Wexford Festival Opera to be live streamed to over 15 million listeners

Culture
22 Oct 18

IL BRAVO by Saverio Mercadante (1795–1870; Wexford Festival Opera; National Opera House; Ireland; 14 (ctober 2018; Il bravo - RUBENS PELIZZARI; Pisani - ALESSANDRO LUCIANO; Foscari - GUSTAVO CASTILLO; Luigi- SIMON MECHLIŃSKI; Teodora - YASKO SATO; Violetta - EKATERINA BAKANOVA; Cappello - JOSÉ DE EÇA; Marco - TONI NEŽIĆ; Un Messo - RICHARD SHAFFREY; Michelina - IOANA CONSTATIN-PIPELEA; Conductor - JONATHAN BRANDANI; Director - RENAUD DOUCET; Set & Costume Designer - ANDRÉ BARBE; Lighting Designer - PAUL HACKENMUELLER; Photo credit: © CLIVE BARDA/ArenaPAL;

Amy McMahon

Experience the Wexford Festival Opera from the comfort of your couch.

Every year thousands of visitors from Ireland and across the world gather in Wexford to celebrate and enjoy the operatic gems showcased by the Wexford Festival Opera. However the 67th festival will be listened to millions of opera-enthusiasts without ever having to leave the house. For the first year ever the annual event will be live streamed in partnership with RTÉ Culture.

One of the main stage performances, Saverio Mercadante’s 'Il bravo' (The Assassin), will be streamed live from the National Opera House via rte.ie/culture on 27 October. The performance will also be available on both platforms for a time-limited catch-up period. The free-to-view to all performance, falls under RTÉ’s public service remit. It augments Wexford’s education and access policy of reaching larger audiences to showcase the work of Wexford Festival Opera. Its aim is to bring about a new audience and enable those living in remote areas to engage.

Watch or listen live to the @wexfordopera production of Il Bravo on Saturday 27 October at 8pm via https://t.co/xbks025lWw @RTE_Culture #WFO2018 #IrelandsAncientEast #RTÉSupportingtheArts pic.twitter.com/XYQd3woh45

— WexfordFestivalOpera (@wexfordopera) October 19, 2018

RTÉ lyric fm will also broadcast the opera live across Ireland on the evening as part of 'Opera Night with Paul Herriott'. This broadcast will be shared internationally in association with the European Broadcast Union (EBU) Premium Opera Season in ten countries spanning Europe and Canada reaching an expected 15 million listeners worldwide. The countries include Ireland, Croatia, Germany, Canada, Russia, Bulgaria, Denmark, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain.

The other two main stage performances will be recorded for future radio broadcast. The European premiere of 'Dinner at Eight' composed by William Bolcom with libretto by Mark Campbell, will broadcast on 3 November via RTÉ lyric fm, and by several EBU member stations. The double-bill of 'L'oracolo' by Franco Leoni and Mala vita by Umberto Giordano will broadcast on RTÉ lyric fm on 10 November.

For further operatic exploration, 'Il bravo' (The Assassin) will also be broadcast on Arte’s digital on-demand culture channel, Arte Concert in April 2019.