Magazine for the ENO Friends Issue 33 Autumn 2015
Introducing ENO’s new Music Director Mark Wigglesworth Zach Borichevsky on La bohème Cast members prepare for The Force of Destiny The importance of revivals!
CONTENTS
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FRIENDS NEWS
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ENO BAYLIS NEWS
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COMPANY NEWS Introducing new ENO Harewood Artist Matthew Durkan
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INTERVIEW Bohemian Rhapsody
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FEATURE Introducing ENO’s new Music Director Mark Wigglesworth
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FEATURE May the Force be with you!
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FEATURE The Mikado 30 years on: as fresh as the flowers that bloom in the spring
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AUTUMN EVENTS
FRIENDS DIRECTORY BOX OFFICE 020 7845 9300 box.office@eno.org CATERING 020 7845 9202 catering@eno.org FRIENDS 020 7845 9420 friends@eno.org 24 HOUR EVENTS LINE 020 7845 9275
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WELCOME TO THE LATEST EDITION OF INSIDE ENO Since joining English National Opera earlier this year I have been lucky enough to have met many of our Friends at events and performances at the London Coliseum and beyond. I have been struck, time and again, by the passion and loyalty of you all and I know that everyone at ENO is enormously grateful to the Friends for their support. We now have around 4,000 ENO Friends whose membership fees alone contribute over £300,000 directly to our work, both onstage and backstage. We quite literally couldn't do it without you! The forthcoming season is full of friendly faces and the sorts of surprises that I am sure you have grown to expect from ENO. You will find many of those elements of the 2015/16 season explored in more detail in this magazine. Most notable is, of course, the fact that this season sees Mark Wigglesworth take up his Music Directorship of ENO. He commences his tenure with two tremendous new productions: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov, and Verdi's The Force of Destiny, directed by Calixto Bieito. I am sure that you will join me in warmly welcoming Mark to the ENO family this coming season. We also see, this side of Christmas, the return of two much-loved productions by Jonathan Miller. The Barber of Seville and The Mikado return this season in response to ongoing and phenomenal demand. Finally, a new La bohème finds its home at the London Coliseum. This production, directed by Benedict Andrews, sees Corinne Winters and Zach Borichevsky as Mimi and Rodolfo, in what is sure to be a brilliant interpretation of one of opera’s most popular and unforgettable stories. As you know, since the last edition of Inside ENO, we said farewell to our Artistic Director, John Berry. John’s stewardship of this company has been one of the most extraordinary success stories in opera and I am sure you will join me in wishing him well for the future as we open this exciting season and welcome our new Music Director to the fold. With best wishes,
Cressida Pollock Interim Chief Executive
FRIENDS NEWS
PAINTING THE PERFORMANCE Flowers Gallery will present the first solo show from ENO Artist-inResidence Tom Hammick at the Kingsland Road gallery from 9 September to 10 October 2015. His exhibition, Wall, Window, World, explores the mysterious nature of existence through otherworldly and dreamlike landscapes. Working in response to his emotional experience of the operas, Tom has developed a suite of prints and a number of powerful new paintings. He has combined the music and drama that he has experienced with a personal narrative, drawing from the wider world around him. Tom has been inspired by many of our operas from the 2014/15 Season including The Girl of the Golden West, La traviata and The Mastersingers of Nuremberg.
Right Top: Tom Hammick Outskirts (Day) 2015, Woodcut © Tom Hammick, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York
Tom is kindly donating a percentage of the sale from these works to us when purchased by Friends and Patrons. You can view a selection of his ENO inspired works at tomhammick.com/eno and hammickeditions.com, alternatively visit the exhibition! If you are interested in purchasing a piece or learning more about the residency please contact Georgina Ralston on 020 7845 9489 or gralston@eno.org.
