Daniel Kramer (born January 15, 1977) is an American-born theatre, opera and dance director. He was appointed artistic director of the English National Opera in April 2016.
92-840: Kramer was born on a sheep farm in Wadsworth, Ohio , US. He graduated salutatorian from Wadsworth High School. At Northwestern University , he earned a BGS in Interdisciplinary Arts: Theatre, Performance Studies and Dance with a Music Theatre Certificate, graduating Summa cum laude . He then pursued three years of practical graduate studies at the Ecole de Mime Corporel Dramatique (the technique of Étienne Decroux ) in London; commedia dell'arte with Maestro Antonia Fava in Italy; and finally at London's Circus Space, now
184-497: A "nice, pleasant evening ... had come to the wrong place." The differences between Smith and Payne became irreconcilable, and Payne was forced to resign in July 2002. The successor to Payne was Séan Doran , whose appointment was controversial because he had no experience of running an opera company. He attracted newspaper headlines with unusual operatic events, described by admirers as "unexpected coups" and by detractors as "stunts";
276-421: A construction project in which a $ 115 million high school was built, along with three new elementary buildings. The total enrollment is approximately 4,849 students. Other schools in the city of Wadsworth include Sacred Heart School, a Roman Catholic parochial school serving Kindergarten through 8th grade. Wadsworth is served by a daily newspaper, The Medina County Gazette , which is published every day of
368-707: A difference, but that Sadler's Wells needed "a big heave to get out of mediocrity". In the same year, The Times Literary Supplement asked whether the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells companies would stick to their old bases, "or shall they boldly embrace the ideal of a National Theatre and a National Opera in English?" Carey left in 1947, replaced in January 1948 by a triumvirate of James Robertson as musical director, Michael Mudie as his assistant conductor and Norman Tucker in charge of administration. From October 1948, Tucker
460-427: A few were. But because, like Elder, he enabled so many other talents to thrive. Productions during the 1980s included the company's first presentations of Pelléas and Mélisande (1981), Parsifal (1986) and Billy Budd (1988). 1980s productions that remained in the repertory for many years included Xerxes directed by Hytner, and Rigoletto and The Mikado directed by Jonathan Miller . In 1984 ENO toured
552-477: A financial crisis, exacerbated by backstage industrial relations problems. After 1983, the company ceased touring to other British venues. Assessing the achievements of the 'Powerhouse' years, Tom Sutcliffe wrote in The Musical Times : ENO is not second best to Covent Garden. It is different, more theatrical, less vocal. ... The ENO now follows a policy like Covent Garden's in the early years after
644-476: A heart attack. Her three companies continued under the direction of her appointed successors: Tyrone Guthrie at the Old Vic, in overall charge of both theatres, with de Valois running the ballet, and Carey and two colleagues running the opera. In the Second World War, the government requisitioned Sadler's Wells as a refuge for those made homeless by air-raids. Guthrie decided to keep the opera going as
736-438: A joint enterprise with Covent Garden, where he was in command. At first, the apparent financial security of the offer appeared attractive, but friends and advisers such as Edward J. Dent and Clive Carey convinced Bayliss that it was not in the interests of her regular audience. This view received strong support from the press; The Times wrote: The Old Vic began by offering opera of some sort to people who hardly knew what
828-615: A local merchant's tent, and other entertainment. Additional events, such as the Wadsworth Running Club's "Matchstick 4 Mile" foot race and the "Blue Tip Idol" singing contest, challenge area athletes and performers. Special events have included passenger train rides on the Blue Tip Express, Community Challenges between local organizations, big top circus performances, paint ball shooting ranges, pony rides, bingo tents, and assorted musical performances. 2017 marked
920-508: A male householder with no wife present, and 32.6% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.05. The median age in the city was 38.7 years. 25.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.2% were from 25 to 44; 25% were from 45 to 64; and 15.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of
1012-503: A masterpiece," and other reviewers agreed with him. Payne insisted, "I think it's one of the best things we've done. ... It's exceeded my expectations." In the arts pages of The Financial Times , Martin Hoyle wrote of Payne's "exquisite tunnel vision" and expressed "the concern of those of us who value the true people's opera". Payne remained adamant that opera lovers who came to the ENO for
SECTION 10
#17327915610491104-489: A performance of the third act of The Valkyrie played to 20,000 rock music fans at the Glastonbury Festival . In December 2003, Daniel announced his departure from ENO at the end of his contract in 2005. Oleg Caetani was announced as the next music director, from January 2006. In 2004, ENO embarked on its second production of Wagner's Ring . After concert performances over the previous three seasons,
