WEXFORD OPERA FESTIVAL 2026: Review: IRIS at National Opera House, Wexford
Pietro Mascagni’s symbolist forerunner to Madama Butterfly receives a visually arresting, emotionally charged staging at Wexford Festival Opera.
Pietro Mascagni’s 1898 opera Iris occupies a peculiar, pivotal space in the operatic canon. Written six years before Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Luigi Illica’s libretto mapped the initial blueprint for operatic Japonisme on Western stages. The familiar motifs are all present: the tragic innocence, the flower duets, and the glorious chorus worshipping the sun. Yet where Butterfly built its foundation on emotional realism, Iris retreats into symbolism, poetry, and atmospheric metaphor. Light on linear plot, the work rewards patient listeners with a score of breathtaking lyrical beauty.
In this 75th Anniversary Festival production, stage director Rosetta Cucchi and set designer Tiziano Santi lean fearlessly into the opera’s dreamlike, psychological underpinnings. The staging unfolds across a striking, bold color palette, shifting from deep, brooding reds to shimmering golds. The central image of a golden cage dominates the stage, serving as a powerful visual metaphor for captivity, innocence, and ultimate transcendence. Libby Seward’s choreography adds fluid texture to the production, while Daniele Naldi’s lighting highlights the stark contrast between human cruelty and spiritual liberation. Under Francesco Cilluffo’s baton, the Wexford Festival Opera Orchestra draws out every lush, iridescent nuance of Mascagni’s intricate score.
The story carries unmistakable echoes of Rigoletto, centered on a young, innocent girl abducted from her father through deceit, whose blind quest for revenge ultimately leads to her tragic end. As her father, Il Cieco, Jihoon Kim provides a deeply grounded, resonant anchor. His rendition of his Act I aria delivers a truly heartbreaking emotional peak, capturing the agony of a father's betrayal with quiet authority.
In the title role, soprano Leyla Gu delivers an exceptional performance. Possessing a warm, expansive instrument, her voice easily fills the auditorium, balancing delicate vulnerability with radiant dramatic power. Jolyon Loy brings sharp theatrical focus and bite to the scheming pimp Kyoto.
While there was initial disappointment in missing tenor Joseph Calleja in the role of Osaka on this particular evening, Yuchen Pan proved a delightful substitute. Stepping into the spotlight, Pan truly shone in his Act II aria, bringing passionate color, impressive vocal authority, and magnetic energy to the stage.
While the opera’s symbolist structure can feel static, this production illuminates the work’s inner truths, transforming Mascagni’s complex score into a visually captivating journey.
Iris runs at the O'Reilly Theatre, National Opera House as part of the Wexford Festival Opera through October 31.
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