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OPERA NIGHT WITH PAUL HERRIOTT

Sergio Escobar & Cillian McCamely in 'L'oracolo' by Leoni WFO2018 photo by Clive Barda. (2) Image Name: Sergio Escobar & Cillian McCamely in 'L'oracolo' by Leoni WFO2018 photo by Clive Barda. (2) Description: Sergio Escobar & Cillian McCamely in 'L'oracolo' by Leoni WFO2018 photo by Clive Barda. (2)
Francesca Tiburzi & Sergio Escobar in 'Mala vita' by Giordano WFO2018 photo by Clive Barda Image Name: Francesca Tiburzi & Sergio Escobar in 'Mala vita' by Giordano WFO2018 photo by Clive Barda Description: Francesca Tiburzi & Sergio Escobar in 'Mala vita' by Giordano WFO2018 photo by Clive Barda

Franco Leoni’s, L’oracolo was premiered at Covent Garden in 1905, but fared better in America. Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown just after the Boxer Rebellion, its lurid plot centres on a sinister opium dealer Chim-Fen. The compact Mala vita (1892) is based on a novella about Neapolitan slum-life, telling the story of a worker who, suffering from tuberculosis, vows to reform a prostitute if he is healed through prayer. The plot proved shocking for Italian audiences of the day in spite of receiving 24 curtain calls from the audience at its 1892 premiere. Francesco Cilluffo conducts the Wexford Festival Opera Orchestra and Chorus in a recording from the 2018 Wexford Festival Opera from the National Opera House.

RTÉ lyric fm, Saturday 10th November, 7pm-10pm