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Wexford Opera Festival

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2011 Events | Wexford Opera Festival | Image Gallery | Testimonials

Marlfield House and
The Wexford Opera Festival 2012

Marlfield House is delighted to offer guests a wonderful night at Marlfield and the Wexford Opera including excellent seats for the opera, champagne, dinner, being driven to the Opera House, late night supper and overnight in a luxurious bedroom with a delicious breakfast the following morning.

Marlfield is delighted to be able to offer much sought after seats for any of the productions as listed below


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L'ARLESIANA
Francesco Cilèa (1866-1950)
Wexford Opera House, Tickets ?35 - ?130
24, 27, 30 October, 2 November / 20:00

Obsessed by a woman who is never seen, Federico ruins the lives of those he loves, as well as his own.

Love pervades this story of a young man, Federico, and his family and friends in the countryside near Arles in the south of France. But this is no rural idyll, this is real life. The passions and emotions of Federico, his mother Rosa, Vivetta, who has always loved him, and Metifio, his rival in love, have a powerful universal resonance. Cilèa's 1897 opera depicts the superstitions surrounding a handicapped child, Federico's obsessive love for a mysterious woman, his jealousy of Metifio, his mother's all-consuming love for him, and the shy Vivetta, who loves Federico and suffers agonies of misery over him. At the centre of it all is l'Arlesiana, the woman from Arles. She never appears but - unwittingly, perhaps - pulls the strings as they all dance to her tune.
< Written in the nineteenth century verismo tradition favoured by Mascagni, Leoncavallo and Puccini, which depicted the rawness of the everyday lives of 'ordinary' people, this is reality opera for the twenty-first century. It includes Cilèa's best-known aria È la solita storia del pastore, the famous 'Federico's Lament'.


LE ROI MALGRÉ LUI
Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894)
Wexford Opera House, Tickets ?35 - ?130
25, 31 October, 3 November / 20:00, 28 October / 17:00

A man destined to be king makes hilarious attempts to escape his fate!

Being king isn't easy but it's even harder when you are a dissolute French aristocrat sent by your domineering mother - Queen Catherine of Medici, no less - to rule over an unwelcoming foreign populace! Feeling exiled in Poland, Henri, our reluctant king, is consumed by nostalgia for all things French. The frigid weather, the dreary fashion, the drab palace - none of it is to his liking! As he attempts not to be crowned King of Poland the production takes a rapturous ride through all things French, from Louis XVI's glittering royal court at Versailles to the long sultry summers of St Tropez and the sophisticated nightlife of Monte Carlo in the 1960s.
Written in 1884, Le Roi malgré lui ('The Reluctant King') had an ill-starred stage history, but its lively and melodic musical score was a success from the outset and was greatly admired by Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky. With vocal fireworks, comedic cunning, an exuberant chorus and lively dances, all driven by a clever orchestral score, this production captures the essence of Chabrier's satirically witty comic opera.


A VILLAGE ROMEO AND JULIET
Frederick Delius (1862-1934)
Wexford Opera House, Tickets ?35 - ?130
26, 29 October, 1, 4 November / 20:00

Love brings them together; feuding fathers keep them apart. Only tragedy will reunite them.

Written between 1899 and 1901, A Village Romeo and Juliet was the fourth of Delius's six operas and is generally regarded as his finest. Sali and Vreli, his Romeo and Juliet, have the misfortune to live in a small village community in Switzerland, the children of farmers who are at loggerheads over the ownership of a worthless piece of land that by rights should belong to a man known as the Dark Fiddler. Forbidden by their feuding fathers to marry each other, Sali and Vreli are forced to run away together. The Dark Fiddler tries to persuade them to join him and his friends and live together freely. They reject this lifestyle but their guilt at betraying their families leads them to choose a brief, glorious, moment of love, which culminates in their exultant acceptance of death.
Delius's passionate engagement with the story inspired him to compose rapturous, rhapsodic music that depicts the defencelessness and innocence of the lovers, their youthful idealism and the intense expression of their love. The opera includes the celebrated orchestral interlude, The Walk to the Paradise Garden.


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SHORTWORKS

The ShortWorks are informal daytime operatic productions (sung in English) with minimal sets and piano accompaniment. The very popular ShortWorks are a delightful afternoon entertainment and have introduced many people to the pleasures of opera. Tickets for the ShortWorks are also available as part of a Daytime Events Package.


The Magic Flute - Shortwork
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
The Auditorium, Presentation Secondary School, Grogan's Road
Tickets ?25 - 27, 29, 30 October, 1, 2 November / 15:30

It was lack of money in real life that persuaded Mozart to try his hand at writing a Zauberoper ('magic opera'), a popular style of Singspiel with audience-pleasing spectacular scenic effects. Mozart's music for the pseudo- Oriental fairy tale, Lulu, or the Magic Flute, was an immediate success. Audiences then, as now, were captivated by the opera, by the fantastical characters on stage and by Mozart's ravishing music. Poignantly, he died a few weeks after the first performance.


A Dionner Engagement
Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989)
The Auditorium, Presentation Secondary School, Grogan's Road
Tickets ?25 - 26, 31 October, 3 November / 15:30 28 October / 11:00

Lennox Berkeley's first and most successful opera, the one-act comedy A Dinner Engagement, was written in 1954.It is the story of how a hard-up family try to solve their financial difficulties by arranging for their daughter Susan to marry the wealthy Prince Philippe of Monteblanco. The matchmaking parents plan a grand dinner party to bring Susanand Philippe together, but are there too many cooks in the kitchen and what does Susan think of the idea?


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GALA CONCERT

The Gala Concert
Tickets ?50 - ?60 Sunday 28 October / 22:00

The Gala Concert is one of the highlights of the Wexford Festival Opera diary and features a collection of favourite party pieces from members of the Festival company. Early booking is advised.

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Guests are invited to arrive on the afternoon of their reservation and have a relaxed afternoon tea. Champagne and canapés will be served preceding an early dinner in our beautiful dining room. You will then be driven to Wexford to the door of the magnificent and world acclaimed Wexford Opera House.

For parties of more than eight a champagne reception will be arranged during the interval and following the performance you will be driven back to Marlfield where our staff await your return with a feast of pudding and cheese!

Following a peaceful night’s slumber in one of our luxurious country house bedrooms a delicious breakfast will be served in the diningroom overlooking our gardens and grounds. All of the above is available from €350 per person sharing, €80 single supplement

Additional events and performances during the Wexford Opera Festival are currently being finalised and full details of the 2012 Programme will be announced later. If you wish to stay on at Marlfield for another night or two we would be delighted to offer bed and breakfast from as little as €90 per person sharing and we would arrange tickets for any other performances you may wish to attend.

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For all the latest opera information visit www.wexfordopera.com

For further information on making a reservation please call Theresa or Margaret on 053 9421124 or email on info@marlfieldhouse.ie

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Marlfield House, Courtown Road R742, Gorey, Co. Wexford, Ireland

T: 053 942 1124    F: 053 942 1572    E: info@marlfieldhouse.ie

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