Handel’s Deidamia a triumph for Wexford Festival Opera

Rory Musgrave (Fenice) and ensemble

Sophie Junker (Deidamia) and Bruno de Sá (Achille)

Bruno de Sá (Achille)

Petros Magoulas (Licomede), Nicolò Balducci (Ulisse) and Rory Musgrave (Fenice)

By Eleanor Knight, 19 October 2025

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“very rarely – and it’s so special when it does – opera can meet you exactly where you are”

Reviewed at National Opera House: O’Reilly Theatre, Wexford on 18 October 2025

Handel, Deidamia

Wexford Festival Opera

George Petrou, Conductor, Director

Giorgina Germanou, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Daniele Naldi, Lighting Designer

Orchestra of Wexford Festival Opera

Sophie Junker, Deidamia

Bruno de Sá, Achille

Sarah Gilford, Nerea

Nicolò Balducci, Ulisse

Rory Musgrave, Fenice

Petros Magoulas, Licomede

Delius’ The Magic Fountain disappoints at Wexford

Eleanor Knight, 19th October

Frederick Delius' gigantic score is worth a listen but Christopher Luscombe doesn’t circumvent the problems of directing this opera in 2025.

**111

Spanish Civil War Trouvère opens Wexford Festival Opera

Eleanor Knight, 17th October

The 74th Wexford Opera Festival opens with the French revision of Il trovatore that Verdi reforged for the Paris Opera.

***11

Orpha Phelan delivers farcical Donizetti at the Wexford Festival Opera

Andrew Larkin, 20th October

Superlative singing, hilarious antics and an energetic production make Donizetti's Le Convenience ed inconvenience an exhilarating success.

****1

Stanford's hilarious The Critic proves a Wexford knockout

Andrew Larkin, 19th October

Conor Hanratty's humorous production is a triumph from beginning to end, a must see at this year's Wexford Festival.

*****

Mascagni's Le maschere struggles to take flight in Wexford opener

Andrew Larkin, 18th October

Excellent singing, an amusing production and lively staging showcases Mascagni's Le maschere in the best possible light at Wexford Festival Opera.

***11

Erlanger's L'Aube rouge a damp squib at Wexford Festival Opera

Andrew Larkin, 29th October

Erlanger's fractured and clichéd opera isn't helped by confused direction, although soprano Andreea Soare is nothing short of magnificent as the heroine.

**111

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Eleanor Knight

Eleanor is a writer and librettist. Her work has appeared in all kinds of places from the Royal Opera House to the foot tunnels beneath the Elephant and Castle roundabout, and she has written arts reviews and features for British papers and magazines. Having begun her working life in theatre, she switched to publishing and later taught creative writing at the University of Brighton and Birkbeck. Currently based in the Netherlands, she teaches at the University of Utrecht. Eleanor plays violin and sings, though not usually at the same time, and has recently taken up speed-skating.

Delectable Deidamia: Wexford’s second act triumphs with Handel rarity