The 54th Wexford Festival Opera will this year be dominated by three extraordinary women: Pénélope, Maria di Rohan and Susannah.
The three main operas in the festival's programme, which was launched by the Minister for Arts, John O'Donoghue TD, at a lunch in Dublin this week, are named after these ladies of renown.
"They are three very attractive operas," said David Agler, the festival's artistic director, just before the programme's announcement. "Pénélope is a kind of masterpiece. I don't know why it's been so neglected.
"She was a faithful woman who waited for her man to come home and she was rewarded for her confidence in him."
Maria di Rohan, by Gaetano Donizetti, was written in 1843.
Susannah was composed by the American, Carlisle Floyd, a Texan in his mid-70s who is expected to attend the opening performance. He attended the 1980 production in Wexford of his opera, Of Mice and Men, which was the last North American opera to be performed at the festival.
"He remembers his time in Wexford when he was there in 1980," says Agler.
Jerome Hynes, chief executive of the festival, described Floyd's attendance as "a real rarity".
Agler, the festival's new artistic director, took part as a conductor in 1996 and 2000, and stayed in Wexford for almost two months each time.
"He knows us and we know him," said Hynes, smiling. With more than 600 opera performances at this year's festival, "people can culturally overdose in short periods of time", he added.
According to Hynes, the 54th festival will cost €2.5 million to run, with a total of between 60,000 and 100,000 people due to visit Wexford over the 18 days. It is estimated that the festival will bring as much as €15 million into the local economy.
Irish concert pianist Finghin Collins, who recently recorded 19 classics for his CD, Impromptu, which was released earlier this month, and Irish soprano Ailish Tynan will be among the home-based performers to appear at the festival.
Others at the lunch included Olive Braiden, chairwoman of the Arts Council; Phil Keeling, the festival's administrator; Frank Keane, of Mitsubishi Motors; and Jim Golden, from Wexford, a former festival chairman.