English National Opera (ENO) has today announced full details of its 2017/18 season, comprising four new productions and five revivals at the London Coliseum, alongside performances at other venues during the summer.
In the 2017/18 season ENO will present nine fully-staged productions at the London Coliseum (following eight in the 2016/17 season). This will increase to 10 fully-staged productions at the London Coliseum by 2019/20.
ENO’s Artistic Director, Daniel Kramer, commented:
‘I would like to thank everyone across the company that has worked so hard to put together this fantastic season of opera, increasing our work from eight productions at the London Coliseum to nine. I am thrilled that our audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy such a wide range of fantastic repertoire from the masterpieces of Handel and Mozart right through to the contemporary work of Philip Glass and Nico Muhly.’
New productions at the London Coliseum
Aida
The 2017/18 season opens with a bold and innovative new production of Aida, Verdi’s timeless story of duty, love and betrayal, directed by Phelim McDermott.
Artistic Director of theatre company Improbable, Phelim McDermott made his operatic debut with ENO in 2007, directing a now-iconic interpretation of Philip Glass’s Satyagraha. Aida follows sell-out performances of McDermott’s Olivier Award-winning production of Akhnatenin 2016. He will return later in the season to direct Satyagraha’s third revival.
Aida will be conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson, who made her successful ENO debut with The Girl of the Golden West in 2013. Sharing the title role are two sopranos closely identified with Aida, both of whom are making their ENO debuts: Latonia Moore and Morenike Fadayomi. As Radamès, we welcome back popular ENO artist Gwyn Hughes Jones. Mezzo-sopranos Michelle DeYoung and Dana Beth Miller share the role of Amneris, while Musa Ngqungwana makes his UK operatic debut as the defeated Ethiopian ruler Amonasro. Brindley Sherratt will sing Ramfis alongside Matthew Best as the King.
For more information, and to book tickets, please Click Here.
Marnie
Marnie is composer Nico Muhly’s second world premiere for ENO, following 2011’s Two Boys. Conducted by Martyn Brabbins in his first production as ENO Music Director, Marnie is based on novelist Winston Graham’s gripping psychological thriller. This world premiere will be directed by Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (who has previously directed Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera, New York) in his UK operatic debut.
Marnie is a compelling psychological thriller set in England during the late 1950s. A young woman makes her way through life by embezzling from her employers, before she moves on and changes her identity. When her current boss Mark Rutland catches her red-handed, he blackmails her into a loveless marriage. Marnie is left with no choice but to confront the hidden trauma from her past.
Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke creates the title role, while acclaimed Canadian bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch makes his company debut as Mark Rutland. The cast also includes long-standing ENO favourite Lesley Garrett, whose 2016 performances in the world premiere of Mark Simpson’s opera Pleasure with Opera North were critically acclaimed.
For more information, and to book tickets, please Click Here.
Iolanthe
Following the huge success of Mike Leigh’s The Pirates of Penzance, this new production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s fantasy political satire will further bolster ENO’s reputation as the premier home for the works of this great comic pairing.
An experienced interpreter of Gilbert and Sullivan’s work, Timothy Henty conducts a cast of ENO favourites including Andrew Shore, Yvonne Howard and ENO Harewood Artist Samantha Price.
Award-winning director Cal McCrystal makes his ENO debut with this production, embracing the chaotic physical comedy and irreverence that are his hallmarks. Known for his creation of the vigorous slapstick sequences in the National Theatre’s One Man, Two Guvnors, he is well-known both on stage and in Hollywood as a master of comedy. His wide range of work includes both a long-term directing partnership with The Mighty Boosh and clown work for Cirque Du Soleil.
For more information, and to book tickets, please Click Here.
La traviata
The final new London Coliseum production of ENO’s 2017/18 season is a sweepingly romantic interpretation of La traviata from ENO’s Artistic Director Daniel Kramer. This is his first production since taking up the position in August 2016.
Irish soprano Claudia Boyle will make her role debut as the ‘fallen woman’ Violetta. A former member of the Salzburger Festspeiel’s Young Singers Project, she has previously performed lead roles with ENO for The Pirates of Penzance and The Pearl Fishers. She is joined by rising tenor and 2017 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World finalist Lukhanyo Moyake making his UK debut as Alfredo. Olivier Award-nominated baritone Alan Opie, in his second engagement of the season, sings Germont. British conductor Leo McFall will make his house debut with this production, which has been conceived by Daniel Kramer particularly to showcase ENO’s award-winning Chorus.
For more information, and to book tickets, please Click Here.
ENO Outside
During the summer months ENO will stage a variety of productions at other venues around London.
In June 2018 Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and ENO will collaborate on a new production of Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. This story of unearthly encounters at a remote country house will be directed by multiple Olivier Award-winner Timothy Sheader and conducted by ENO Mackerras Fellow Toby Purser. As Artistic Director of the Open Air Theatre, Sheader has introduced the works of Chekhov, Miller, Wilde and Dickens to the venue. His skill at rediscovering musicals has seen sell-out productions of Porgy and Bess and Jesus Christ Superstar (Best Musical, Evening Standard Awards), with Crazy for You and Into the Woods transferring to the West End and New York respectively.
ENO 2018/19
In November and December 2018 ENO will honour the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War with a moving and contemplative interpretation of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. Directed by Daniel Kramer and conducted by Martyn Brabbins, ENO’s award-winning Chorus will be at the dramatic and musical heart of these performances of Britten’s masterpiece. The exceptional team of soloists comprise soprano Emma Bell, tenor David Butt Philip and baritone Roderick Williams.
Daniel Kramer and Martyn Brabbins will work together again for the final production of the 2018/19 season. ENO and Opera North will co-produce the world premiere of composer Iain Bell’s fourth opera, Jack the Ripper, with Rupert Charlesworth in the title role. A sympathetic exploration of womanhood in London’s East End, the central roles will be created by some of the UK’s finest singers including Josephine Barstow, Lesley Garrett, Susan Bullock, Janis Kelly and Marie McLaughlin.
For more information, and to book tickets, please Click Here.
