WEXFORD OPERA FESTIVAL 2026: Review: L'EQUIVOCO STRAVAGANTE, National Opera House Wexford
A delightfully whimsical Rossini comedy brought to life with visual flair at Wexford Festival Opera.
Wexford Festival Opera has built its international reputation on unearthing rare, neglected works and giving them a second life. Given Gioachino Rossini's vast output, the festival could easily dedicate entire seasons to his lesser-known early catalog. Written when the composer was just 19 years old, L'equivoco Stravagante (Extravagant Misunderstanding) is a classic young Rossini comedy, packed with commedia dell'arte archetypes, foolish pretension, and absurd misunderstandings.
The story centers on Gamberotto, a newly wealthy father determined to marry off his literature-obsessed daughter, Ernestina, to the rich but insufferable Buralicchio. Meanwhile, the penniless tutor Ermanno is desperately in love with Ernestina. To sabotage the impending wedding, Ermanno and the household servants hatch a wild plot: they forge a letter claiming that Ernestina is actually a castrato soldier in disguise who deserted the army. The scheme works all too well, triggering mass confusion, Buralicchio's hysterical panic, and Ernestina’s hilarious arrest by the military.
Director Max Hoehn and designer Darko Petrovic approach this farce with brilliant visual ingenuity. Petrovic’s monochrome sketch-style set design creates a storybook backdrop that looks like a living cartoon. Set against these black-and-white lines, Massimo Carlotto’s bold, colorful costumes pop off the stage, perfectly matching the libretto's slapstick energy. While early Rossini plots can feel convoluted, Hoehn keeps the physical comedy sharp, using frequent scene and costume changes to maintain visual momentum even when the narrative logic wanders. Under the baton of Riccardo Bisatti, the Wexford Festival Opera Orchestra guides the score with crisp, playful drive.
In the central role of Ernestina, mezzo-soprano Maria Barakova delivers a stellar performance. She handles Rossini’s complex coloraturas with impressive ease, balancing technical demands with a deadpan comedic delivery. As her father Gamberotto, baritone Stefan Astakhov brings rich vocal presence and bumbling silliness, pairing effectively with bass Gurgen Baveyan’s foppish, delightfully hateable Buralicchio. Tenor Sebastian Mach lends endearing charm to Ermanno, while Kelli-Ann Masterson (Rosalia) and Carlos Natale (Frontino) drive the subplot forward with sharp observational banter.
The production leans into the opera's crude humor, including double-entendres like Buralicchio’s panic over "finding a hidden rock in the ocean," while preserving the lighthearted charm of the festival setting. Despite minor dips in narrative pacing before the finale, this revival proves why Wexford remains essential for transforming forgotten operatic novelties into pure theatrical joy.
L'equivoco Stravagante plays at the O'Reilly Theatre, National Opera House, Wexford through October 29, 2026.
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