The Wexford Festival Opera presents a new staging of George Frideric Handel's Deidamia, the final opera he composed for the London stage. With a libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli, this rarely performed work blends comedy and drama, shedding light on themes of love, disguise, and reluctant heroism.

Our baritone Rory Musgrave joins a stellar cast under the direction and baton of George Petrou, with set and costume design by Giorgina Germanou. The opera will be sung in Italian with English subtitles.

Premiered in 1741 at Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre in London, Deidamia is a work of sharp contrasts, balancing wit and poignancy as it explores the mythical tale of Achilles and his secret life on the island of Scyros, disguised among women to avoid the Trojan War. With Rolli’s finest libretto and Handel’s expressive score, the opera marks a graceful close to the composer’s operatic era.