Where the Opera comes from

A careful reading of ENO's new Opera Guide for Feb to July 2010 makes for interesting reading. The Elixir of Love comes from New York City Opera (along with the leading man John Tessier). But the sets were originally constructed by the Royal Swedish Opera, which seems to imply that we are getting this show third hand. One question that occurs to me, have these other companies parted with the production because they have found it unsatisfactory in some way once first produced (i.e. its not really desirable to revive it). Or will ENO have to compete with them for sets if they want to revive it.

And Katya Kabanova is described as a co-production with Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos, Lisbon and Teatr Wielki-Opera Narodowa, Warsaw. But the costumes were built (sic) by The Dallas Opera Costume Workshop and the pictures of the production come from performances by the Houston Grand Opera. Again this looks like a much travelled production which surely has an impact on scheduling, especially if the production does as well as the recent Jenufa.