The art of risk-taking

Despite the economic gloom, ENO’s John Berry is optimistic about the future of opera

We continue to work with two of the best international opera directors: the brothers David and Christopher Alden, both of whom have produced for ENO some of the most compelling opera seen anywhere over the past four years. They will create two new productions: Radamisto and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The great European venues continue to be a source of inspiration: I’ve seen wonderful work at Berlin’s Schaubühne Theatre, for example, led by Thomas Ostermeier, and it is one of Ostermeier’s protégés, the young Australian Benedict Andrews, who will create a new production of Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses for us and the Young Vic theatre next year. And we have successfully courted the young Russian opera director Dmitri Tcherniakov (whose Eugene Onegin was seen in London recently), who makes his ENO debut with Verdi’s searing Simon Boccanegra.

Staging familiar and new work in ways that make them resonate for contemporary audiences is essential for the future of opera. I hope that in a climate of uncertainty, ENO’s 2010/11 season will fly the flag for creativity and quality, and go some way to proving opera in the UK is worth the investment.

John Berry is artistic director of English National Opera.