Tea at Trianon: English National Opera Announces New Ring Cycle

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, March 28, 2021

English National Opera Announces New Ring Cycle

From OperaWire:

The English National Opera has announced a new Ring Cycle. The company announced that Richard Jones will direct the production and will be conducted by Martyn Brabbins. It was also confirmed that the Metropolitan Opera will coproduce the production.
The production will mark the first time the ENO stages the tetralogy in 15 years. The ENO will present the complete Ring Cycle over the next five years.

“The Valkyrie” will be presented this Autumn, subject to any further lockdown restrictions. “Rhinegold” will premiere in 2022-23 followed by a reprise of “The Valkyrie,” and new productions of “Siegfried” and “Twilight of the Gods” in 2024 and 2025 consecutively.

The production will be designed by Stewart Laing with Adam Silverman as Lighting Designer, Sarah Fahie as Movement Director, and Akhila Krishnan as Video Designer.

In a statement, ENO’s Artistic Director Annilese Miskimmon said, “It is thrilling to announce this new ENO Ring Cycle, starting with Valkyrie this Autumn. Richard Jones’s theatrical vision is designed to be emotionally and narratively gripping both for long-time Wagner-lovers and for those seeing this amazing opera for the first time. This epic story of a rebellious warrior maiden who defies the gods in defense of humanity combines myth with modernity alongside some of the most powerful and recognizable operatic music ever written. An unmissable experience for opera lovers old and new, we are delighted to welcome them all to the London Coliseum to join us at the beginning of this Wagner journey through the complete Ring over the next 5 years.” (Read more.)