English National Opera announces 2019/20 Season

• ENO’s 2019/20 season features seven new productions and three revivals, the greatest number of new productions for five years
• For the first time ever four new productions will present different versions of the same story: the Orpheus myth will be seen in four operas spanning 230 years, interpreted by four directors from radically different theatrical disciplines, all within one transforming set design by world renowned British designer, Lizzie Clachan
• Internationally renowned choreographer and director Wayne McGregor CBE makes his ENO directorial debut with a new production of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice (1762), with Dame Sarah Connolly and Sarah Tynan in the title roles, and dancers from Company Wayne McGregor
• Much-loved director Emma Rice makes her ENO debut with Offenbach’s ribald operetta Orpheus in the Underworld (1858) with Sir Willard White as Jupiter and Lucia Lucas making her ENO debut as Public Opinion
• ENO Music Director Martyn Brabbins conducts one of his signature pieces, Birtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus, more than three decades after its world premiere at ENO in 1986, with extraordinary storytelling and visuals from ENO Artistic Director Daniel Kramer and fashion couturier Daniel Lismore
• Acclaimed multi-media director Netia Jones bolsters ENO’s reputation for the music of Philip Glass with a production of Orphée (1991), with parts of the original 1950 Cocteau film forming part of a unique mixed media experience, with Jennifer France making her ENO debut
• Groundbreaking Czech director Barbora Horáková Joly makes her UK directorial debut with a new production of Verdi’s Luisa Miller, with Elizabeth Llewellyn in the title role and Christine Rice as Federica
• A new production of The Marriage of Figaro is created by British director Joe Hill-Gibbins, making his ENO main stage debut in a fresh and vital take on one of opera’s mainstays. Kevin John Edusei conducts, Louise Alder makes her ENO debut as Susanna and Sophie Bevan sings her first Countess.
• Acclaimed German director Tatjana Gürbaca and designer Klaus Grunberg make their ENO debuts with the first new ENO Rusalka in two decades, with Corinne Winters in the title role and David Butt Philip as the Prince
• Revivals comprise Jonathan Miller’s endlessly delightful The Mikado returning after more than 30 years on stage, Calixto Bieito’s Carmen with Justina Gringytė in the title role, and Anthony Minghella’s Olivier Award-winning Madam Butterfly with Natalya Romaniw
• For the first time more than half the new productions are directed by women in keeping with the season’s theme of the rise of the feminine
• Joining the award-winning ENO Chorus are the first BAME Chorus Fellows, tenors Satriya Krisna  and James Liu and sopranos Isabelle Peters and Julia Daramy-Williams

Today (3 April 2019) ENO has announced its 2019/20 main stage season, comprising seven new productions and three revivals. The ten productions is an increase from nine in the 18/19 season, and there are more new productions than any time in the last five years.

The season celebrates the rise of the feminine, following last season’s focus on the notion of the patriarch and toxic masculinity. Following aspects of powerful women and the men they inspire, the season explores how opera can move beyond its traditional status as a place for doomed and punished women. For the first time more than half of the new productions are directed by women.

Also for the first time, a single story will form the basis for four of the new productions. The autumn of 2019 will see four different versions of the Orpheus myth as envisioned by very different composers and very different theatrical styles, showing how a single theme of loss, mourning and music can be turned by opera into a kaleidoscope of ideas and responses. Designer Lizzie Clachan provides the linking thread, with her magical, transforming set providing the basis for all four productions.

Artistic Director of ENO Daniel Kramer said:

“I am delighted to present ENO’s 2019/20 artistic season, the second that Music Director Martyn Brabbins and I have curated together. The ten operas we are going to present on our main stage will touch on something very relevant today: the rise of the feminine in the world around us and within ourselves. What is a healthy balance of feminine and masculine energy in our society, our systems and, above all else, within ourselves? If last season questioned what aspects of ourselves and our society we might choose to lay to rest, this season asks what aspects we choose to carry forward together.

