Dogs and dark horses - ENO new season booking opens

Booking opens today for ENO's autumn season. If you're one of their Friends, that is. Enemies must wait until May 19. Seats rarely sell out, so there's not a lot of point in hitting the credit card right now unless you're ultra-picky about where you sit. A subscription discount of 15-20% for booking multiple shows expires on September 1.

There are plenty of new productions - though the unrevivable ropiness of half the existing ones must factor in here as much as a quest for innovation.

Talking of ropy productions, last season's Aida returns, with much the same unimpressive cast. This is one I'm giving a miss -- fabulous costumes, but little else to recommend it. Another one I'll probably skip is the 999th revival of Jonathan Miller's Barber of Seville. Both sadly second-rate and so generic  -- why not crawl out of the ROH's shadow and resuscitate The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant instead?

The rest look a lot more promising. Christopher Alden's new production of Handel's Partenope is conducted by Christian Curnyn, who made an excellent recording a couple of years back. With a cast including Rosemary Joshua, Patricia Bardon, Christine Rice, lestyn Davies and John Mark Ainsley, this should be a highlight.

The autumn season opens with a new Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci  -- not usually something I'd be that excited about, but director Richard Jones should be able to sprinkle some fabulosity around. Peter Auty and Mary Plazas are in the cast.

The all-bloke Boris Godunov is again not a favourite, but it's a new production (Tim Albery), and Peter Rose plays Boris, so I shall be paying a visit.

The dark horse may be the autumn season closer, Vaughan Williams's one-act Riders to the Sea, directed by Fiona Shaw - an opera newb, but unlike some on the cards, she has at least seen a few.

Comments

[JSU]

What on earth is that pic?

Fiona Shaw's directing now? Whoa.