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 A new production of Shostakovich's ribald "Lady Macbeth of
Mtsensk" will open the 2015-2016 program, which was unveiled on
Wednesday, with surefire crowd pleasers such as Puccini's "La
Boheme" and Mozart's "The Magic Flute" also in the line-up.
The ENO, whose chairman quit in December in a row over finances
with artistic director John Berry, and whose executive director
left a month later, received a blow in February when it was
stripped of regular government funding.
Instead, the Arts Council England offered it "special funding
arrangements" until it gets its finances in order.
To help fill its cavernous Coliseum theater, the ENO said would
make more than 60,000 seats available for 20 pounds ($30) or
under in the forthcoming season, which will feature six new
stagings and five revivals.
"It is vital to ENO’s mission that our world-class program is
accessible to the widest possible audience," said Cressida
Pollock, the company's Interim CEO brought in from management
consultancy McKinsey & Company to help balance the books.
"We recognize that we must bring new audiences into the London
Coliseum, and ensure they return time and time again by offering
an experience like no other, at an affordable price."
Season opener "Lady Macbeth", which Stalin famously banned in
1936 after walking out before the final scene at a performance
in Moscow, was a hit for the ENO, which performs operas
translated into English, in a much praised 1987 production by
David Pountney.
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The new production will be staged by Russian theater director Dmitri
Tcherniakov, with the ENO's new music director Mark Wigglesworth,
who is taking over from Edward Gardner, conducting, the ENO
announced.
The ENO will also mount a new production of Wagner's "Tristan and
Isolde" directed by Daniel Kramer with sets by British-Indian
sculptor Anish Kapoor and with Stuart Skelton and Heidi Melton in
the title roles.
Other new productions are Philip Glass's "Akhnaten", Bellini's
"Norma" and Verdi's "The Force of Destiny". The Verdi will be
directed by the radical Spanish director Calixto Bieito in a
co-production with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Other revivals include Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", Gilbert &
Sullivan's "The Mikado", Puccini's "Madam Butterfly" and Janacek's "Jenufa".
($1 = 0.6648 pounds)
(Editing by Crispian Balmer)
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