Our very exciting Orpheus project shows that a single idea can be imparted in a vast array of different forms. It is difficult to imagine a quartet of directors more different in background than myself, Netia, Wayne and Emma, but we will all be looking at this one tale of Orpheus and his quest to reclaim that which he lost. It’s one of the most universal stories there is and I hope audiences will come to see each one of the four to find something new in each opera, seeing and hearing how these master composers, reflecting our own lives, all share in the human struggle to hold onto that which we hold dear – love.

It is so important that ENO continues to push the boundaries of what is possible on the operatic stage and at the same time keep bringing in new audiences who may not have considered us before. Whether you’re a theatre-lover or a Philip Glass fan, a dance addict or maybe just want a rollicking night out, there’s going to be something for everybody.”

ENO Music Director Martyn Brabbins said:

“Our musical forces are as impressive as they ever have been: it is excellent to see the Chorus be nominated for another Olivier Award only three years after winning their last one with the Orchestra. It is extremely important to me that we continue to nurture the talents we have: our Mackerras Fellow Valentina Peleggi will be conducting her first full run with Carmen this season as well as performances of Orpheus in the Underworld alongside my predecessor Sian Edwards. Our brilliant Harewood Artists will sing in no fewer than 23 roles this season, and I am delighted that Nardus Williams and Idunnu Münch will join the programme, singing in Orpheus in the Underworld, Carmen and Rusalka.

I myself will be doing something both familiar, revisiting my friend Harrison Birtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus, which is one of ENO’s great gifts to the world, and stretching my legs a bit with a Puccini. As ever, the company remains extraordinarily diverse in what it can offer.”

Chief Executive Stuart Murphy said:

“Hopefully people can see that ENO has its mojo back, once again curating seasons that are as eclectic as they are risk taking, against a backdrop of financial stability and behind-the-scenes focus. This forthcoming season feels just what ENO should be doing, so huge thanks to Daniel, Martyn and their artistic and musical teams for all their hard work and flair in putting it together.

Embracing new audiences is key to our future, so we are delighted that our initial short-run experiment to give free tickets to Under 18’s in the balcony on Saturdays was met with such enthusiasm, allowing us to give away over 1000 tickets to young people. In 19/20 we will make this initiative a permanent fixture throughout the Coliseum part of our ENO season, and will dramatically increase access by extending Free Tickets for Under 18’s to the balcony for every Friday performance and every Opening Night. We will also reduce our lowest price ticket to ten pounds, with lots of “Tickets for a Tenner” available for every performance, and have kept our top price ticket frozen at £125 where it has stayed for the past four years.

We will be offering more choice at ENO, so will have one “Surtitle Free” night per opera, as well as an “Early Night” performance per opera that will never finish later than 10pm. This is in addition to our first ever “Relaxed Performance”, so that people with learning disabilities and physical impairments can come and see a production, as well as more signed performances than last season.

My first year at ENO has been busy but extremely rewarding. It’s a hugely inspiring place to work, and I want to thank everyone in the organisation for pulling together behind our singular vision to change lives through opera”

New productions at the London Coliseum

Orpheus and Eurydice

The Orpheus series and the 2019/20 Season begins with Wayne McGregor’s dance-infused account of Gluck’s great 18^th– century masterpiece, in Hector Berlioz’s version. The bridging point between the baroque and the new vivid dramatic works of the classical period, Gluck’s extraordinary melodies helped secure the Orpheus myth as one of the cornerstones of opera for centuries to come.

Double Olivier Award-winner Wayne McGregor CBE makes his ENO directorial debut following one of the most outstanding careers in contemporary international dance, working with collaborators from The White Stripes to The Royal Ballet, where he is Resident Choreographer. His previous work includes choreographing Salome for ENO in 2005.

His cutting-edge multi-disciplinary work has stood testament to his ceaseless curiosity and innovation, with this production an exploration of grief and loss in the human body. 16 dancers from Company Wayne McGregor join the three singers.

