Vienna goes to Broadway for ENO's Merry Widow

By Kevin W Ng, 02 March 2019

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“Urinal jokes, sexually transmitted diseases, and twerking beavers”

Reviewed at The London Coliseum, London on 1 March 2019

Lehár, Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow)

English National Opera

Kristiina Poska, Conductor

Max Webster, Director

Ben Stones, Set Designer

Esther Bialas, Costume Designer

Sarah Tynan, Hanna Glawari

Nathan Gunn, Count Danilo Danilovich

Andrew Shore, Baron Mirko Zeta

Rhian Lois, Valencienne

Robert Murray, Camille de Rosillon

Nicholas Lester, Vicomte Cascada

Jamie MacDougall, Raoul de St Brioche

English National Opera Chorus

English National Opera Orchestra

ENO’s Mahagonny: biting, bleak, brilliantly executed satire

David Karlin, 16th February

Never has Brecht and Weill’s satire on the inhumanity of man to man been render with such utter darkness; Simon O’Neill heads up a superb cast.

*****

Taken for a ride: an energetic revival of Così fan tutte at ENO

Dominic Lowe, 6th February

English National Opera's revival of Phelim McDermott’s popular production is a blend of spectacle with some first-class singing, with Lucy Crowe emphasising her Mozartian credentials.

****1

Cocteau-esque camp: Alden’s Partenope returns to ENO

Mark Valencia, 20th November

Christopher Alden’s Olivier Award-winning production of Handel’s Partenope returns to the Coliseum, but it's the singing that earns the plaudits.

****1

Dead Man Walking at English National Opera: a superb execution

David Karlin, 1st November

Anneliese Miskimmon's ENO production of Jake Heggie and Terence McNally's tale of crime, repentance, compassion and redemption compels from start to finish.

*****

Comedy falls flat in ENO's season opening Cinderella

Mark Valencia, 27th September

Julia Burbach and her designer, Herbert Murauer, are defeated by the wide canyons of the Coliseum stage in their modern-dress Cinderella.

**111

ENO gives Thea Musgrave's Mary, Queen of Scots a worthy performance

Nick Boston, 15th February

Musgrave's powerful depiction of a powerful woman at the mercy of male manipulation receives a strong staging from at ENO.

****1

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Kevin W Ng

Kevin writes about music and culture, with a focus on opera. Originally trained as a violinist, he has a particular interest in 20th-century music. He is currently based in New York City.