FRIENDS PRICES From 1 October we will be increasing the Friends membership prices – our first increase since 2008. The entry level for Solo membership will become £60 (or £55 by Direct Debit), £100 for Duet, £200 for Ensemble and £500 for Company Friends. These increases, as you can imagine, will help us raise essential funds for ENO’s work. Your support, through your Friends membership, helps us keep our work accessible and helps support our Learning and Talent Development programmes – all of which would not be possible without your support. We do, however, remain competitively priced and the Friends programme continues to offer excellent value for money. Dress rehearsal and event prices remain unchanged. There’s no need for you to do anything now as we will contact you in the usual way, asking you to renew ahead of your membership expiring – which we very much hope that you will do
TAKE YOUR SEAT! The iconic London Coliseum is one of the most beautiful theatres in the world. It is also the largest in London’s West End. Over 200 of the Coliseum’s 2,359 seats were ‘named’ in acknowledgement of generous support both at the time of the major restoration project of 2000-2004 and since. We warmly invite you to Take Your Seat and to support ENO’s work whilst having your contribution acknowledged on your favourite seat in the house – be it in the Stalls, Dress Circle or Upper Circle. Donations for a plaque on a seat range from £1,000 to £5,000 and support our award-winning work and help to maintain our beautiful Edwardian home. For more information and to give, call Jenni Lau on 020 7845 9420.
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ENO BAYLIS NEWS
Between Worlds project with students at the City of London Academy, Southwark in July 2015 Photo credit: Cat Vinton
GIVING YOUNG PEOPLE THEIR FIRST TASTE OF OPERA Head of ENO Baylis Natasha Freedman looks ahead to ENO Baylis’s autumn activities with young people and the wider community. Coming up this autumn we are piloting a new version of Opera Squad in three secondary schools across London – Westminster Academy (Westminster) The Elmgreen School (Lambeth) Kingsbury High School (Brent). We are shifting the focus from the orchestra to singing and performance, and will take over each school for a whole day with pop up performances across the school in assemblies and at break times, and singing, music and drama workshops for specific year groups. We will reference music from a range of operas in the 2015/16 season, exposing students and staff at each school to excerpts by Mozart, Puccini, Janáček and Glass. The schools have each committed to bringing several groups of students to see a variety of productions at ENO across the season, to develop a culture of bringing groups to see our productions. We are keen to give young people a voice as critics and support them to articulate their opinions of productions, so are running a pilot Youth Critic project for AS and A Level students in collaboration with the Mousetrap Foundation this Autumn.
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We are also developing a primary programme around The Mikado for November/December, building on the success of the recent family day at the London Coliseum and the ‘opera in a day’ in school workshop that we piloted around The Way Back Home. We will be working with three primary schools on this project and reaching out to networks of looked after children to take part in workshops and watch rehearsal performances of the production. Other Baylis projects for the autumn term include our weekly community choir, a series of one day community singing workshops – Silver Sunday on 4 October and Know the Show on 25 October as part of the Bloomsbury Festival – and an animation project with MA students at Central Saint Martin’s creating short fiction animation films in response to several upcoming productions in the 2015/16 season. To find out more about the work of ENO Baylis please visit eno.org/join-in, call 020 7845 9595 or email baylis@eno.org. To support the work of ENO Baylis please contact Andrew Given on 020 7845 9476 or email agiven@eno.org
COMPANY NEWS
ALL THE FUN OF FIORELLO Matthew Durkan Credit: Robert Piwko, reproduced with kind permission of The Kathleen Ferrier Awards
This season we welcome Matthew Durkan as our new ENO Harewood Artist supported by our inaugural Nicholas John Fellowship. Matthew was a student at the Wales International Academy of Voice and Birmingham Conservatoire. In 2014 he was the Winner of the Stuart Burrows International Voice Award and a finalist at The Kathleen Ferrier Awards. He was part of our Opera Works scheme (2013/14) and National Opera Studio (2014/15). Matthew will be performing as Fiorello in The Barber of Seville, covering the role of Schaunard in La bohème and singing Yamadori in Madam Butterfly. Over the summer Kat Hattersley met Matthew as he prepared for his role as Fiorello. Welcome and congratulations on becoming an ENO Harewood Artist. What are you most looking forward to undertaking this season in your new Fellowship? I’m definitely most looking forward to making my stage-debut at the London Coliseum! I was lucky enough to have covered Guglielmo in Così fan tutte for ENO whilst I was a student, but this season will be my first time singing on stage. My debut will be part of the ENO Screen cinema screenings which a lot of family and friends from Derby are looking forward to watching back home. I’m excited to work with and learn from experienced conductors, directors and of course artists at the top of their game. I’ll also be performing my first recital as an ENO Harewood Artist in November, which is a great opportunity to show my versatility as a singer, and also gives me a chance to meet the Patrons of ENO! How are you preparing for your role as Fiorello? Fiorello is a part that I’ve always thought would be fun to play, and The Barber of Seville with Sherrill Milnes and Nicolai Gedda was the first opera recording I bought when I was doing A-Level Music at school – so I’m very familiar with the opera. I am grateful for the access to further training and guidance from the staff at ENO, especially with the Head of Training, Jane Robinson, who’s been
helping me make sure everything is in good shape technically before rehearsals begin. And finally, what are your favourite operas and are there any roles you aspire to sing one day? All of my favourite singers are tenors (Carreras, Kraus, Corelli, Gigli) and I’m most interested in Italian singing and style, so my favourite opera composers are Donizetti, Bellini and Verdi. Dream roles would probably be Verdi baritone roles like Iago (Otello), Renato (Unballo in maschera), Don Carlos (Don Carlos) and Germont (La traviata). However if I could choose anything from any voice type it would be Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor or Verdi’s Otello! Patrons will have the opportunity to meet and hear Matthew at our first ENO Harewood Artist Recital of the season on Wednesday 18 November. If you are interested in finding out more about supporting our 11 ENO Harewood Artists please visit eno.org/harewoodartists or contact Kat Hattersley on 020 7845 9494 or email khattersley@eno.org.
