Opera review: Koanga, Wexford Festival Opera

The 64th Wexford Festival Opera opened with Koanga, a rarely heard work by English composer Frederick Delius considered to be the first opera based on African American sources.

The composer’s interest in American music was sparked when he was dispatched to Florida to manage his family’s orange plantation. There, Delius became enchanted by the strains of spirituals sung by the plantation slaves.