Legend of British opera Dame Sarah Connolly returns to ENO for the first time since 2016’s Lulu to sing her first Orpheus in London, while ENO favourite Sarah Tynan sings Eurydice. ENO Harewood Artist Soraya Mafi sings Love, continuing her career as one of Britain’s most exciting young sopranos.

Harry Bicket, Artistic Director of the English Concert and Music Director of Santa Fe Opera, conducts, returning to where he began his career on the ENO music staff. Noted for his classical and baroque work, he brings a fine period sensibility to this piece.

Lizzie Clachan, one of UK theatre’s most acclaimed designers, provides the transformative setsfor all four Orpheus productions. Costume design is by fashion designer Louise Gray, and lighting design is by Jon Clark.

Orpheus in the Underworld

Former Globe Theatre Artistic Director Emma Rice makes her ENO directorial debut with a raucous, joyful production of Offenbach’s great operetta, often considered the first of its kind. Known for her wildly popular direction of Kneehigh Theatre, Rice is one of the most distinctive theatrical practitioners at work today, combining wit, humanity and romance with a childlike wonder. She is the Artistic Director of the new company Wise Children.

A multi-talented ensemble cast portray the figures of Greek mythology as they are mercilessly satirised in this comic take on the tragic myth. Ed Lyon and Claudia Boyle sing Orpheus and Eurydice, joined by one of the UK’s most distinguished baritones Sir Willard White as Jupiter. Established ENO stars Alan Oke and Mary Bevan sing John Styx and Diana, while one of the first openly transgender opera singers, female baritone Lucia Lucas, sings Public Opinion. Harewood Artists Idunnu Münch and Alex Otterburn sing Pluto and Venus.

Sian Edwards, former ENO Music Director, returns to conduct, while Mackerras Fellow Valentina Peleggi conducts three performances. Multi-award winning designer Lez Brotherston, famed for his work on Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, provides the costumes. The new English adaptation of the French original text is by Rice and Tom Morris, who collaborated to adapt Kneehigh hits like Nights at the Circus and A Matter of Life and Death. 

The Mask of Orpheus

‘The finest British opera of the last half-century’ (The Guardian) receives only its second major staging, having premiered at ENO in 1986. Harrison Birtwistle’s masterpiece is performed to mark his 85^th birthday, with its unique orchestra led by ENO Music Director Martyn Brabbins. Noted for his definitive recording of the piece with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, this forms something of a signature piece for this contemporary music specialist.

Joining him in their third collaboration after War Requiem and Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel is ENO Artistic Director Daniel Kramer. Kramer returns to the composer who launched his career with ENO a decade ago: his Punch and Judy in 2008 won the South Bank Show Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, and this production promises to continue that ‘total theatre’ approach to Birtwistle’s work.

The rich, complex structure and enormously varied music of joy and grief will be accompanied by the costume designs of ‘England’s most eccentric dresser’ (Vogue) Daniel Lismore. After many exhibitions internationally of his work, this is his first opera. Designs include crystals provided exclusively by Swarovski.

Peter Hoare sings Orpheus the Man while Daniel Norman sings Orpheus the Myth; Marta Fontanals-Simmons makes her ENO debut as Eurydice the Woman. The cast of contemporary music specialists also includes James Cleverton and Robert Hayward.

Orphée

ENO’s record as the ‘House of Glass’ receives a new addition with its first performance of Philip Glass’s Orphée. Based on Jean Cocteau’s cinematic retelling of the Orpheus myth, Netia Jones, ‘the most imaginative director of opera working in Britain today’ (The Observer) will provide one of the most extraordinary multi-media experiences available on the opera stage. Some of Glass’s most melodic music helps tell this timeless setting of the Orpheus myth as a dreamlike meditation on art and the artist.

A show that fuses cinema and opera, projected extracts of Cocteau’s film and a set in constant motion will accompany the live action. This is in the ENO tradition of staging Glass’s operas as all-encompassing theatrical extravaganzas in the vein of Akhnaten and Satyagraha.