ENO SCREEN: COMING TO A CINEMA NEAR YOU! ENO Screen sees ENO’s productions broadcast live into cinemas across the UK and Ireland and selected cinemas worldwide. Shot in stunning multi-camera HD, ENO Screen is as distinctive as ENO’s live work in the theatre, creating a unique cinematic experience for audience members. Following record-breaking audience figures for ENO Screen’s The Pirates of Penzance, we are pleased to announce the ENO Screen 2015/16 season: The Barber of Seville on 19 October, The Mikado on 3 December and The Magic Flute on 9 March 2016. Plus, there are Encore Screenings at selected UK and international cinemas of ENO’s recently critically acclaimed productions of Carmen, The Pirates of Penzance, La traviata, Peter Grimes and Benvenuto Cellini. Check with your local cinema for timings.
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INTERVIEW
Zach Borichevsky Credit: Simon Paul
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY This October, the London Coliseum stage will bear witness to a brand new ENO production of Puccini’s immortal classic. Whilst the cast is largely familiar, this new staging does star a new face for the company: that of the internationally renowned Zach Borichevsky who will be making his ENO debut. Ben Siddall caught up with Zach about this new La bohème and what it means to become a part of the ENO family. We would love to know what was the very first opera you ever saw? Surprisingly enough, I actually sang an opera before I ever saw one. Growing up, my only real opera exposure had been arias as sung by the Three Tenors and Andrea Bocelli. Only as a first year student at university did I get my first taste of a full opera when I sang the role of Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors (with piano). My first opera as an audience member was Idomeneo: it was a dress rehearsal in Washington DC with Domingo and one of Anna Netrebko's first appearances in the United States. Zach, your operatic career is blossoming. What have been your highlights over the last few years? It’s hard for me to choose highlights because every
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opportunity to sing presents its own challenges and rewards. From a new production of La bohème in Finland to making my UK debut at Glyndebourne in La traviata, to singing an obscure, crazy Prokofiev cantata in Montpellier, the last two years have been filled to the brim with highlights. I can’t forget the excitement of being part of a live broadcast during the finals of Operalia. Also, in terms of sheer musical catharsis, it’s hard to beat the Requiems of Britten and Verdi. Why do you think La bohème is one of the best loved stories in opera, and one of the most often performed? To be a true masterpiece, I think a work of art must be at once accessible and profound: it needs a visceral appeal, but must continue to reveal more truth after extensive scrutiny. La bohème was my first opera singing on stage with an orchestra and it instantly hooked me; it doesn’t get much more fun than singing as loud as you can with six great friends at the climax of Act 2. This production at ENO will be my sixth, and already in my preparation process I’ve found new facets to bring out: phrasing is key in Puccini, and there are always new ways to try.
Massimo Cavalletti and Atalla Ayan, La bohème, Dutch National Opera, 2014 Photo Credit: Monika Rittershaus
You enjoy a prolific career internationally and made your UK debut last year. Have you ever seen an ENO production before? I’ve seen three! I had the pleasure of hearing my Mimí (Corinne Winters) in both La traviata and Terry Gilliam’s spectacular Benvenuto Cellini. And then as a bonus, last year I also saw my friend Nicholas [Masters] who sang Ashby in The Girl of the Golden West and will join me as Colline for this Bohème. All of the above made me eager to sing with the impressive ENO Chorus and Orchestra in the marvellous London Coliseum. At ENO, we sing in English giving immediacy to the emotional response from our audience. What does this mean for you, and does opera in translation present any difficulties for you as a singer? I'm actually quite looking forward to this particular translation of La bohème by Amanda Holden. I've been looking at it for a month or so now, and it is the most thoughtful translation I've yet seen. Ms Holden has considered not only the meaning of the text, but also the original Italian vowel sounds, so that often they line up in the English. This is quite a relief, having sung a translation of the opera before that was much less considerate.
