English National Opera has collected the entire set of major opera awards available for its 2008 repertoire. Earlier this week it added the Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Music Award for Opera and Music Theatre to its South Bank Show Award and its pair of Laurence Olivier Awards.
The clean sweep of opera awards is the first time a company has achieved this feat since the creation of the South Bank Show Award for Opera 12 years ago.
In awarding the accolade, the RPS noted that through “no fewer than 10 new productions during 2008, together with an innovative partnership with the Young Vic, ENO made a collective impact on London opera audiences and re-established the company’s distinctive artistic identity”.
Among 2008’s notable productions at the London Coliseum, home of ENO, were Laurence Olivier Award Best New Opera Production Partenope, nominee I Pagliacci, plus Cavalleria Rusticana, Der Rosenkavalier, Lucia Di Lammermoor and Riders To The Sea.
Commenting on the awards John Berry, Artistic Director of ENO said: “Winning every available opera award for our work in 2008 demonstrates ENO’s tremendous creativity and puts a spring into our step as we look forward to many more exciting productions during 2009. Every member of the company deserves an award for their dedication and hard work, without them none of this would be possible.”
Following the success of its 2008 season, the recently announced 2009/10 season is also full of new work including a Rupert Goold-directed Turandot, Daniel Kramer directing Duke Bluebeard’s Castle in a double bill with The Rite Of Spring, Deborah Warner staging The Messiah, Elegy For Young Lovers directed by Fiona Shaw, a Katie Mitchell-led Idomeneo, The Pearl Fishers and Tosca. The season opens in September with Le Grand Macabre, presented under the guidance of Catalan theatre company La Fure Del Baus.
MA