Sarah Tynan sings Eurydice in her second take on the role in the season. Jennifer France, ‘living jewel in opera’s crown’ (WhatsOnStage) and winner of the 2018 Emerging Talent Award from the Critics Circle, makes her ENO debut as the Princess. Nicholas Lester sings his first leading role with the company as Orphée, while former ENO Harewood Artists Nicky Spence and Anthony Gregory sing Heurtebise and Cégeste. Contemporary specialist Geoffrey Paterson conducts in his ENO debut.

Luisa Miller

Czech director Barbora Horáková Joly makes her UK directorial debut with a new production of Verdi’s great familial tragedy. Winner of the 2018 International Opera Award for Best Newcomer, her contemporary staging will focus on the psychological aspects of the piece, with an examination of how parental expectations can pass on pain across generations. This marks the first time the company has staged this central work of Verdi’s middle period.

In the title role former ENO Harewood Artist Elizabeth Llewellyn returns to the London Coliseum stage, where she debuted as Mimi in La bohème in 2010. She has since sung leading roles across Europe. Leading mezzo-soprano Christine Rice sings Federica in her first role with ENO since 2016’s Elvira in Don Giovanni. Olafur Sigurdarson makes his ENO debut as Miller while James Creswell sings Count Walter. Harewood Artist Nadine Benjamin, acclaimed for her roles in the previous season’s Porgy and Bess and La bohème, sings Laura. Alexander Joel also returns from a successful run of La bohème in the 2018/19 season to conduct.

The Marriage of Figaro

One of London’s most daring directors, Joe Hill-Gibbins makes his ENO main stage debut with an electrically charged new production of Mozart’s great comedy. Acclaimed for his uncompromising and surprising takes on classics like Richard II at the Almeida Theatre, he returns to opera after a much-praised 2017 production of Turnage’s Greek at the Edinburgh Festival. Previously for ENO he directed Powder Her Face in 2014.

Multi-award winning former Harewood Artist Sophie Bevan sings her first Countess in an anticipated role debut, while winner of the 2017 Young Singer International Opera Award Louise Alder sings Susanna in her ENO debut. Johnathan McCullough sings the Count and Harewood Artist Božidar Smiljanić marks his third role with the company as Figaro. Hanna Hipp sings Cherubino and Susan Bickley sings Marcellina, while ENO legend Andrew Shore brings his finest buffo to sing Bartolo.

Chief Conductor of the Munich Symphony Orchestra Kevin John Edusei makes his ENO debut in the pit. After successful Mozartian conducting at the Komische Oper Berlin, this marks his UK operatic debut. He has previosuly performed at the Proms conducting the all-BAME Chineke! Orchestra.

Rusalka

Dvořák’s greatest opera receives its first new ENO staging in 20 years in German director Tatjana Gürbaca’s company debut. Touching on themes of alienation and the separation between worlds, this profoundly humanistic fairy tale gives us a water nymph in many ways more human than the people she aspires to be among.

Corinne Winters makes her role debut as Rusalka. Having shot to fame with her ‘tour de force’ (Bachtrack) Violetta in ENO’s La traviata in 2013, she has since garnered an impressive international following. She is joined by David Butt Philip as the Prince. Jointly nominated for an Olivier Award for his performance in 2018’s War Requiem, his is one of the fastest-rising careers of any tenor in the UK.

Endlessly versatile mezzo-soprano Patricia Bardon sings Ježibaba. Noted for her performances in Partenope and The Gospel According to the Other Mary for ENO, she will also sing the role at Glyndebourne in summer 2019. Claire Rutter sings the Foreign Princess and David Soar sings the Water Spirit.

Dutch conductor Antony Hermus, Principal Guest Conductor of the North Netherlands Orchestra, makes his ENO debut.

Revivals

Three much-loved productions return for revivals in the 2019/20 season.

The Mikado, in Jonathan Miller’s classic seaside town farce, returns having run for more than thirty years at the London Coliseum. The Marx Brothers-inspired Gilbert and Sullivan tomfoolery continues to delight audiences young and old.

