Sarah Connolly as Octavian
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Winners of the Opera Poll 2013 announced

Now an annual event, the whatsonstage.com Opera Poll saw fierce voting from over 1000 members of the general public and opera aficionados, and we’re delighted to announce the results.

Opera Editor Keith McDonnell said: "Once again the Whatsonstage.com Opera Poll has caught the imagination of the opera going public, and all of us at whatsonstage.com were delighted to see that well over 1000 people voted in this year’s Poll.

"All the winners and runners-up more than deserve their accolades, and it’s heartening to see that the opera companies went out of their way, mostly through social media, to reach out to their audiences, and encourage the voting process. I’d like to thank my colleagues Simon Thomas and Mark Valencia whose input was, as always, invaluable at drawing up the list of nominees."

Best New Opera Production:

Winner: Laurent Pelly’s Ravel Double Bill for Glydebourne.

Runner-up: Richard Jones’ staging of Julietta at ENO.

Other runners-up: Rusalka (ROH), Eugene Onegin (ENO), The Tales of Hofmann (ENO).

David Pickard, Glyndebourne’s General Director said “Everyone at Glyndebourne is delighted to have won the whatsonstage.com best new production for our 2012 Festival staging of Ravel’s ‘L’heure espagnole’ and ‘L’enfant et les sortilèges’. We are especially pleased because this award is nominated by audiences themselves, and it is thrilling to know that so many people enjoyed the double bill as much as Glyndebourne enjoyed creating the productions. I would also like to thank director Laurent Pelly and conductor Kazushi Ono, together with the full cast and creative teams, for creating such compelling work that resonated so powerfully with everyone that experienced them at Glyndebourne, online at guardian.co.uk and in cinemas throughout the UK.”

Most Outstanding Achievement in a Main Role

Winner: Sarah Connolly (Octavian in ENO’s revival of Der Rosenkavalier).

Runner-up: Elizabeth DeShong (Angelina in Glyndebourne Festival Opera’s revival of La Cenerentola).

Other runners-up: Anja Harteros (Desdemona, ROH), Sophie Bevan (Sophie, ENO), Ambrogio Mestri (Falstaff, ROH).

Sarah Connolly said: "English National Opera's steadfast support of me and the other nominee in my category, Sophie Bevan, is crucial to the kind of confidence opera singers need to experiment and take risks on stage, both vocally and dramatically. I am hugely grateful to those who voted for me in the whatsonstage.com opera poll, because by doing so, you give me encouragement that I am connecting with you, the audience, which along with a total commitment to the composer's wishes, are my only goals."

Best Revival

Winner: Eugene Onegin (English Touring Opera).

Runner-up: Der Rosenkavalier (ENO).

Other runners-up: Otello (ROH), Rusalka (Glyndebourne on Tour), La Cenerentola (Glyndebourne Festival Opera).

Most Outstanding Contribution to London’s Operatic Scene

Winner: English Touring Opera for an innovative and eclectic autumn season.

Runner-up: ENO Music Director, Edward Gardner and the Orchestra of the English National Opera.

Other runner-up: BBC Proms for an outstanding season of opera.

James Conway, General Director of English Touring Opera said: "I'm honoured English Touring Opera has been recognised by the readers of whatsonstage.com for these two awards. It's particularly satisfying that both ‘Eugene Onegin’, part of our large-scale Spring tour, and the Britten, Ullmann and Maxwell Davies operas in our adventurous Autumn season, have struck a chord with the people who matter - the opera-going audience. With our new Spring tour opening at Hackney Empire on Saturday 2nd March, we hope we can bring as much enjoyment to audiences around the country in the upcoming year."

Many thanks to everyone who voted – here’s to another year of excellence in the world of opera

- by Keith McDonnell

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