You sang Rodolfo in La bohème last year at Finnish National Opera, directed by Kateriina Lahti. Given that this was so recent; what are the challenges when working on a new production? Working on a new production is always more exciting than trying to work with an existing concept because as singers we have more input in the creative process. So I can’t say I’m worried about adding another new production, as much as I’m excited to rediscover the piece through new eyes. Are you excited about working with the awardwinning Director Benedict Andrews? What do you think his interpretation will bring to the piece? One of the great things about the opera world is that it is small enough that everyone has mutual friends with everyone. My friend Joyce El-Khoury sang Musetta with Mr Andrews in Amsterdam. I learned from Joyce that he has a particular eye for detail, which I very much look forward to: it's always more freeing for me when the director has specific ideas. La bohème opens on 16 October with subsequent performances on 21, 23, 29 and 31 October, 4, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, 24, 26 November. To book tickets call the ENO Box Office on 020 7845 9300 or visit eno.org.
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FEATURE
INTRODUCING ENO’S NEW MUSIC DIRECTOR MARK WIGGLESWORTH the experience to be delivered through the same specific, direct, and relevant communication that we expect from straight theatre. London is now home to over three hundred languages, but it is still English that connects us, and this bond is only increased when everyone in the performance understands exactly the same word at exactly the same time. The power of opera to unite is limitless. This vision is shared at ENO by a large number of brilliant people. To be able to work with them is something I am looking forward to enormously. And to be in part responsible for shaping the quality of work we do and the future direction we take is a challenge that I feel very privileged to have. At a time of transition for the company, we need our fundamental beliefs to be as strong as ever. I am optimistic that they will see us through to the next chapter in this company’s amazing history.
This season marks the start of Mark Wigglesworth’s tenure as ENO Music Director. Jenni Lau caught up with him over the summer to get his thoughts on the company. Can you tell us what ENO means to you? English National Opera is more than just a company. It is an idea, a philosophy, an identity that stretches all the way back to the core beliefs of its original inspirer Lillian Baylis. This remarkable woman believed that opera should be an equal and indivisible combination of music and drama and as accessible to as many people as possible. Both these pillars of identity demand singing in the language of the audience. Though the power of opera is expressed through the international language of music, its fundamentally theatrical nature needs
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Could you tell us which operas you are working on this season? I start with Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. This was the first opera I conducted for ENO in the wonderful David Pountney production. Dmitri Tcherniakov’s new version promises to be equally inspiring yet in a completely different way. A fresh take on what is an iconic title for the company is a symbol of our desire to combine the huge successes of the past with an ambition to keep regenerating ourselves for the future. Next comes Verdi’s The Force of Destiny – a very operatic opera! It is as broad an emotional tapestry as you could imagine, and like an epic Russian novel, ranges from sacred to secular, spiritual to personal. As the backdrop to a very intense set of personal relationships, ENO’s extraordinary Chorus will be heard at their very best.
