Ancient tales, modern voices: Wexford Festival Opera returns

RTÉ News​

07-05-2025

As general booking opens for the 74th Wexford Festival Opera, Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi introduces this year's programme, which is built around the theme of Myths & Legends.
This year for Wexford Festival Opera 2025, we journey into a world where music and myth merge, where the legends of old are brought to life by the soaring power of the human voice. Lyric opera, a timeless art form, has long drawn inspiration from the myths and legends that shape our collective imagination. It is a vessel through which ancient stories are renewed, reinterpreted, and reborn.
The 74th Wexford Festival Opera, will feature 3 main stage operas:
Conducted by Marcus Bosch and directed by Ben Barnes, Le Trouvére by Giuseppe Verdi is a rare chance to hear Verdi's French version of Il trovatore - around the rivalry for the love of the young Leonora between the troubadour Manrique and the Comte de Lune.
George Petrou will conduct and direct Deidamia, George Frideric Handel's last Italian opera before he turned to oratorio, an unjustly neglected tragi-comic masterpiece.
Francesco Cilluffo will return to Wexford to conduct The Magic Fountain by Frederick Delius, which will be directed by Christopher Luscombe. A lyric drama in three acts The Magic Fountain is set in a mythical, exotic location and centres around the legend of a magical fountain that grants eternal youth. This production is supported by The Delius Trust.
Alongside these there will be a performance by the Wexford Factory artists of Il Viaggio a Reims by Gioachino Rossini. The Community Opera this year will be The Little Midsummer Night's Dream and the Pocket Operas will be La Tragédie De Carmen by George Bizet sung in French with English dialogue and The Dwarf (Der Zwerg) by Alexander Zemlinsky in a Wexford commissioned English translation. Another treat for Wexford audiences will be a new WFO commission, late night event Urban Legends by Colm Tóibín and Andrew Synnott.
Why do we keep returning to these ancient stories? Because they remain relevant.
All of these are brought together under the theme of Myths and Legends.
Myths and legends are the beating heart of human storytelling. They explain the unexplainable, personify our dreams, and confront our fears. They speak of gods and mortals, of love and betrayal, of triumph and tragedy. From the timeless epics of Greece and Rome to the heroic sagas of Northern Europe, these stories remind us who we are and who we aspire to be.
Why do we keep returning to these ancient stories? Because they remain relevant. They address universal themes: the power of love, the inevitability of loss, the clash between destiny and free will. They speak to us now as they did centuries ago. And in lyric opera, these themes become visceral, unforgettable.
As we immerse ourselves in the myths and legends brought to life through the magic of opera, let us remember: these are not just stories of the past. They are stories of the present, told in music that transcends time. They call on us to reflect, to dream, and to feel deeply. And above all, they remind us that we, too, are part of a greater story—one that spans generations, cultures, and the ages.