Harewood Artist Elgan Llŷr Thomas, ‘the latest discovery in a golden age of British tenors’ (Bachtrack) sings Nanki-Poo in his first main stage lead role for the company after twice singing Johnny Inkslinger in Paul Bunyan.

Fellow Harewood Artist Soraya Mafi sings Yum-Yum, following her 2017 Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance. Richard Suart once again sings Ko-Ko and Andrew Shore sings Pooh-Bah, with Sir John Tomlinson appearing as the Mikado in his fiftieth production with the company. Ben McAteer and Yvonne Howard, beloved in 2018’s Iolanthe, also star. The opening night will be a Gala performance in aid of the new Sir John Tomlinson Fellowship.

Calixto Bieito’s sensual production of Carmen set in the dying days of Franco’s Spain has been admired across Europe and now returns to ENO, with Justina Gringytė reprising her title role from 2015: (‘superb’ – The Guardian). Sean Panikkar makes his ENO debut as Don Jose, as does new Harewood Artist Nardus Williams as Micaëla, while in the supporting cast are many ENO returning faces including Ashley Riches, Samantha Price, Matthew Durkan, Keel Watson, Elgan Lŷr Thomas and Alex Otterburn. Mackerras Fellow Valentina Peleggi conducts her first full set of Coliseum performances.

Madam Butterfly sees the return of Anthony Minghella’s ‘breathtakingly beautiful’ (WhatsOnStage) 2006 staging, winner of that year’s Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production. Now in its seventh revival, the extraordinary puppetry of Blind Summit and the sumptuous visuals promise once again to entrance audiences along with Puccini’s heartbreaking score. Natalya Romaniw sings the lead role after ‘touching the heights’ (The Guardian) with her Mimì in La bohème in 2018. Dimitri Pittas sings Pinkerton and Roderick Williams sings Sharpless following his Olivier nomination for War Requiem with ENO. Music Director Martyn Brabbins conducts.

Listings Information: ENO performances at the London Coliseum

Christoph Willibald Gluck – Orpheus and Eurydice

Libretto by Pierre-Louis Moline, Version by Hector Berlioz

New Production

1 October – 19 November 2019

Oct 1, 10, 17, 24, 31 & Nov 14 & 19 at 19.30

Oct 12 at 14.00

8 performances

Conductor: Harry Bicket, Director/Choreographer: Wayne McGregor, Set Designer: Lizzie Clachan, Costume Designer: Louise Gray, Lighting Designer: Jon Clark, Translator: Christopher Cowell

CAST INCLUDES Sarah Connolly (Orpheus) Sarah Tynan (Eurydice) Soraya Mafi (Love) Company Wayne McGregor

In collaboration with Studio Wayne McGregor

#ENOEurydice

Jacques Offenbach – Orpheus in the Underworld

Libretto by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy, after classical mythology

Freely adapted from the original French by Emma Rice and Tom Morris

New Production

5 October – 28 November 2019

Oct 5, 11, 23, 30 & Nov 1, 8, 12, 21, 26 at 19.30

Oct 19 at 14.00, Oct 26 at 13.45, Nov 28 at 19.00

12 performances

Conductor: Sian Edwards/Valentina Peleggi (Nov 1, 26, 28), Director: Emma Rice, Set Designer: Lizzie Clachan, Costume Designer: Lez Brotherston, Lighting Designer: Malcolm Rippeth, Choreographer: Etta Murfitt, English book: Emma Rice, English lyrics: Tom Morris

CAST INCLUDES Ed Lyon (Orpheus) Claudia Boyle (Eurydice) Lucia Lucas (Public Opinion) Willard White/Robert Hayward (Jupiter) Alex Otterburn (Pluto) Alan Oke (John Styx) Keel Watson (Mars) Idunnu Münch (Venus) Mary Bevan (Diana)

