Wexford Festival Opera 2026: Iris review – Rosetta Cucchi directs a sterling cast, but Mascagni’s music lets them down
The Chinese soprano Leyla Gu, a forthright Iris, is the audience favourite, judging by the applause on opening night
Rosetta Cucchi
Opera director
‘The driver talked all the time for the three-hour journey. I understood maybe 20%’
Rosetta Cucchi, Wexford Festival Opera’s artistic director, on discovering Irish hospitality, revisiting past works for the event’s 75th anniversary and letting the public choose what to perform
Michael Dervan on how opera composer Gioachino Rossini and Ireland are intertwined
From Dublin’s Theatre Royal in 1829 to Wexford’s modern stages, the Italian’s spirit remains woven into Irish operatic history
Wexford Festival Opera at 70: ‘I thought, this would be a great job to have’
Artistic directors past and present recall the memorable moments from the festival
Wexford Festival Opera: Curtain up on a historic 70th year
Director Rosetta Cucchi is looking forward to anniversary celebrations after a tough lockdown
Three Irish opera projects shortlisted for prestigious European prize
Michael Gallen’s Straymaker, Wexford Festival Opera and Irish National Opera make list
West Cork Chamber Music Festival doubles down for 2021
Artistic director Francis Humphrys is responding to Covid by adding more shows
Wexford opera, virtually: A bittersweet affair in Covid’s shadow
First-rate soloists and the Wexford Factory enliven binge-watching this year’s Wexford Festival Opera online, a Festival in the Air
Wexford Festival Opera goes online in series of free performances
Waiting for Shakespear...The Festival in the Air is an eight-day online celebration
Opera merger sees more Irish singers in more varied roles
Building projects prove more time consuming than artistic changes as self-preservation prevails
What is it that opera traditionalists want exactly?
It has become clear over the years that whatever it is they like, they call it traditional
Artistic director plans new theme for every Wexford Festival Opera
Rosetta Cucchi, who brings an open-hearted warmth to her task, has chosen ‘Shakespeare’ for 2020
La cucina/Adina review: A production so busy it ties itself in knots
Wexford Festival Opera: Andrew Synnott’s skilful music faces a riot of onstage activity
Andrew Synnott: A musician who needs to express himself in all kinds of different ways
Synnot will be first living Irish composer to have work featured on main stage of Wexford Festival Opera
Meet Wexford Festival Opera’s next artistic director
Rosetta Cucchi thought she was in the wrong place when she first arrived at Theatre Royal
Arts Council chair calls for an Aosdána for performing artists
State investment in the arts marked but Ireland remains below European average
Wexford Festival Opera appoints new artistic director
Italian-born Rosetta Cucchi has been involved with the festival since 1995
Wexford Festival Opera: the opening weekend’s reviews
‘Medea’ misses the mark while ‘Risurrezione’ goes down a storm
Classical and opera highlights this week
Wexford Festival Opera begins while ‘Eithne’ is presented in a concert performance
Fiona Shaw to direct Medea at Wexford Festival Opera
This year the festival expands across 18 days, starting October 19th
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