English National Opera (ENO)

Snobbery about audience behaviour stifles theatre – it’s a collective experience | Arifa Akbar

Distracting behaviour, from eating noisily to using mobile phones, is a vexed issue. But the chorus of disapproval often suggests elitism and overlooks theatre’s history

Arifa Akbar

14, Mar, 2023 @12:00 PM

‘I fear we are losing a whole generation of talent’: ENO head hits back at the ‘leave London’ ultimatum

As she stages a new production of The Dead City, Korngold’s wild opera banned by the Nazis, English National Opera’s artistic director Annilese Miskimmon talks about the company’s strong present and uncertain future

Erica Jeal

13, Mar, 2023 @6:00 AM

The week in classical: Rusalka; The Rhinegold

Royal Opera’s new staging of Dvořák’s watery Rusalka finds fresh resonsances, while the ENO’s updated Ring cycle is really starting to shine

Fiona Maddocks

25, Feb, 2023 @12:30 PM

Opera isn’t just for toffs. It must be opened up to everyone | Letters

Letters: In response to an article by Charlotte Higgins, readers discuss public funding for opera and the need to increase its reach, both geographically and demographically

24, Feb, 2023 @6:28 PM

If we defund opera saying it is for toffs, then only the toffs will go. Where’s the sense in that? | Charlotte Higgins

It is painful to see our top companies starved of funds and strangled by politics, while our best artists head abroad, says the Guardian’s chief culture writer, Charlotte Higgins

Charlotte Higgins

20, Feb, 2023 @8:00 AM

The Rhinegold review – witty and insightful, Jones’s production delivers an emphatic win for ENO

The Rhine shimmers, the gold dazzles and the gods posture – Richard Jones has by and large gone back to Wagnerian basics for his assured and cogent staging. In the pit, Martyn Brabbins and ENO’s orchestra add lustre

Martin Kettle

19, Feb, 2023 @1:46 PM

The Guardian view on theatres in crisis: a moment to take stock | Editorial

Editorial: By cancelling all its shows from March, the Oldham Coliseum has thrown down a challenge to both central and local government

Editorial

03, Feb, 2023 @5:25 PM

Carmen review – vivid revival sees ENO on fighting form

With Bizet’s opera’s menace and casual cruelty to the fore, cracking performances from soloists and chorus alike ensure that this is a tense and atmospheric production

Erica Jeal

02, Feb, 2023 @12:29 PM

English National Opera to receive £11.46m from Arts Council England

Investment will sustain its work in London for another year after ENO was removed from ACE’s national portfolio

Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent

17, Jan, 2023 @4:39 PM

Tears, cheers and whirlytubes: our critics pick their classical highlights of 2022

While there’s no doubt about the year’s villain, before November’s funding cuts there were plenty of heroes to celebrate. We look back on a year that saw many musical highs and an all-time low

Andrew Clements , Erica Jeal, Tim Ashley, Martin Kettle, Flora Willson, Rian Evans

21, Dec, 2022 @9:03 AM

ENO needs London home, opera star says amid rumours of a rethink on funding cut

Sir John Tomlinson wades into row over cut to English National Opera’s grant as signs indicate Arts Council may review decision

Vanessa Thorpe

18, Dec, 2022 @7:00 AM

Classical music: Fiona Maddocks’s 10 best concerts and operas of 2022

Excellence and perilous funding went hand in hand, Salome sizzled, a piano great led the way, and India and Italy became musical neighbours