In contrast, Mozart’s The Magic Flute is a rather more intimate evening but with the orchestra in Simon McBurney’s production raised to a visible level, the musical experience is elevated. The Right: Lady flexibility of ENO’s Orchestra is well-known. For them Macbeth of Mtsensk, Deutsche to be seen as well as heard gives justice to their technical abilities as well as their passion. Oper am Rhein, Left: Mark Wigglesworth Photo credit: Ben Ealovega
2008 Credit: Eduard Straub
My final production for the season is one of the greatest operas ever written. Some pieces one feels are all about the singing, others put the orchestra at the centre. There are those where the music takes the lead, and others where it is the drama that drives the piece along. With Janáček’s Jenůfa, no one element stands out from any other. The result is a complete experience that very few other composers can match. What operas would you most like to conduct at ENO? I haven’t come to ENO to conduct specific titles. We need to perform as wide ranging a season as possible and I believe our style and philosophy can provide an artistic unity across four hundred years of operatic history. I cannot think of another opera company that can claim Handel, Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Janáček, and Sullivan as signature composers and I am looking forward to being part of this tremendous variety. We need to make sure we protect the future of opera as well, and though I
believe the thought-provoking nature of some of our stagings of well-known works does just that, I am excited to discover new pieces by new composers too. And finally, could you tell us what your first experience of opera was? My first experiences of opera were at ENO. That this is the case for so many opera lovers in this country is one of the fundamental reasons we have to cherish such a special institution. As a student I enjoyed a sustained exposure to the art form whilst working as an usher at ENO. I heard countless performances that I will never forget. The first night of Jonathan Miller’s Rigoletto, David Alden’s ‘chain-saw’ Mazeppa, David Pountney’s beautiful Rusalka, along with inspiring musical experiences like Reginald Goodall’s Wagner and Mark Elder’s consistently detailed and theatrically aware conducting. I walk into the London Coliseum now and still feel the same sense of adventure that I always had. To be so inspired by a place that also feels like home is a wonderful combination. To celebrate the first year of Mark’s tenure, we are running a special appeal to raise funds for the four operas he is conducting. To support the Music Director’s Appeal please visit eno.org/musicdirectorappeal or call the Friends Office on 020 7845 9420.
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FEATURE
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU! In November we stage Verdi’s rarity The Force of Destiny for the first time in over 30 years. ENO Music Director Mark Wigglesworth conducts and Calixto Bieito directs this highly anticipated new production supported by ENO Friends. Katherine Sayer discovers how cast members are preparing for their roles in this powerful piece. Tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones sang Walter to great acclaim in our award-winning The Mastersingers of Nuremberg and returns to sing Don Alvaro: Don Alvaro is a man who finds himself pursued mercilessly by fate. He is subjected to tragedy from the day of his birth. Born in captivity – to a Spanish nobleman and an Inca princess (both of whom are murdered for wanting to see the Inca homeland freed from the tyranny of Spain). He falls in love with Leonora, the daughter of the Marquis of Calatrava who strongly disapproves of Alvaro, so the couple plan to elope. Alvaro is an honourable man, but his actions lead to the accidental death of Leonora's father, her brother Don Carlo, and indirectly Leonora herself. He is stricken with remorse for having caused these deaths and despite seeking refuge in a cloistered life he finds he cannot escape fate. Alvaro is one of the most iconic and challenging of Verdi's tenor roles. It is classed as a 'dramatic' role but it is in truth a 'spinto-dramatico' role. It requires a great deal of sophisticated lyrical singing along with its dramatic singing in order to convincingly portray Alvaro's strengths and his weaknesses, his heroism on the one hand and his vulnerability and love for Leonora on the other. It is a role I have looked forward enormously to singing for many years.
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Baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore returns to ENO to add another “baddie” to his repertoire of roles: Don Carlo di Vargas has to be one of the most unpleasant men in the operatic canon. He is racist, possessive, controlling, full of hatred and obsessed with a warped idea of honour and nobility. He has an inability to cope with his sister's burgeoning sexuality that drives him to pursue Don Alvaro for more than five years, in an effort to cleanse a 'stain' from his family's history. A lot of his music is forceful, aggressive and heavily orchestrated, except for the beautiful aria 'Urna Fatale' which provides a moment of relative tranquillity in an otherwise vigorous evening's singing. I am looking forward to creating a pulsating character and I believe the choice of the Spanish Civil War as a setting will allow full range to be given to the violent and brutal nature of the central drama.
moments, Melitone's music seems to contain seeds of something deeper and darker. The potential that this holds in performance makes the prospect of introducing this fussing Franciscan to my rogue's gallery of characters for ENO all the more enticing!
