Classical notes: Massenet still has magical touch for Wexford

Magic to be found at the Wexford Festival Opera

Aigul Akhmetshina, considered to be one of the best sopranos to come out of Russia, will play Dulcinea in Massenet’s Don Quichotte

Gaetano Donizetti: now there’s the name on which Wexford Festival Opera (WFO) built its reputation for spectacular bel canto singing. Launched in 1951, the nascent festival set down an early marker as to what its future was all about. It aimed for Italian opera of the coloratura kind, with other stuff possible down the line.

In the start-up years, Donizetti, Rossini, Bellini and Verdi dominated the agenda. The first four festivals featured just ...