Those waiting for a homeward DART at Pearse Station in Dublin yesterday were transfixed by the surreal sight of scores of people in tuxedos and evening dresses, drinking champagne on an adjoining platform.
The glitterati were waiting for the annual first night Wexford Opera train. The opening night opera of the 47th festival was Fosca by South American composer Carlos Gomes and starring Elmira Veda, Giuseppina Piunti and Fernando del Valle.
The train stopped at Dun Laoghaire and Bray for more opera buffs and then travelled non-stop to the State's unofficial classical musical capital. Among the passengers were Kevin Healy, director of public affairs at RTE; author Deirdre Purcell; film censor Sheamus Smith; Noel Carroll of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and his wife Deirdre.
"It's the first time I've ever been to the festival and the first time I've taken the train to Wexford. And what a way to begin," Mike Murphy quipped. Commuters dined on chablis, pheasant terrine, tarragon chicken and Bailey's mousse.
Taking a break from the volatile property market were Eoghan Ganly of Ganly Walters, Arthur Davies of Hamilton Osborne King and Tom Day of Lisneys. Also there were Judy Woodworth, director of the National Concert Hall, pianist Pavel Nersessian, who won the 1997 GPA piano competition, and Liam Healy, chief executive of Independent Newspapers, which has sponsored Fosca for the festival's duration.
Once in Wexford, the opera-goers were entertained by the traditional quay-side fireworks. Eighteen more days of this premier opera festival remain.
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