ETO Dates

English Touring Opera have confirmed the dates for their autumn tour with its contemporary theme. Albert Herring opens at the Linbury Studio on 4 October (futher performances on 6, 10 October), The Emperor of Atlantis opens at the Linbury on 5 October (further performance on 12 October), with The Lighthouse on 11 and 13 October. The tour then goes to Cambridge (16-19 October), Exeter (24-27 October), Tunbridge Wells (29, 30 October), Harrogate (1-3 November), Bath (5,6 November), Snape Maltings (9-11 November) and Buxton (16, 17 November). Further details from the ETO website.

Ullmann's The Emperor of Atlantis will be paired with the Bach cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden which will be performed in an orchestration by Iain Farrington that uses the same instruments as the Ullmann. ETO have also commissioned a 10 minute song cycle, Towards and Unknown Port by Helen Chadwick as a response to the Ullmann. The song cycle will be performed as an optional extra before The Emperor of Atlantis.

The operas for their Spring 2013 tour have also been announced and its a pretty powerful trio. Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte , Verdi's Simon Boccanegra and Donizetti's L'Assiedo di Calais. The cast for the Mozart will include a fabulous trio of women Laura Mitchell, Kitty Whately and Paula Sides. Simon Boccanegra will be in receipt of a grant from the Peter Moores Foundation, enabling ETO to field a bigger than usual chorus and orchestra. Cast will include Keel Watson as Fiesco; Watson made a strong impression in the recent Opera Holland Park Lucia di Lammermoor. The tour starts in March at the Hackney Empire. We can't wait!