Pietro Mascagni - Iris
Wexford Festival Opera, 2026
Francesco Cilluffo, Rosetta Cucchi, Leyla Gu, Joseph Calleja, Jihoon Kim, Jolyon Loy, Hannah O'Brien, Yu Shao, Meilir Jones, Joshua Baxter
O'Reilly Theatre, National Opera House, Wexford - 23rd October 2026
Innovation in opera reached its pinnacle at the end of the 19th century in the works of Wagner and Verdi, both composers now elevated to a pantheon that has only a few close 'successors'. I would of course propose that there are still bold new directions being explored in contemporary opera, but let's go with that opening statement for the sake of argument. Both those titans left quite a challenge for their successors but there is little question that while Strauss and Puccini deserve to be viewed as greats, it was more of a case that they built on the legacy of their predecessors rather than come from or move towards any new direction in their respective German and Italian opera traditions (Strauss's bold developments in Salome and Elektra notwithstanding). For a number of reasons, not least because of Europe becoming consumed by two world wars and a move in music towards Modernism which held different values, many of the suggested new directions were lost and forgotten, resulting in the works of many opera composers of this time being relegated to little more than late 19th/early 20th century footnotes.
The Wexford Festival Opera, over their 75 year history have done much to bring such lost, neglected and forgotten works back to the stage. That covers the whole history of opera, the festival specialising in revivals of rare bel canto operas, the occasional neglected Irish composer and even recent works that have perhaps not had the opportunity to be widely heard - many deserving of being revisited and reassessed - but have also done much to resurrect many such works by the unjustly neglected school of verismo that arose in Italy around this troubled period of the first half of the 20th century. Neglected to such an extent that nearly all of the verismo composers are now only known for those works - and only one - associated with that style, while in fact revivals they have proven that the so-called verismo writers were actually more varied and experimental in their operas. Case in point is the opera revived to headline Wexford’s 75th anniversary programme; Pietro Mascagni’s Iris.
Rather than act as a kind of soundtrack, the music, chorus and singing all set out to evoke the mood and enhanced imagery of this situation; the nature of innocence and seduction; a world of lies and deceit: a swirl of enchantment that the young woman is unable to resist. An attempt to move away from lyric drama into a more impressionistic use of music is certainly ambitious - or not so much impressionistic, as that suggests Debussy, but perhaps it could be better described as expressionistic. It is certainly moving the music on beyond just providing an emotional background or support lifting what is being sung, but actually taking on a role of the swirl of conflicting desires and psychological undercurrents that are in conflict with conscious and unconscious desires.
Or at least I assume that was the intention. In practice, despite a quite simply stunning production directed by by the Wexford Festival Opera's Artistic Director, Rosetta Cucchi, the work seems thin on content and dubious in its message. I think the fact that it worked at all and worked as well as it did was down to the efforts of the production team, the orchestra, the chorus and the singing. It not only gave full expression to the work, it fairly hammered every sentiment home while studiously avoiding any of the darker aspects of the work. The brothel, for example, was a golden cage, and Iris's undoubtedly brutal treatment at the hands of Osaka and Kyoto softened at every turn. Her father's arrival, believing his daughter to have run off into a world of sin and pelting her with mud, was represented by him destroying her imaginary protective doll's house; while the young woman's plunge to her death into a rubbish pit was depicted as being borne aloft, enwrapped in arms and lowered gently down into the ground.
I can see the merit and rationale in this. While the subject is harsh in its depiction of Iris's fate, the work is indeed far from realism, or at least strives to move beyond verismo realism and find a new way to present the horrors of the world. Musically it doesn't succeed, at least not in those terms. There is no Debussyan mystery and ambiguity here. As if to make up for the obliqueness of the plot and Luigi Illica's treatment of the libretto, the music is hugely dramatic, more than a little bombastic, but essentially loud and heavily underscoring. I wouldn't suggest that Francesco Cilluffo's musical direction was heavy-handed: on its own terms Mascagni's score is powerful and effective, the Hymn to the Sun a masterstroke that, when reprised at the conclusion is guaranteed to leave not a dry eye in the house. But it feels disingenuous, manipulative, seeking to profit from the fate of the young woman.
Perhaps recognising that there are enough horrors in the world today for women without depicting them graphically on the stage, Rosetta Cucchi makes every effort to reposition the focus and balance it out, but in doing almost cancels it out. As if it is all too much for Iris to contemplate, the young woman incapable of even seeing the ugliness of the world, Cucchi gives us the viewpoint of an innocent, taking it away from the horror in the process making her death something glorious and celebratory. It's a celebration of innocence martyred, refusing to submit to the horrors and injustices of the world, believing in the supremacy of purity and innocence. That is a fine sentiment, but it is completely out of touch with and doesn't engage with reality. The opera’s sugar-coated treatment invites this notion and even the beautifully staged conclusion has Iris ascending to the heavens leaving colourful wild flowers to bloom out of the rubbish tip.
There is no question that the Wexford team throw everything at the stage production in an effort to bring Mascagni's work fully to life; Tiziano Santi's impressive visuals, acrobats, dancers, puppeteers all impressive: as was the casting. It was tremendous to see Joseph Calleja on the Wexford stage in a full opera production, but I thought he lacked smoothness and legato, and sounded occasionally pushed. That distinctive classic tenor timbre is still there however and ideal for this kind of role, Calleja successfully carrying a edge of menace that the production as a whole seemed to be striving to soften. Leyla Gu was exceptional as Iris; this was an outstanding performance, a challenging role not just to sing, but to imbue with the spirit of innocence, an ideal more than any kind of real person of psychological depth. Whether that characterisation is misguided or not, it's what the opera demands and there was no doubting the conviction of this performance. The performances of Jihoon Kim as Iris's father Il Cieco and Jolyon Loy as Kyoto were also worthy of mention.
I would say that any problems with the opera are purely down to personal perception on the value of the approach adopted by the composer for the work. In terms of its treatment and performance it was nothing less than exceptional: Wexford threw all the talent behind it in a striking production that certainly made an impression. It is a fascinating work, one definitely worth reviving for the opportunity to hear a Mascagni opera that is not Cavalleria rusticana (a work which merits its standing as the composer's masterpiece), one that genuinely is striving to take opera in a new direction. It doesn't quite succeed and actually feels misguided, but despite reservations about what kind of message it seeks to put across, Iris is certainly not a work that will leave anyone indifferent.
The Wexford production of Mascagni's Iris can be currently be viewed from the RTE Lyric FM site.
External links: Wexford Festival Opera, RTE Lyric FM Streaming
