Geoff Brown

Is Anna Nicole’s absurd life worth our while? Not as much as Otello’s

The Royal Opera House made the bigger splash with their opener but the ENO threw the best party - by far

Eloquent: Allan Clayton as Cassio in Otello [© Eno/Alastair Muir] 
issue 20 September 2014
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  • Otello

    ENO, in rep until 17 October

  • Anna Nicole

    Royal Opera, in rep until 24 September

So how did London’s two big opera companies launch their new seasons last week? Not perhaps in the way you might expect. Decked with pink balloons and the acrid smell of popcorn, the Royal Opera House waved the garish contemporary flag with Mark-Anthony Turnage and Richard Thomas’s Anna Nicole of 2011, revived before a youthful opening-night crowd attracted by specially subsidised tickets.

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