When the Paris Opera planned to give the first performance at the theatre of Verdi’s Otello the maestro was extremely puzzled when it was announced that they would be performing the opera in Italian. Hitherto the Paris Opera had presented Verdi’s operas in French, with the Italian versions being given at the Théâtre-Italien. Following the death of Donizetti, Verdi became the Paris Opera’s go to foreign composer. His operas for the theatre included such specifically written grand operas as Les vêpres siciliennes and Don Carlos, but also other works in translation.
This process would also allow Italian works to be reworked for the French audience, so I Lombardi became Jérusalem. This was a radical revision, effectively a new opera and Verdi had Jérusalem back-translated into Italian, as Gerusalemme but the revision failed to establish itself in either the French or Italian repertory.
Both Luisa Miller and Il trovatore were transformed into French versions for Paris, though the changes here were fewer. They became Louise Miller (a failure) and Le trouvère (a great success).
This latter has every right to be considered a version separate from the original. Not only did Verdi add an extended ballet sequence, writing some of his finest ballet music and even going so far as to weave themes from the opera into the ballet, but the role of Azucena was adjusted including an extended version of the finale of Act Four, to accommodate the role’s singer Adelaide Borghi-Mamo. In fact, the French version premiered at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels in January1857, before being performed in Paris later that year.
This version only gets very rare outings and it is welcome news that Wexford Festival Opera will be performing Verdi’s Le trouvère as part of the 2025 festival, including the ballet music. The production will be conducted by Markus Bosch and directed by Ben Barnes. Bosch is the artistic director of the Opernfestpiele Heidenheim where they have been investigating early and rare Verdi [we saw I Lombardi there in 2018 and Un giorno di regno in 2017]
The 2025 Wexford Festival runs from 17 October to 1 November 2025 and takes its theme as Myths & Legends. There are two further main stage productions.
Handel’s Deidamia in a co-production with Göttingen International Handel Festival who will present the work in 2026. Deidamia will be conducted and directed by George Petrou. Written in 1741, Deidamia was Handel’s final Italian opera. Not a success at the time, after this Handel turned his back on Italian opera to concentrate on English oratorio.
Frederick Delius’ The Magic Fountain, conducted by Francesco Cilluffo and directed by Christopher Luscombe. Delius’ opera was unperformed in his lifetime and only received its premiere, in concert, in 1977 and finally reached the stage in 1997. It was his third opera, coming between Irmelin and Koanga.
In addition, the WFO Factory artists will perform Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims to mark the 200th anniversary of the opera, in a production conducted by Manuel Hartinger and directed by Rosetta Cucchi. There will also be a competition for young directors in Ireland to direct two Pocket Operas, Peter Brook/Georges Bizet’s La tragedie de Carmen and Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg.
The Artist-in-Residence for 2025 and 2026 will be composer and writer Ailís Ní Ríain [Pronounced A-leesh Knee Ree-in].
Full details from Wexford Festival Opera’s website.
