May 2012
8 posts
Caligula - watch the trailer!
Watch the trailer of this extraordinary production and see what the audience at the dress rehearsal thought of Detlev Glanerts production.
There are only 6 performances.
The opera runs until the 14th of June. Book your ticket now!
You can watch TV Historian Mary Beard talk about Caligula and watch exclusive rehearsal footage on our website.
11 tags
TV's Kirsten O'Brien and Billy Budd
TV Presenter Kirsten O’Brien has never been to the opera. Never! So, we’re on a mission to make sure she does.
She’s selected Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd as her first opera. It’s got a lot going for it as she found out when she went behind the scenes at rehearsals.
Watch, enjoy and share!
Performing Dutchman: Salt off the page and a...
The German composer Franz Lachner (just 10 years older than Wagner) said that the wind blew out at you the moment you opened the score of The Flying Dutchman; a percipient comment and even more obvious when orchestral rehearsals began in early April at Henry Wood Hall. In this case the salt seems particularly to lie in the vigorous and extended chromaticism of the string writing (though my...
13 tags
WatchDamon Albarn’s Dr Dee live session - video
courtesy of Guardian online (http://bit.ly/LWHwZj)
Damon Albarn, among other things the multi-talented Blur and Gorillaz frontman, visits the Guardian studio with a baroque ensemble to perform two songs from his opera Dr Dee. coming to ENO in June as part of the London 2012 Festival.
The group perform two tracks, O Spirit, Animate Us, in which...
6 tags
Caligula - prepare yourself!
Aaaaaarghghghghg!
The opera starts with a scream. In the scream you’ll find the DNA of the entire piece; the angst, the drama, the passion, the frustration, the musical elements of the work. All in the scream.
We sometimes love to hate. Is that why characters like Caligula intrigue us? Who was he? Does absolute power corrupt? What would you do if you could do anything? If people around...
7 tags
Mary Beard talks about Caligula
Caligula opens on May 25th at ENO. Benedict Andrew’s production of Detlev Glanert’s opera promises to be amazing.
But who was Caligula? Do we really know that much about him?
Mary Beard gives us a good insight into the person and character of Caligula in three short films.
Part one: Power and Assassination
Part two: Was Caligula misunderstood?
Part three: Caligula; the...
Stuart Skelton gives a quick interview...
We managed to catch up with Stuart Skelton on Saturday just before he went on stage to sing Eric in ‘The Flying Dutchman’. Stuart had just recently returned from the New York Metropolitan Opera where he wowed audiences with his performance as Siegmund in Wagner’s Die Walküre.
Come and see the next Elizabeth Llewellyn!
Come and see the future talent of tomorrow today!
If you’ve seen Elizabeth Llewellyn sing at ENO then you’ll know the calibre of singer that has been nurtured by ENO. Elizabeth started her ENO career by training on our Opera Works programme and has gone on to perform on the main stage at ENO in lead roles.
Now the next generation are ready to step-up to the mark. This year’s...
April 2012
2 posts
3 tags
English National Opera announces 12/13 Season
ENO is extending the boundaries of opera: presenting award winning work that is new, exciting and surprising.
Collaborating with creative talent from across the arts we stage more new productions and contemporary opera than any other UK opera company. We have a world class reputation for distinctive and highly theatrical productions which has resulted in many high profile artistic partnerships...
4 tags
ENO wins both opera awards in 2012 Olivier Awards
English National Opera won two Olivier Awards at the 2012 ceremony, held at the Royal Opera House in London. The UK’s most prestigious theatre award has two categories for opera: Outstanding Achievement in Opera and Best New Opera.
ENO took the Outstanding Achievement in Opera award for ‘The Breadth and Diversity of the Artistic Programme’ and Best New Opera Production for its production of...
March 2012
1 post
Mini Operas is live! Get writing!
We’ve raised the curtain on our Mini Operas competition. The first phase is open now. So, if you are a writer and fancy having a go at creating a mini opera script, now is your chance. There are some amazing stories upon which to write your script.
We’ve got stories by:
Neil Gaiman
A. L. Kennedy
Will Self
Read about the stories and find out how you can get involved over on the...
February 2012
2 posts
Neil Gaiman: ENO announces Mini Operas: A... →
Neil Gaiman is one of our writers for Mini Operas - he’s on the case already, blogging and sharing Mini Operas! Thanks Neil…
neil-gaiman:
English National Opera announces Mini Operas, a world-wide, online search for composers, writers and film makers that will seek out emerging opera talent of the future from across the world. Three competitions to find future stars of all the...
3 tags
Rehearsing Klinghoffer
Hugh Davies, a member of ENO orchestra, gives us a glimpse into the preparations being made for this landmark new production and his thoughts on the surrounding debate:
A distinguished woodwind player in one of the London symphony orchestras once told me that he considered orchestral musicians to be no more than tradespeople, and not artists, in the exercise of their profession. I and many of...
January 2012
1 post
6 tags
Are you free on March 3rd? The circus is in...
Happy birthday John Cage.
Did you know that 2012 is John Cage’s centenary year? Well, it is. And here at ENO we’re having a bit of a celebration which you are welcome to join in.
You can participate in many ways…
1) Come to the event.
2) Don’t come to the event.
3) Run a chance operation on the above to determine your participation. (Toss a coin)
OR
4) You can record...
