★★★★★ 'a dream cast of singers … it’s difficult to know how better to spend 150 minutes glued to your seat' - Bachtrack
★★★★★ 'Handel’s fascinating, neglected Deidamia, at Wexford, features virtuoso performances' - The Irish Times
★★★★★ 'well worth encountering ... a huge hit for Wexford' - The Stage
Handel’s Deidamia premiered in 1741, just weeks after Imeneo. Librettist Paolo Rolli delivered his finest work. The opera had only three performances and wasn’t staged again until the 20th century.
Blending humour and seriousness, it explores heroism (Achilles) and love (Deidamia), closing Handel’s great operatic era.
Deidamia | In Rehearsals
Deidamia | Director Interview
Hear from director & conductor George Petrou and set & costume designer Giorgina Germanou about their approach to staging the production as part of the 74th Wexford Festival Opera.
'This is the last opera that Handel wrote for London and it's a very interesting piece because it's a combination of comedy and drama. There are a lot of very moving moments but a lot of very hilarious moments.'- George Petrou, Director & Conductor
Hear from director & conductor George Petrou and set & costume designer Giorgina Germanou about their approach to staging the production as part of the 74th Wexford Festival Opera.
'This is the last opera that Handel wrote for London and it's a very interesting piece because it's a combination of comedy and drama. There are a lot of very moving moments but a lot of very hilarious moments.'- George Petrou, Director & Conductor
2025 sees Sophie collaborate regularly with Leonardo García Alarcón, with upcoming projects including St John Passion (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées), Bach Cantatas, Poppea/L’Incoronazione di Poppea (European Tour) and Deborah/Deborah (European Tour). Further roles include Emira/Siroe, re di Persia (Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe), Cleopatra/Giulio Cesare (Händel Festival Göttingen), Atilia/Eliogabalo (Zurich) and Cunegunda/Gismondo (Vienna, Bayreuth). She has appeared with leading ensembles including Arcangelo, Vox Luminis, Concerto Copenhagen and the Bach Collegium Japan under conductors such as Cummings, Suzuki and Alarcón.
A finalist in the 2021 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize, Sarah is a graduate of the Bayerische Staatsoper’s Opernstudio and a former ensemble member at Stadttheater Klagenfurt. Engagements include Sophie/Werther (Royal Opera House), First Niece/Peter Grimes (Hamburg State Opera) and Dalinda/Ariodante (Grand Théâtre de Genève). She recently appeared as Juliette/Die tote Stadt (Bergen Opera) and has sung with Les Arts Florissants, the Berlin Philharmonic and at Wigmore Hall.
Bruno has performed with Komische Oper Berlin, Oper Dortmund, Theater Basel and Bayreuth Baroque Festival. Concert engagements include Vienna Staatsoper, Verbier Festival and Essen Philharmonie. A Warner Classics artist, his albums Roma Travestita and Mille Affetti have toured internationally. He received the OPER! Award (2020) and Austrian Music Theatre Prize (2024). Notable roles include Nerone/Agrippina, Aminta/L’Olimpiade and Donna Elvira/Don Giovanni. This season includes performances in Paris, Vienna, Madrid and this, his Wexford Festival Opera debut.
Acclaimed for his expressive artistry and vocal agility, Nicolò is a laureate of the Tebaldi, Cesti and Piccinni Competitions. Recent roles include Nerone/L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Valencia/Köln), Arbace/Mitridate (Lausanne/Montpellier) and Tirsi/Clori, Tirsi e Fileno (Handel Festspiele Halle). He will appear as Annio/La clemenza di Tito (Teatro La Fenice, Venice) and Miles/The Turn of the Screw (Staatsoper Berlin). His discography includes recordings with Naïve, BIS, and CVS.
Rory is an old known of WFO, where he performed several times. He recently made his UK Operatic debut singing the title role of Eugene (Eugene Onegin, Holland Park). In 2019 made his international operatic debut singing Young Kelvin (Solaris by Dai Fugikura -Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre). He will sing the four villain roles (Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Vilnius).
