Wexford Festival Opera


Wexford Festival Opera

Late OctoberThe Wexford Festival Opera is best known for its staging of obscure or seldom-heard operas from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Held in a small seaport community in the southeastern corner of Ireland since 1951, the festival has based its success on its choice of rare operas and relatively unknown singers, many of whom have later become quite famous.
Three operas are staged during the two-week festival in Wexford's Georgian-style Theatre Royal, built in 1832. Some of the unusual operas presented there include Bedrich Smetana's The Two Widows, Joseph Haydn's Il Monde della Luna, and Francesco Cavalli's Eritrea, which had not been performed since 1652.
The festival also features choral and symphonic concerts and a fireworks display.
CONTACTS:
Wexford Opera
Theatre Royal, High St.
Wexford, Ireland
353-53-9122400; fax: 353-53-9122144
www.wexfordopera.com
SOURCES:
GdWrldFest-1985, p. 115
MusFestEurBrit-1980, p. 111