December 2011
3 posts
Tom Morris on The Death of Klinghoffer
We caught up with Tom Morris, director of ENO’s The Death of Klinghoffer (making it’s London stage premiere next year at the London Coliseum). Morris is a passionate advocate of the opera which takes as its subject the real-life hijacking of the cruise liner Achille Lauro by Palestinian militants and the murder of the ship’s only male jewish passenger, Leon Klinghoffer.
...
3 tags
Enter the weird and wonderful world of the Richard...
This February sees ENO bring a major new production of Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann to the London Coliseum stage. Following his Olivier Award-nominated Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, Richard Jones returns to ENO to turn his vivid imagination to this fantastical story of love.
The Tales of Hoffmann are interlinked stories of the writer Hoffmann’s loves, thwarted by the jealous...
11 tags
Fantasy Opera
While paying a visit to the London Coliseum, Terry Gilliam mentioned that his 1985 film Brazil would make a good opera. This got us talking in the office about our own ‘fantasy operas’ - dream couplings of concepts with composers. Interested to see what our followers could come up with, we asked them for suggestions of what could be great operas. Some great ideas came back. As well...
November 2011
3 posts
Eugene Onegin Audience Reactions
We caught up with some of our audience members after the dress rehearsal of Eugene Onegin, here’s our updated trailer of this critically acclaimed production.
You can find out more about Eugene Onegin here
4 tags
Edward Gardner on Eugene Onegin
Edward Gardner explores Eugene Onegin with Edward Seckerson
ENO Talks: Edward Gardner and Edward Seckerson on Eugene Onegin by englishnationalopera
Find out more about the production here
Eugene Onegin Rehearsals
Crew and actors stand on stage during a small break in the rehearsal.
Photo by Charlotte van Berckel
Find out more about EUGENE ONEGIN here
October 2011
9 posts
Castor and Pollux Trailer
Hot off the press comes the trailer for Castor and Pollux.
Find out more about this new production of Rameau’s masterpiece here
Barrie Kosky and Christian Curnyn on Castor &...
Independent Classical: Barrie Kosky and Christian Curnyn by The Independent on Mixcloud
Edward Seckerson (The Independent) talks to Barrie Kosky and Christian Curnyn in the run up to the opening of Castor and Pollux at the ENO.
Eugene Onegin Costume Sketches
Here’s a quick preview of costume designer Chloe Obolensky’s exquisite costumes for Eugene Onegin.
Opera Works
(Last year’s showcase ‘Fragments’)
At ENO we run a course called ‘Opera Works’. Each year we audition hundreds of singers and select 20 to go forward and train with us over a series of weekend modules throughout the year.
This year’s intake have just started and they are having an amazing time. So, this year we’ve asked them all to keep us informed...
3 tags
The London Coliseum Flys
It’s thanks to the London Coliseum fly operators that the scenery changes run so smoothly - this video gives a rarely-seen insight into the work they do during performances. You can see the results of this hard work both in the film and on BBC 4 on Friday 14th of October at 7.30 and on iPlayer for 7 days. Watch the opera now.
Terry Gilliam at the ENO
Terry in the London Coliseum Auditorium. Gilliam’s Damnation of Faust at the ENO will be broadcast for the first time on BBC4 at 7:30pm on Friday 14 October 2011. Photo © Charlotte van Berckel.
Discovery of the Year →
Weinberg’s opera The Passenger in its original production at the Bregenz Festival, now in performance at English National Opera has been nominated as the ‘Discovery of the year’ by the influential German magazine Opernwelt.
On the link above, David Pountney reflects on some of the reactions to the opera in the British press.
Details of the production can be found here.
More behind the scenes from Figaro
Charlotte, our roving photographer behind the scenes, has been capturing the Figaro actors in thier costumed glory. You can find all our behind the scenes photos on the ENO Flickr page. Figaro is opening on Wednesday 5 October for a run of ten performances, more details can be found here.
September 2011
15 posts
Mary Bevan strikes a pose!
More photos from our up-coming production of ‘The Marriage of Figaro’.
Figaro here Figaro there...
Have you been keeping up with Kate Valentine’s video diary? Kate is playing the Countess in Fiona Shaw’s production of ‘The Marriage of Figaro’. There are 3 episodes to date. We’ve also thrown in a video of Fiona introducing the opera.
See exclusive photos from behind the scenes.
Find out more about Fiona Shaw’s amazing production and buy tickets.
3 tags
Kate Valentine on Translation
On her Furtive Figaro blog, Kate Valentine looks at the highs and lows of working with an english translation.
The Passenger
There’s a stage on orchestra rehearsal later today. Roland from Baylis just popped into the theatre to snap a couple of pictures for us. Find out more about the production and buy a ticket. (Click on an image to enlarge)
August 2011
1 post
Follow Figaro
Figaro is well into rehearsal now. See photos and watch interview on our Figaro blog.
July 2011
3 posts
Join us on Facebook →
Our Facebook page is a great place to chat with us and find out what’s going on at ENO. Go on, LIKE us.
'One of the most exciting evenings I have spent in... →
The Independent’s David Lister raves about TWO BOYS.
June 2011
15 posts
And it's fine to just wear a t-shirt
Here’s a first time opera-goer’s review of TWO BOYS. I think he liked it. It makes for a great read if you have 2 minutes.
He list of ten points climaxes with this great piece of advice:
10. Overall, I kinda liked it. You can get tickets for £16, which I would recommend… And it’s fine to just wear a t-shirt.
Read the full report. (Not recommended for anyone under 16)
If...
