Review: Wexford Festival Opera, Falstaff and What Happened To Lucrece
Francesca Federico and Rory Dunne in Falstaff Chronicles, at Wexford Festival Opera 2020. Picture: Pádraig Grant
These are bleak times for opera companies with grand plans scuppered by the tiny, invisible destroyer. The lights are out at the mighty Met Opera for now, al fresco performances have petered out as winter approaches and televised performances are the order of the day in many centres.
Wexford Festival has made a virtue of necessity and embraced technology to deliver an imaginative programme that preserves the original Shakespeare theme, repackaged in formats inspired by Netflix and television sit-coms.
Broadcasts by RTÉ have, thankfully, made the productions available to fans of opera starved of other events.
Director Rosetta Cucchi takes six scenes from Verdi’s comic opera Falstaff, each 15-minute episode streamed daily to make a mini-series. With high production values in camera work and lighting, Falstaff Chronicles proved an effective and engaging vehicle to showcase the young singers engaged in the company’s development programme of young artists.
Rory Dunne and David Howes alternate in the title role and the cast knock a lot of fun out of the comedy with solid vocal performances across the ensemble performed to a nimble piano reduction.
Wexford Festival commissioned a short work by Andrew Synnott whose opera La Cucina premiered here last year. Performed over three evenings, ‘What happened to Lucrece’ is based on the Shakespeare poem, The Rape of Lucretia.
I was reminded of the German experimental film Run Lola Run where three different endings follow the same opening scenes.
While the tragic version packed a punch with baritone Rory Musgrave convincing as the villainous assailant Sextus, my choice was the farce which presented like an operatic version of the sit-com Friends with the trio of bed-sit buddies led by Sarah Richmond as Lucrece. Pianist Giorgio D’Alonso delivered Synnott’s colourful score with energy and clarity.
While there is no replacing the buzz of being in Wexford, I am enjoying this online programme. Aside from the excellence of the performances, one must admire the resilience of Cucchi and her team in keeping the flame burning in Wexford in the time of pandemic.
- Episode 6 of Falstaff Chronicles streams on Saturday, October 17. Final concert featuring Claudia Boyle and Pietro Adaini broadcast live on RTÉ Lyric FM, Oct 18. All events available on rte.ie/culture. www.wexfordopera.com