Israeli born Mezzo-soprano, Rinat Shaham makes her ENO debut as Preziosilla, a gypsy: Preziosilla! The role is quite short, but within it, there's a wonderful range to be explored. Many see her as nothing else but a comprimario role made to "colour" and humor the otherwise monochromatic detail of the storyline and the other characters. But in a way because of its short and quite strange nature, there are many ways to interpret this role. She can easily become destiny itself, playing her own hand of cards. I am very much looking forward to discovering, together with the brilliant Bieito, what her own destiny will end up being in our production. Bass Andrew Shore follows his legendary portrayal of Dr Bartolo in The Barber of Seville with a new creation, Fra Melitone: The character of the grumpy friar Melitone, whilst undeniably providing comic relief, is given music to sing which is by no means restricted to traditional buffo style. Indeed, the role is probably unique in Verdi's output in combining familiar comic ingredients with vocal writing of considerable expressive power. Melitone's apocalyptic tirade against immorality and irreligion, for example, has an expansive force which relates it directly to the line of big soliloquies from Macbeth and Rigoletto to Iago and Ford. Even in his apparently lighter
Rising star across the Atlantic, Soprano Tamara Wilson makes her British debut as Leonora: This will be my role debut of Leonora di Vargas and my 12th role by Verdi. I am very excited to add her to my repertoire. I love exploring new roles and to figure out how characters tick. As a soprano, I am typically the love interest and/or heroine. This opera veers away from that stereotype. I see her more as a survivor of horrible circumstances. Verdi always features a strong father daughter relationship in almost all of his operas. Spoiler alert, this one does not go so well. She is alone for most of the opera and she only sings with the tenor for about 15 minutes tops. That’s what makes this particular Verdi lady so unique. Friends have the opportunity to meet Gwyn Hughes Jones, Tamara Wilson and Anthony Michaels-Moore at the Insight event on Monday 16 November. See page 14 for more details of how to book. The Force of Destiny opens on 9 November with subsequent performances on 13, 18, 20, 25 and 27 November, 2 and 4 December. To book tickets call the ENO Box Office on 020 7845 9300 or visit eno.org.
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FEATURE
THE MIKADO 30 YEARS ON: AS FRESH AS THE FLOWERS THAT BLOOM IN THE SPRING This autumn Jonathan Miller’s The Mikado enjoys its 15th revival since it premiere in 1986. This iconic ENO production is a timeless classic that continues to delight audiences. Katherine Sayer chats to ENO Staff Director and Revival Director for The Mikado ElaineTyler-Hall about the significance of revival productions.
What does your role as Revival Director involve, and at what stage do you become involved? In simple terms, a Revival Director puts onto the stage a production that has been done before. In an ideal world I like to work on a production from the very beginning, meeting and discussing it with the original director even before the first rehearsals start. I learn all I can about it: music, ideas, structure, meaning, moves… I try to be like a sponge and absorb everything that is important to the original director. Then, if it is done again and he or she can’t be there, I have it all in my notes and in my memory. So I start from there – this is what it was, this is what the director wanted last time. That’s really important: I have to be true to what they wanted. However, the production is often new for the singers, actors and dancers and my main job is making the learning process exciting and interesting for them. I want them to feel this revival is not just bringing something dead back to life but the birth of a new incarnation.
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How closely do you work with the original directors? The relationship between the staff director and the director is an interesting one. When a new director comes to work at ENO for the first time, they have no experience of who I am and what I can do, and they have to trust me with their work. That’s quite a big ask! Sometimes it takes a little while for that trust to build up, but I try to show them that my job is to support them in what they want to achieve both in practical and in artistic terms. Directors that I work with over and over again will start to involve me in all aspects of the work from the early days of the designing through to the final decisions on stage. It is this sense of trust which is fundamentally important to a revival. The close working relationships and friendships that I have made with directors like Jonathan Miller are built on this trust: Jonathan knows that I care deeply about his productions and that I want to preserve their integrity. How do revival productions complement the work of a rep company, and what is their role at ENO? I strongly believe that if a piece is good, it is worth reviving. If it is revived well with a good cast and good technical support then, as in the case of The Mikado, it can be revived many, many times. Certain productions can only be revived a few times before they stop being relevant to the audience, but some like Jonathan Miller’s production of The Mikado can never go out of fashion. It was directed and designed with such panache and verve that, coming through the doors of the London Coliseum 30 years later, no member of the audience could think this looks old fashioned. It’s still fresh as a daisy. Sometimes you
