“Oh, thoughtless crew! Ye know not what ye do!” “Oh, thoughtless crew! Ye know not what ye do!”

One wonders whether an obsession with metrics and measurement has the potential to create arts organizations that are more preoccupied with finding systems that quickly and efficiently tick the Arts Council’s boxes than with creating meaningful, impactful art.

on November 30, 2022 at 3:19 PM
A game of 3-D chess A game of 3-D chess

“Opera needs a reset. We think there needs to be a fundamental shift in the ecology.”

on November 28, 2022 at 1:21 PM
Put a ‘Ring’ on it Put a ‘Ring’ on it

The eventually reopened Metropolitan Opera promises a swift return to its status quo ante as a farm team for the English National Opera, sharing the London company’s new Ring cycle directed by vieillard terrible Richard Jones.

on February 24, 2021 at 12:20 PM
Cold dead hands Cold dead hands

The press department at the English National Opera is considering a revamp of the company’s press seating policy.

on September 08, 2019 at 12:39 PM
Cold comfort Cold comfort

An image of the old, ruined Coventry Cathedral goes into closer and closer focus until the stage is dominated by a grassy stone.

on November 17, 2018 at 9:00 AM
She too She too

Like most directors of this opera this century, David Alden is keen to outline the helplessness of women in the face of 19th century patriarchy.

on October 31, 2018 at 10:35 AM
The kink’s English The kink’s English

A new production of La traviata by Daniel Kramer, the current artistic director of ENO, brings fresh ideas to the classic drama.

on March 31, 2018 at 9:30 AM
Medium cool Medium cool

Nico Muhly has set himself the task of presenting Winston Graham’s elusive heroine Marnie on the operatic stage.

on November 27, 2017 at 12:34 PM
Ed ora come faccio?…  Così! Ed ora come faccio?…  Così!

“English National Opera is staging a modern-day version of La bohème in which the lead female character is a heroin user rather than a consumptive.”

on October 16, 2015 at 12:21 PM
Feel the early morning madness Feel the early morning madness

Glenn Close‘s Norma Desmond is back.”

on September 22, 2015 at 4:46 PM
“My work is done” “My work is done”

John Berry, artistic director of the English National Opera, has announced he intends to step down from his role after 20 years with the Company.

on July 10, 2015 at 6:59 AM
Talking headspace Talking headspace

Our Own JJ (pictured) joins in the debate over the Düsseldorf Tannhäuser with Anne Midgette and John Berry.

on May 13, 2013 at 6:49 PM
“Where was Liam Joshua?” “Where was Liam Joshua?”

Anyone looking for orgiastic obscenity in Calixto Bieito‘s production of Carmen at the London Coliseum, will be bitterly disappointed, writes Rupert Christiansen.

on November 22, 2012 at 12:02 PM
Provocative ad provokes, surprisingly Provocative ad provokes, surprisingly

But not everyone is amused.

on October 05, 2012 at 10:27 AM
Closet drama Closet drama

I have a confession to make about Britten’s opera Billy Budd: I don’t like it very much.”

on July 04, 2012 at 12:07 AM
ENO is enough ENO is enough

The repertory for the upcoming season of the English National Opera (also known as “Peter Gelb‘s shopping list”) boasts the world premiere of a new opera by Philip Glass, The Perfect American, which imagines the last days of Walt Disney.

on April 24, 2012 at 2:07 PM

The ENO was filled with ghosts last week. Spectral, possibly illusory figures fleetingly materialized in the Internet chatrooms that provide the setting for much of Nico Muhly’s new opera Two Boys, and brutal boarding school memories came back to troubled life in director Christopher Alden’s dark take on Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

on July 08, 2011 at 10:57 AM

A few spoilsport commentators have complained that the clever marketing video for Nico Muhly‘s Two Boys at the English National Opera doesn’t accurately represent the somewhat dark subject matter of the new opera. La Cieca won’t take sides on this matter of vital import, but she will reveal to you, the cher public, that a…

on June 11, 2011 at 3:17 PM

The ever-alert PR people at the English National Opera (why can’t we have a company like this?) have assembled a “what if?” video to promote Nico Muhly‘s impending Two Boys, and thrown in an admirably scruffy “reality” actor to boot.

on June 08, 2011 at 12:08 PM