arias with orchestra in this one-night-only gala celebration with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
Pocket Operas Triple Bill
One of the Festival’s most beloved and inclusive initiatives, Pocket Operas are hour-long productions, with performances scheduled between 11:00am and 3:00pm, offering an affordable and welcoming introduction to opera for audiences of all ages.
In 2027, Rosetta Cucchi reimagines the Pocket Opera format, offering up a triple bill of mini operas presented together in succession, accompanied by a small instrumental ensemble.
A Hand of Bridge (1959) Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti
Lasting just nine minutes, A Hand of Bridge is possibly the shortest opera that is regularly performed, proving that opera’s larger-than-life emotions and conflicts do not need to unfold over several hours. Two unhappily married couples play a hand of bridge, during which each player sings an arietta professing their inner desires and anxieties.
The Telephone (1947) Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007)
Libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti
Ben visits his girlfriend Lucy at her apartment intending to propose to her before he leaves on a trip, but she is continually distracted by telephone calls. Growing increasingly desperate, Ben finally makes one last-ditch effort to connect with his beloved. Menotti's brilliantly witty and concise opera has become a favourite with audiences. Its exploration of our obsession with technology resonates even more today, now that we can bring our phones with us wherever we go!
Gallantry (1958) Douglas Moore (1893-1969)
Libretto by Arnold Sundgaard
Bringing the Pocket Opera triptych to a close is Gallantry, a favourite with US audiences since its premiere. The farcical opera follows the format of a daytime soap opera set in a hospital operating room, where the surgeon has fallen in love with the anaesthetist, who in turn loves the patient on the table. No soap opera would be complete without commercial breaks — these, too, are sung by the opera’s cast.
Director: Pat Whelan
Conductor: Carmen Santoro
Factory Opera & Community Opera
Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1786
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
Creative team includes
Conductor - Karen Ní Bhroin
Director - Rosetta Cucchi
For the first time, two popular Wexford Festival Opera initiatives — the Factory Opera and the Community Opera — are merging into one unforgettable production. The first of the trilogy of iconic operas created by Mozart and Da Ponte, The Marriage of Figaro takes place over just one madcap day. Women are the emotional and strategic heart of the story: the female characters consistently outwit the men, staying several steps ahead throughout. Conducted by Karen Ní Bhroin, from Ferns in Co Wexford, who last year became the first Irish woman on the podium of the Royal Albert Hall in London, the most visible conducting podium in the world.
First introduced in 2023, the Community Opera invites members of the Wexford community to become active participants on stage.
Wexford Festival Opera established the Wexford Factory in 2020. It offers professional and financial support to young singers, pianists and stage managers in the early stage of their careers. Entering its 8th year in 2027, Factory participants embark on a two-year journey, which sees them take part in a professional development academy in Wexford each September. As well as performing in the Festival, they have a chance to take part in an international exchange. The 2027 Festival will also see the introduction of a new collaboration with Opera Rara, London.
Concerts, Recitals, Lectures & Other Events
As in previous years, WFO’s programme of operatic works will be complemented by a full programme of concerts, recitals, lectures and other events, which in 2027 will include:
Lunchtime Recitals
The lunchtime recitals in St Iberius Church and the O’Reilly Theatre are performed by leading cast members from the operas. The experience of hearing these wonderful singers in a more intimate setting is enjoyed by devoted opera enthusiasts and local music lovers.
The Gala Concert
One of the most popular events each year for local and visiting audiences, the Gala Concert is a fun journey through much-loved opera repertoire and songs, featuring singers from the 2027 main stage operas.
Pop-up Events
Central to the Festival’s community engagement programme, the hugely popular pop-up performances transform unexpected locations – from cafés and hotels, to bars and shops – into intimate opera stages, offering free live opera performances to anyone who is passing.
There will also be a late-night opera event and the annual Dr Tom Walsh lecture, which honours the Festival’s founder.
Booking details
- Friends Priority Booking opens 14 April 2027 Concierge booking - Donors of Impact, Bravura, and Cabaletta.
- 21 April 2027 1st Priority Booking - Aria, Ensemble+
- 28 April 2027 2nd Priority Booking - Ensemble, Prelude
General Booking opens 5 May 2027 at wexfordopera.com / +353 53 912 2144 / in person at the National Opera House, High Street, Wexford.