Wexford Festival Opera marks 48th birthday

The founders of Wexford Festival Opera had an unusual objective 48 years ago: to give the people of Wexford not quite something they wanted, but something they might like.

The people responded enthusiastically last night, with some 8,000 - about half the population of the town - witnessing the spectacular opening pageant and fireworks display.

For the next 17 nights the town's Theatre Royal will fill for the rare or neglected operas Wexford specialises in staging.

More than one-third of the 10,000 tickets have been sold to people from abroad, including international opera managers scouting for talent. This festival has a reputation for finding young singers from around the world who are destined for international stardom.

Opening the festival, the President, Mrs McAleese, said someone once defined opera as "when a guy gets stabbed in the back, and instead of bleeding, he sings".

"But there is no doubt that in recent years opera has gained much wider appeal and understanding, and this festival has played no small part in achieving this here in Ireland," she said.

Noting that the event was celebrating its 48th birthday, she joked that she knew how it felt.

The three operas chosen this year - Die Konigin von Saba (The Queen of Sheba), Straszny dwor (The Haunted Manor) and Siberia - will be staged on consecutive nights. This means the audience has hardly left the theatre each night before the crew is on stage taking down the set and preparing for the next production. It would be easier, admitted the festival chief executive, Mr Jerome Hynes, to give each opera a six- or seven-night run before staging the next.

With funding from the Government-backed Millennium Festivals company, this year's event is the biggest ever, incorporating outdoor events such as last night's performance by a local street theatre group, Bui Bolg. An even bigger event with Galway's Macnas and Waterford's Spraoi groups will close the festival on October 31st.

Guests last night included the EU Commissioner, Mr David Byrne; the Minister for Arts, Culture, Heritage and the Islands, Ms de Valera; the deputy leader of the Labour Party, Mr Brendan Howlin; the mayor of Wexford, Mr Ted Howlin; as well as the local Fine Gael politicians, Ms Avril Doyle and Mr Michael d'Arcy. The Bishop of Ferns, Dr Brendan Comiskey, and the director of the Arts Council, Ms Patricia Quinn, also watched the performance.

Local people will be out in force between now and the end of the month. The founders were right: the people got something they liked.