Thérèse on BBC Radio 3 Thursday May 1st.

Nora Sourouzian as Thérèse,  WFO 2013.

If you would like another chance to hear Massenet's Thérèse from last season, then tune in to Afternoon on 3, on BBC Radio3, at 2.00pm (BST), on Thursday May 1st.

Set during the French revolution, the heroine Thérèse has the opportunity to escape with her lover, but chooses to go to her death with her husband.

The cast features Nora Sourouzian in the title role, with Brian Mulligan as her husband André, and Philippe Do as her lover Armand.

Wexford Festival Opera Orchestra and Chorus are conducted by Carlos Izcaray.

 

 

 



Friends Opera Tour to Paris

On Wednesday 23rd of April, a group of our Friends headed to Paris as part of the second Friends Opera Tour. On Wednesday they attended L'Italiana in Algeri by Rossini at the Palais Garnier. On Thursday night they attended the opening performance of  Bellini's  I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Opera Bastille. 

On Friday morning it was on to Versailles, before returning to Paris to attend the European Friends Event at the Irish Embassy.

For information on how to become a Friend and details of the various benefits that can be enjoyed, please visit the website.

Cristina regina di Svezia in London.

Helena Dix as Cristina at WFO 2013

Chelsea Opera Group, have announced that as part of their 2014/15 season, they will perform Cristina regina di Svezia by Foroni in a concert performance on November 8^th at Cadogan Hall in London.

 

Helena Dix who performed the role of Cristina in Wexford last year will once again sing the title role, and Andrew Greenwood will conduct. As you all know, Cristina was the winner of the Best Re-discovered Work category at the recent Opera Awards in London.

 

If you missed Cristina in Wexford last year, this is a great opportunity to hear it. If you saw Cristina last year, then this is also a great chance to hear this award winning opera once again. Further details will be available on the COG website. 

 

 

What Wexford does best.

On the night of Monday April 7th, Wexford Festival Opera was the proud winner of the award for Best Re-discovered Work at the 2nd annual Opera Awards. The award was for the 2013 festival production of Cristina regina di Svezia by Foroni. Pictured we see Artistic Director David Agler receiving the award from Opera Awards founder Harry Hyman. Accepting the Award on the night, David commented, “It is a distinct honour that Wexford Festival Opera has been recognised for what it is has done faithfully for 63 years in presenting rediscovered operas to the world by winning this award.”

From the beginning Wexford knew it had to present something a little different in order to attract people. Back in the early 1950's Wexford was not the easiest place to get to, so a unique selling point needed to be found. The festival's founder Dr Tom Walsh recalled that "programming in the early days entailed giving the public not quite what it wanted but what it might like". That viewpoint has proven to be very successful, and Wexford has excelled at this with over 170 operas presented so far !

Over these 63 years, audiences have made the annual trip to Wexford to discover and indeed re-discover operas from all aspects of the genre. Some of the works presented over the 63 seasons have returned to obscurity following their Wexford outing, while many others have gone on to have more regular stagings around the world. Whatever the ultimate outcome for the opera, visitors to Wexford can always expect performances presented to the highest international standard.  

The 2014 season will be no exception, with Wexford once again presenting three more operatic rarities. Full details of the 2014 season are available on the website.  Come visit us in October and witness for yourself what Wexford does best.

Onwards to October !

As you all know by now, Wexford Festival Opera was a winner at the Opera Awards in London last Monday night. First thing Tuesday it was back to business as usual for our hard working artistic and technical teams, who are very busy putting the final pieces in place to ensure that the 2014 festival is just as rewarding an experience for you as previous festivals have been.

Rosetta Cucchi who directs our opening opera, Salomé by Mariotte, is pictured here at a meeting earlier this week previewing some of the designs we will see on-stage in October. If you look closely you might be able to make out some of the details. But if not, don't worry!

Over the next few months, we will be bringing you more details about each of the three operas. This will include information about the operas themselves, the composers, and the singers as well as previews of the designs, which we hope will whet your appetite for WFO2014.

The other operas being presented at the 2014 festival are Don Bucefalo by Cagnoni, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night by Kevin Puts. Have a look at our website for more information about the operas, as well as all the other events taking place during this year's festival.    

Wexford wins at The Opera Awards

After a nail biting night at The Opera Awards, Wexford Festival Opera is the proud
winner in the Best Re-discovered work category.

Cristina regina di Svezia created a huge stir at last year's festival and has recently won the Best Opera Production for 2013 at The Irish Times Theatre Awards.

A big Wexford thank you and well done to all involved in Cristina!

Congratulations also to all the other category winners and nominees.

Countdown to The International Opera Awards

Only 2 days to go until the winners of the 2014 International Opera Awards are announced !

This year Wexford has received 4 nominations, including Best Re-discovered work for Cristina regina di Svezia. Helena Dix who was our stunning Cristina during the 2013 festival, is also nominated in the Best Young Singer category. Other nominations are in the Best Festival, and the Best Chorus categories.

All eyes and ears will be on The Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London on Monday night for the results ceremony.

Toi toi toi to all the nominees. Have a great night !

Wexford Festival 2014 blog

Welcome to the WFO2014 blog. Between now and October we want to take you on a journey of discovery and rediscovery of all the things that make the Wexford experience so unique.

Booking for this year’s festival is now open. If you have already booked your tickets we look forward to giving you a great big Wexford welcome in October. If you haven't, why not have a look at our website for more information about the upcoming festival. There are events to appeal to all tastes. Over the next few months we will be bringing you regular updates about the operas, the people, the town and anything else that takes our fancy.

Wexford 2014 promises to be a truly unique season. Why don't you make it your season of discovery and rediscovery.

Watch this space!