In association with Wise Children

#ENOUnderworld

Harrison Birtwistle – The Mask of Orpheus

Libretto by Peter Zinovieff

18 October – 13 November 2019

Oct 18, 25 & Nov 7, 13 at 19.00

Oct 29 at 18.00

5 performances

Conductor: Martyn Brabbins, Second Conductor: James Henshaw, Director: Daniel Kramer, Set Designer: Lizzie Clachan, Costume Designer: Daniel Lismore, Lighting/ Video Designer: Peter Mumford

CAST INCLUDES Peter Hoare (Orpheus The Man) Daniel Norman (Orpheus The Myth/Hades) Marta Fontanals-Simmons (Eurydice The Woman) James Cleverton (Aristaeus The Man) Simon Bailey (Aristaeus The Myth/Charon)

#ENOMask

Gilbert and Sullivan – The Mikado

28 October – 30 November 2019

Oct 28 & Nov 2, 9, 22, 30 at 19.00

Nov 2, 9, 30 at 14.00

Nov 16 at 18.00

Nov 23 at 12.00 – relaxed performance

10 performances

Conductor: Chris Hopkins, Director: Jonathan Miller, Revival Director: Elaine Tyler-Hall, Set Designer: Stefanos Lazaridis, Costume Designer: Sue Blane, Lighting Designer: Davy Cunnigham, Choreographer: Anthony van Laast, Revival Choreographer: Carol Grant

CAST INCLUDES John Tomlinson (The Mikado of Japan) Elgan Llŷr Thomas (Nanki-Poo) Richard Suart (Ko-Ko) Andrew Shore (Pooh-Bah) Ben McAteer (Pish-Tush) Soraya Mafi (Yum-Yum) Sioned Gwen Davies (Pitti-Sing) Yvonne Howard (Katisha)

#ENOMikado

Philip Glass – Orphée

Libretto by the composer based on the film by Jean Cocteau, adaption by Philip Glass edited by Robert Brustein

New Production

15 – 29 November 2019

Nov 15, 18, 20, 25, 27, 29 at 19.30

6 performances

Conductor: Geoffrey Paterson, Director/Costume Designer/Video Designer: Netia Jones, Set Designer: Lizzie Clachan, Lighting Designer: Lucy Carter, Translation: Netia Jones and Emma Jenkins

CAST INCLUDES Nicholas Lester (Orphée) Sarah Tynan (Eurydice) Jennifer France (Princess) Nicky Spence (Heurtebise) Anthony Gregory (Cégeste)

#ENOOrphee

George Bizet – Carmen

Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, after Prosper Mérimée

Revival

29 January – 27 February 2020

Jan 29 & Feb 1, 6, 11, 14, 20, 25, 27 at 19.30

Feb 8 at 14.00, Feb 22 at 18.15

10 Performances

Conductor: Valentina Peleggi, Director: Calixto Bieito, Revival Director: Jamie Manton, Set Designer: Alfons Flores, Costume Designer: Mercè Paloma, Lighting Designer: Bruno Poet, Translator: Christoper Cowell

CAST INCLUDES Justina Gringytė (Carmen) Sean Panikkar/David Butt Philip (José) Ashley Riches (Escamillo) Nardus Williams (Micaëla)

#ENOCarmen

Giuseppe Verdi – Luisa Miller

Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, after Friedrich Schiller

New Production

12 February – 6 March 2020

Feb 12, 19, 21, 28 & Mar 6 at 19.30

Feb 15 at 18.30

6 Performances

Conductor: Alexander Joel, Director: Barbora Horáková Joly, Set Designer: Andrew Lieberman, Costume Designer: Eva-Maria Van Acker, Lighting Designer: Michael Bauer, Choreographer: James Rosental

CAST INCLUDES Elizabeth Llewellyn (Luisa) Olafur Sigurdarson (Miller) James Creswell (Count Walter) Christine Rice (Frederica) Soloman Howard (Wurm) Nadine Benjamin (Laura)

