The catalyst for our annual fall visits to Ireland is the exhilarating Wexford Festival Opera. Since the new theatre opened to award-winning acclaim in 2008, it has been celebrated as Ireland’s National Opera House for its astonishing acoustics, comfortable seats, and aesthetic design. The discerning Wall Street Journal dubbed the Festival “one of Europe’s key international music events”. Set in the small and hospitable fishing village of Wexford on the southeast coast of Ireland, the Festival has specialized in offering three imaginative new productions every fall since l95l. The noted British writer Bernard Levin chose Wexford as his favorite European Festival in his Conducted Tour, reflecting the combination of the luxuriant Irish countryside, the welcoming attitudes of the open-hearted local population, and the high standards of operatic presentations.

Wexford has traditionally attracted opera ‘aficionados’ searching for the thrill of adventurous repertoire rather than another ‘Bohème’ ‘Traviata’ or ‘Carmen’. For the 2024 season, however, two of the operas are from the pen of mainstream composers, albeit their relatively unfamiliar works. Centering around the theme of Theatre within Theatre, the three mainstage operas – in chronological order – will be Gaetano Donizetti’s ‘bel canto’ comedy, Le Convenienze ed Inconvenienze Teatrali (1827); Pietro Mascagni’s ‘commedia dell’arte’ raritiy, Le Maschere (1901); and Charles Villiers Stanford’s satirical opera, The Critic (1916) in a modern premiere. A fourth opera famously celebrating the same theme will be Ruggero Leoncavallo’s one-act masterwork, Pagliacci (1892), presented by The Wexford Factory’s young artists on one of our afternoons.

Immediately after Wexford, we will move to the capital of Dublin for three nights at the Irish Buswells Hotel, a remodeled grouping of Georgian townhouses. Dublin itself is a Georgian architectural gem, characterized by expansive parks and squares and known throughout the world for its multi-colored doors and decorative facades. Our performances in Dublin will concentrate on the great tradition of Irish theatre. We expect to enjoy a pair of evenings encompassing both the Abbey and Gate Theatres, whose companies and repertoire rank with the finest in the English-speaking world. We have been fortunate to enjoy riveting live performances at the Abbey and the Gate during all of our recent Irish Tours (Programs TBA).

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Prices Per Person (Air Fare not Included)

Double Occupancy: $5,880
Single Occupancy: $6,730