Petros has sung with major companies including Royal Opera House, Greek National Opera, Welsh National Opera and ABAO Bilbao Opera. Recent roles include Padre Guardiano/La forza del destino and Raimondo/Lucia di Lammermoor (Greek National Opera). Upcoming is Sparafucile/Rigoletto (Athens Festival). His repertoire also includes Zaccaria/Nabucco, Fiesco/Simon Boccanegra, Osmin/Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Sarastro/Die Zauberflöte, Daland/Der fliegende Holländer and Henry the Fowler/Lohengrin. He makes his Wexford Festival Opera debut this season.
Instagram: @petros_magoulas Facebook: @Petros Magoulas - Artist Website: www.magoulas.net
Grammy nominee and Echo Klassik winner George Petrou is Artistic Director of both the Internationale Händel Festspiele-Göttingen and Armonia Atenea. Recent engagements include Il barbiere di Siviglia (Arena di Verona), Semele (Athens, Göttingen), Idomeneo (Athens), L’incoronazione di Poppea (Köln) and Tancredi (Rouen). He has conducted at Teatro Real, Theater an der Wien and Teatro alla Scala. Honours include Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
Giorgina studied fine arts in Athens, before moving to London where she trained as a set designer and performance maker at the Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design. She completed her studies at the University of Utrecht in order to gain a comprehensive knowledge of the contemporary theatrical and cultural scene. In recent years she has worked as a designer on various projects ranging from theatre and cinema to music videos, working both with experimental groups and with well-known organisations such as the Onassis Cultural Centre, the Athens Festival and the National Theatre of Greece.
Since 1994, Daniele has been Head of Lighting and Lighting Designer for the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Among his many productions in Italy and around the world are Il trovatore, Rigoletto and La traviata (Maggio Musicale), Carmen (Rome), Lohengrin (Bilbao), Jérusalem (Zurich) and La fille du régiment (Tel Aviv).
Paolo began his career as a stage technician for concerts and events before discovering his passion for theatre and lighting design. In 2016, he started collaborating with renowned stylist Pierre Cardin as a lighting designer for musicals and by 2022, he was working at Teatro Comunale di Bologna.
Currently based between Athens and Germany, Marisa has worked on productions at the Bayreuth Baroque Festival, Göttingen International Handel Festival and the Athens Festival. Recent credits include Ifigenia in Aulide (Margravial Opera House, Bayreuth), Sarrasine (Deutsches Theater, Göttingen) and Polifemo (Hessisches Staatstheater, Wiesbaden). She trained at DAMU in Prague following a BA in Athens. Her work also includes exhibitions at the Prague Quadrennial and Onassis Cultural Centre. She makes her Wexford Festival debut this season.
Born in Athens, Constantina holds degrees in voice, acting and ethnomusicology. She began her career as an actress and musical theatre performer before shifting focus to writing and adapting novels into stage musicals. She has since developed a parallel career as an assistant director in opera. Her academic and creative background informs her multidimensional approach to staging. Constantina joins Wexford Festival Opera for the first time as assistant director on Deidamia.
Achilles, disguised as a young girl named Pyrrha, is hidden on the island of Skyros to avoid being sent to the Trojan War.
There, he falls in love with Deidamia, daughter of King Lycomedes. Their secret romance is threatened when Ulysses and the Greeks arrive, determined to find Achilles.
Ulysses exposes his true identity by tempting him with weapons. Though torn between love and destiny, Achilles chooses glory, leaving Deidamia heartbroken. Blending comedy and drama, Handel’s Deidamia explores love, deception, and fate in a world where duty triumphs over personal desire.
Watch & Listen
Deidamia | George Frideric Handel
Hear from director & conductor George Petrou and set & costume designer Giorgina Germanou about their approach to staging the production as part of the 74th Wexford Festival Opera.