#ENOLuisa

Giacomo Puccini – Madam Butterfly

Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, after Bellasco

Revival

26 February – 17 April 2020

Feb 26 & Mar 5, 11, 13, 20, 27, 30 & Apr 17 at 19.30

Feb 29 & Mar 7 & Apr 4, 7 at 18.30

12 Performances

Conductor: Martyn Brabbins/Martin Fitzpatrick Director: Anthony Minghella, Associate Director/Choreographer: Carolyn Choa, Revival Director: Glen Sheppard, Revival Choreographer: David John, Set Designer: Michael Levine, Costume Designer: Han Feng, Lighting Designer: Peter Mumford, Puppetry: Blind Summit, Translator: David Parry

CAST INCLUDES Natalya Romaniw (Cio-Cio San) Dimitri Pittas/Adam Smith (Pinkerton) Roderick Williams/George von Bergen (Sharpless) Stephanie Windsor-Lewis (Suzuki)

#ENOButterfly

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – The Marriage of Figaro

Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, after Beaumarchais

New Production

14 March – 18 April 2020

Mar 14, 19, 21, 25, 31 & Apr 2, 9, 14, 16 at 19.00

Apr 18 at 18.00

10 Performances

Conductor: Kevin John Edusei /James Henshaw Director: Joe Hill-Gibbins, Set Designer: Johannes Schultz, Costume Designer: Astria Klein, Lighting Designer: Bernd Velder, Choreography: Jenny Ogilvie

CAST INCLUDES Božidar Smiljanić (Figaro) Louise Alder (Susanna) Johnathan McCullough (Count Almaviva) Sophie Bevan (Countess Almaviva) Hanna Hip (Cherubino) Susan Bickley (Marcellina) Andrew Shore (Dr Bartolo) Rowan Pierce (Barbarina)

#ENOFigaro

Antonín Dvořák– Rusalka

Libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil, after Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué

New Production

28 March – 15 April 2020

Mar 28 & Apr 1, 3, 6, 8, 15 at 19.00

Apr 11 at 18.00

7 Performances

Conductor: Antony Hermus, Director: Tatjana Gürbaca, Set/Lighting Designer: Klaus Grünberg, Associate Set Designer: Anne Kuhn, Costume Designer: Barbara Drosihn

CAST INCLUDES Corinne Winters (Rusalka) David Butt Philip (Prince) David Soar (Water Spirit) Patricia Bardon (Ježibaba) Claire Rutter (Foreign Princess)

#ENORusalka

Notes to Editors:

English National Opera is the national opera company dedicated to one simple aim: making opera for everyone.

We sing in English to be as accessible to the widest possible audience, we offer over a fifth of all tickets for £20 or less, we create opera that feels different, more theatrical and creatively daring. We’ve been doing this to an internationally recognised standard since being founded in 1931 as Sadler’s Wells Opera.

We bring together artists from different art forms, from photography, sculpture and fashion to dance, slapstick comedy and puppetry, all adding something new to the extraordinary art form that is opera.

We are determined to open up the genre: nearly half of our audiences in 2017/18 were first-time bookers. Our learning and participation programme ENO Baylis last year touched the lives of over 15,000 school children and community groups, and our talent development programme nurtures the careers of singers (the ENO Harewood Artist programme) and conductors (the Charles Mackerras Fellowship). We also give free tickets to Under 18s in our balcony for Saturday performances.

Last year, the percentage of audience members under 44 increased by 13% year-on-year and the proportion of our audience with a black or minority ethnic background increased from 4% to 10%.

Our ongoing support and development of British talent meant 80% of the cast in the 2017-18 season were British or British trained. That’s important to us and is fundamental to our ethos of giving new talent their break.

In January of this year, we announced that we would be recruiting four new members of our Chorus from a BAME background, as well as three BAME Director Observerships.

ENO is about opera for everyone.

Thank you to Linda Christmas, Patti & George White, Swarovski and Cockayne Grants for the Arts for making significant contributions that make this exciting season possible