Wexford

Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney. The town was founded by the Vikings in about 800 AD. They named it Waes Fjord, inlet of the mud flats, and the name has changed only slightly into its present form.

Wexford Opera

In the early 20th century, Wexford was a poor town, with few attractions to offer a visitor. The fortunes of the town started to change in the 1950s, the institution of the Wexford Opera Festival playing a part. The organisers bought an old defunct theatre, the Theatre Royal, and started to produce operas. This was an unusual decision as Ireland does not have a strong opera tradition.

Related Topics:
Wexford Opera Festival - Theatre Royal - Operas

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The festival was launched in 1951 with a production of Arthur Balfe's Rose of Castile, a little-known work, but for the next decade concentrated on more mainstream repertoire, producing two operas per year. In 1963 the number of operas produced for each festival was increased to three and it remains thus, although it has occasionally varied.

Related Topics:
1951 - Arthur Balfe

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Gradually, as times improved, the organisers became more daring and by the late 1960s unfamiliar works predominated, often being the less celebrated operas of prominent composers. The trend toward obscurity in Wexford's programming has slowly but steadily continued and today many of the composers, as well as the individual operas, featured would be unknown to all but the expert.

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The festival became world renowned, and many young international singers started their careers singing in Wexford. The festival now runs for three weeks at the end of October. Three operas are performed in rotation, so that a visitor staying for any three successive nights can attend all three operas. The operas were normally accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. A dispute with this orchestra in the last few years has led to a number of Eastern European orchestras being used instead: the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Belarus and the Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra.

Related Topics:
National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland - National Philharmonic Orchestra of Belarus - Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra

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Along with the opera, a large number of other musical and artistic events take place in Wexford during the three weeks of the festival. The festival is much more than just opera. There are singing pubs, concerts, recitals and art exhibitions.

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