The 13-day Wexford Festival Opera is facing into its first weekend with a performance of La Ciociara by Marco Tutino this evening.
Following its first staging on Thursday night, the production received a standing ovation and triumphant reviews.
The Stage described it as "a hard hitting opera played with ferocity". The Irish Times said the production was "seat-shiftingly vivid".
Chief Executive of Wexford Festival Opera Randall Shannon said La Ciociara was chosen, along with two other operas this year, Zoraida de Granata and L'Aube Rouge, so as to chime with the theme of the 2023 festival, 'Women and War'.
"Two of the operas involve an actual war; one of them a possible insurrection," Mr Shannon said. "It's women fighting for themselves basically. The fact that it resonates so strongly at this moment just adds to the impact," she added.
Tonight's performance of La Ciociara will be broadcast live from the National Opera House from 8pm on RTÉ lyric fm and streamed on the RTÉ.ie's culture section.
This production is sponsored by Danone, and La Ciociara will also be available on ARTE platforms from November 20.
The 72nd Wexford Festival opera was opened on Tuesday by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who said: "This extraordinary festival is renowned, taking its place among the great opera festivals of the world."