Above: Robert Murray, Mary Bevan and company, The Mikado, 2012 Credit: Sarah Lee
can revive a production for five years or sometimes for 35 years and our audiences deserve to be able to come and see these great productions more than once. There is magic in seeing a live performance and a filmed record can never give the same sense of excitement. Revivals are the life blood of ENO – think of all those wonderful productions over the years: Rigoletto, Satyagraha, Peter Grimes... too many to mention – because we can really show off the skills and talent of our company members. I hope that when our audiences come back to see their favourite productions, we can whet their appetite to come and see other productions and give them a new favourite for the future. How many times have you worked on The Mikado? This is only my third time as Revival Director. But my first job at ENO was in The Mikado as a dancer in 1988. Sadly I wasn’t in it the very first time it was done, but I was in its first revival and then many revivals after that. I have danced on that piano! So it’s full circle for me. It’s an old friend. How do you combine your responsibility to the original director with your own sense of creativity without feeling stifled? I feel a huge responsibility being in charge of a revival, not only to the original director but to the cast, the company, the audience…. It’s not that there isn’t any creativity in a revival, but the creativity is not in producing new ideas, it is in producing fantastic performances. It’s very easy just
to do a carbon copy of the original – you don’t need any creativity to do that – but to make a production zing off a stage, that’s when you need creativity. If I find that something is going in a different direction from the original production I will always talk to the director about it. I feel I can develop, but it’s not in my brief to change, a director’s work. My brief is to build on a production that already exists, so little changes do happen but I hope they’re always a good thing and that they are what the original director would want. What is the financial value of mounting a revival of a classic ENO show like The Mikado? Luckily I don’t have to deal directly with the financial side of things - phew! However, I am always aware of the financial constraints put upon opera companies and I try to avoid wasting any precious resources. It is important to work concisely and economically. A revival, of course, will be cheaper than a new production and it has the potential to bring in large audiences. I would hope that this can free up money for ENO to put towards producing new work which, remember, we hope will be the revivals of the future. Ongoing creativity and innovation is vital. The Mikado opens on 21 November with subsequent performances on 28 and 29 November, 3, 5 and 6 December, 30 January, 3 and 6 February. To book tickets call the ENO Box Office on 020 7845 9300 or visit eno.org.
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AUTUMN EVENTS
A REMINDER OF DRESS REHEARSAL DATES FOR AUTUMN La bohème Wednesday 14 Oct, 6 – 8.30pm The Force of Destiny Friday 6 Nov, 6 – 9.15pm
The Barber of Seville, 2012 Photo credit: Scott Rylander
FRIENDS EVENTS Events are open to Friends of ENO, American Friends and all Patrons Insight: La bohème Monday 26 Oct, 6pm Doors, 6.30 – 7.30pm Talk Sky Bar, London Coliseum Tickets: £15 Stage & Orchestra rehearsal: The Force of Destiny Thursday 5 Nov, 10.30am – 1.30pm London Coliseum Tickets: £15 (Company Friends only, free to Music Director’s Appeal supporters over £250) Pre-dress rehearsal talk: The Force of Destiny Friday 6 Nov, 4.45 – 5.15pm Sky Bar, London Coliseum Tickets: £7
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Friends & Patrons Welcome Talk & Theatre Tour Thursday 12 Nov 3.30 – 5.30pm Sky Bar & Auditorium, London Coliseum Tickets: £5 (priority given to new supporters) Insight: The Force of Destiny Monday 16 Nov, 6pm Doors, 6.30 – 7.30pm Talk Sky Bar, London Coliseum Tickets: £15 To book visit eno.org/friendsevents or call the ENO Box Office on 020 7845 9300.
The Mikado Thursday 19 Nov, 10.30am – 1pm To book visit eno.org/dressrehearsals or call the ENO Box Office on 020 7845 9300. Solo Friends are entitled to book 1 ticket. Duet Friends and above are eligible for 2 tickets for each dress rehearsal. Ensemble Friends, Company Friends, Associate Young Patrons and Patrons receive priority when booking for dress rehearsals. To upgrade your membership and take advantage of this benefit, please call the Friends Office on 020 7845 9420. Why not pre-order sandwiches for the dress rehearsals by contacting our catering department on 020 7845 9202 or by email at catering@eno.org?
AMERICAN FRIENDS EVENTS
PATRON EVENTS
The Barber Of Seville Friends and Family Evening Saturday 3 Oct, 5.15pm Stage Tour, 5.45pm Drinks and canapé reception, 6.30pm Performance London Coliseum, Tickets: £140 (adult), £75 (child) (American Friends, ENO Friends and Patrons) Ticket includes a stalls seat, stage tour, private pre-performance and interval reception and one programme per family.
