Simon Thomas: ENO’s new season most exciting for years
If English National Opera is
experiencing financial difficulties at the moment, nobody’s told the
management. At the launch of the 2013/14
season, the top team – Edward Gardner, John Berry and Loretta Tomasi – were in
upbeat mood as they announced 10 new productions and an excellent line-up of
operas, directors and singers.
Much was made of the success of recent promotional initiatives, such as “ENO
Undressed” and the launch of “Secret Seat,” a £20 scheme which could bring you a Stalls seat
at a knock-down price (£25 value guaranteed).
In an Alden-heavy season, both
brothers return, Christopher with new productions of Die Fledermaus
and Rigoletto and David to revive his phenomenal Peter
Grimes. Another ENO favourite,
Richard Jones directs his first Handel opera for many years (Rodelinda),
while Complicite’s Simon McBurney is back with a brand new Magic Flute.
Bad boy Calixto Bieito’s Fidelio
opens the season in September and Katie Mitchell tackles Cosi fan tutte,
while Terry Gilliam is hoping his self-defined “beginner’s luck,” which
resulted in The Damnation of Faust last year, will see him
through another bout with Berlioz, the even more challenging Benvenuto Cellini.
Contemporary and new opera is well
served with Thomas Ades’s Powder Her Face (director Joe
Hill-Gibbins) at an as yet unconfirmed off-site location, and world premieres
of Julian Anderson’s Thebans (with big-name director Pierre
Audi joining ENO for the first time) and Matthew Barney/Jonathan Bepler’s River
of Fundament. There are just
four revivals in the season: Peter Grimes, Satyagraha, Madam Butterfly
and The Pearl Fishers.
For star-spotters there are
exciting prospects, with Stuart Skelton (as Grimes and Florestan), Tom Randle
(Eisenstein), Ben Johnson (Tamino), Quinn Kelsey (Rigoletto), Barry Banks
(Mantua), Anna Christy (Gilda), Rebecca Evans, Iestyn Davies and John Mark
Ainsley in Rodelinda, Kate Valentine (Fiordiligi), Christine
Rice (Dorabella), Roderick Williams (Alfonso), Michael Spyres (Cellini),
Corrine Winters (Teresa) and Sophie Bevan (Leila) to name a few.
Artistic Director John Berry
mentioned at the press briefing that Rodelinda would mark
the beginning of a partnership with the Bolshoi Theatre, the first Handel opera
to be seen there, while a number of other ENO productions make their way out into
the world (this season’s Billy Budd will also play at the
Bolshoi).
Ed Gardner will conduct Fidelio,
Peter Grimes, Thebans and Benvenuto Cellini and
other conductors will include Ryan Wigglesworth, Christian Curnyn, Eun Sun Kim
and Graeme Jenkins.
Summing up the immediate future,
John Berry says “This season shows the power of loyal artists – singers,
conductors, directors, composers and designers – who are prepared to put
themselves on the line in a remarkably diverse and exciting range of work.”
The WOS opera team sees this as possibly
the most enticing line-up for some years.
What are your thoughts?
– Simon Thomas
Full details and dates for ENO’s 2013/14 Season at www.eno.org