Patrons are invited to join the starring artists of ENO along with our creative and executive teams for a very special series of exclusive events:
La bohème Friday 16 Oct, 6pm Stage Tour, 6.30pm Drinks and canapé reception, 7.30pm Performance London Coliseum, Tickets: £140 (dress circle), £80 (upper circle) (American Friends, ENO Friends and Patrons) Ticket includes a dress or upper circle seat, stage tour, private pre-performance and interval reception and one programme per couple. The Force Of Destiny Friday 13 Nov, 5.45pm Stage Tour, 6.15pm Drinks and canapé reception, 7pm Performance London Coliseum, Tickets: £140 (American Friends, ENO Friends and Patrons) Ticket includes a stalls seat, stage tour, private pre-performance and interval reception and one programme per couple. To book visit eno.org/americanfriendsevents You can join The American Friends of ENO from £200 as an Ensemble Friend or £1,000 at Patron level. To find out more visit eno.org/americanfriends or contact: americanfriends@eno.org / (+44) 207 845 9331.
Insight & Supper: La bohème Monday 26 Oct, 6pm Doors, 6.30 – 7.30pm Talk, 7.30 – 9pm Supper Sky & Balcony Bar, London Coliseum Tickets: £45 (£15 Talk only) Italian Icons: An Exploration of 19th Century Italian Opera Monday 2 Nov, 7 - 9.30pm, with drinks & canapés At the home of ENO’s President, Sir Vernon Ellis, in Kensington Tickets: £25 (Leading Patrons & above) Insight & Supper: The Force Of Destiny Mon 16 Nov, 6pm Doors, 6.30 – 7.30pm Talk, 7.30 – 9pm Supper Sky & Balcony Bar, London Coliseum Tickets: £45 (£15 Talk only) To book visit eno.org/operacircleevents or contact Ben Siddall: rsvp@eno.org / 020 7845 9241. You can become part of ENO’s Opera Circle through a donation £1,000 or more. To find out more visit eno.org/operacircle or contact Georgia Davenport: gdavenport@eno.org/ 020 7845 9474
All ticket prices include a nominal donation to the American Friends of ENO, a registered 501(c)3 Charitable Organisation, EIN 13-3823577
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FRIENDS LEVELS AND BENEFITS: NEW PRICES FROM 1 OCTOBER 2015 SOLO FROM £60 OR £55/£4.60 A MONTH BY DIRECT DEBIT • Priority booking • Advance information • Inside ENO three times a year • Monthly Friends e-newsletter • Access to special Friends events and chance to buy two tickets for each event • Opportunity to buy one ticket for every Dress Rehearsal (DR) • Opportunity to attend pre DR talk and buy one ticket DUET FROM £100 OR £8.40 A MONTH BY DIRECT DEBIT • All Solo benefits • Opportunity to buy two tickets for every DR • Opportunity to attend pre DR talk and buy two tickets ENSEMBLE FROM £200 OR £16.70 A MONTH BY DIRECT DEBIT • All the above benefits • Enhanced priority booking for dress rehearsals and events • The opportunity to invite up to three guests to the Friends events • Invitations to selected interval drinks at dress rehearsals • Recognition in the Friends Supported Production programme - one per season • Recognition in the Friends magazine, Inside ENO - one per season
COMPANY FROM £500 OR £41.70 A MONTH BY DIRECT DEBIT • All the above benefits • Enhanced advance information, including Season press release • Access to two music rehearsals per season • Invitation to one Patron event and post event supper per season (for example, a talk by a director or singer followed by an intimate supper) • Invitation to a Season launch event with the Artistic Director • Invitations to exclusive company recitals and receptions
To join or renew your membership online with a direct debit, please visit eno.org/Friends Opera Circle membership starts at £1,000 and offers members a more exclusive and dedicated package of benefits. Contact Georgia Davenport on 020 7845 9474 or email gdavenport@eno.org for more information, or you can join online with a direct debit by visiting eno.org/OperaCircle Membership to the American Friends of ENO starts at $325. Call 020 7845 9331 or email americanfriends@eno.org or visit eno.org/AmericanFriends for more information. Legacy gifts help to support and sustain the work of ENO for years to come. You can make a bequest to ENO directly (charity number 257210) or to the ENO Trust (charity number 278379). Contact Katherine Sayer on 020 7845 9430 for a confidential conversation or visit eno.org/support/ individual/legacies
CONTRIBUTORS Alice Beckwith, Natasha Freedman, Kat Hattersley, Jenni Lau, Chris Martin, Georgina Ralston, Katherine Sayer, Ben Siddall Front page: Mark Wigglesworth Photo Credit: Ben Ealovega English National Opera, London Coliseum, St Martin’s Lane, London, WC2N 4ES. Tel 020 7845 9420 · Fax 020 7845 9272 · Email friends@eno.org · Website eno.org
Registered Charity no. 257210 The information in this magazine was correct at the time of printing but may be subject to change.