1196-796: A rate of 74% for the levy. According to school district Treasurer Doug Beeman, revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, exceeded expenditures as the school system continues to manage the resources provided by the community. Wadsworth High School and Wadsworth Middle School are members of the Ohio High School Athletic Association . The high school and middle school mascot is the grizzly bear. Wadsworth City School district operates eight schools. There are five elementary schools (kindergarten through grade 4), one intermediate school (grades 5 and 6), one middle school (grades 7 and 8) and one high school (grades 9 through 12). As of 2012, Wadsworth City Schools had completed
1288-512: A second company was established. It was based at Leeds in northern England, and was known as ENO North. Under Harewood's guidance, it flourished, and in 1981 it became an independent company, Opera North . In 1982, at Elder's instigation, Harewood appointed David Pountney director of productions. In 1985 Harewood retired, becoming chairman of ENO's board the following year. Peter Jonas succeeded Harewood as managing director. The 1980s leadership team of Elder, Pountney and Jonas became known as
1380-413: A small touring ensemble of 20 performers. Between 1942 and the war's end in 1945, the company toured continuously, visiting 87 venues. Joan Cross led and managed the company, and also sang leading soprano roles in its productions when needed. The size of the company was increased to 50, and then to 80. By 1945, its members included singers from a new generation such as Peter Pears and Owen Brannigan , and
1472-415: A year-round, permanent ensemble, singing in English, instead of the shorter international seasons of pre-war years. This was a potential path to merge the two companies, as the modus operandi of the new Covent Garden company was now similar to that of Sadler's Wells. However, David Webster , who was appointed to run Covent Garden, though keen to secure de Valois' ballet company for Covent Garden, did not want
1564-453: Is Annilese Miskimmon. In addition to the core operatic repertoire, the company has presented a wide range of works, from early operas by Monteverdi to new commissions, operetta and Broadway shows. In 1889, Emma Cons , a Victorian philanthropist who ran the Old Vic theatre in a working-class area of London, began presenting regular fortnightly performances of opera excerpts. Although
1656-499: Is located just a few miles south of the Saint Lawrence River Divide . Wadsworth is located approximately 11.6 miles (18.7 km) southwest of Akron and 32.8 miles (52.8 km) south of Cleveland . As of 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $ 48,605, and the median income for a family was $ 58,850. Males had a median income of $ 41,626 versus $ 25,805 for females. The per capita income for
1748-421: Is more authoritative than could have been predicted from his uneven accounts of the previous operas." The production attracted generally bad notices. The four operas were given individual runs, but were never played as a complete cycle. During the 2000s the company repeated the experiment, previously tried in 1932, of staging oratorios and other choral works as operatic performances. Bach 's St. John Passion
1840-486: The BBC , and the new music director was Sian Edwards . Pountney's post of director of productions was not filled. Marks, inheriting a large financial deficit from his predecessors, worked to restore the company's finances, concentrating on restoring ticket sales to sustainable levels. A new production by Miller of Der Rosenkavalier was a critical and financial success, as was a staging of Massenet's Don Quixote , described by
1932-573: The English Opera Group . The departure of the ballet company to Covent Garden two months later deprived Sadler's Wells of an important source of income, as the ballet had been profitable and had since its inception subsidised the opera company. Clive Carey, who had been in Australia during the war, was brought back to replace Joan Cross and rebuild the company. The critic Philip Hope-Wallace wrote in 1946 that Carey had begun to make
SECTION 20
#17327915610492024-617: The National Centre for Circus Arts . Kramer has had a prolific directing career with a variety of stage and opera companies. His work is known for its striking visuals and emotional intensity. He began his professional career with Franz Xaver Kroetz 's Through the Leaves , starring Ann Mitchell and Simon Callow , at Southwark Playhouse : the production was transferred to the West End. He next reimagined Büchner 's Woyzeck and
2116-466: The Sadler's Wells theatre in north London, a larger house, better suited to opera than the Old Vic. The opera company grew there into a permanent ensemble in the 1930s. During the Second World War, the theatre was closed and the company toured British towns and cities. After the war, the company returned to its home, but it continued to expand and improve. By the 1960s, a larger theatre was needed. In 1968,
2208-412: The freehold of Sadler's Wells. Work started on the site in 1926. By Christmas 1930, a completely new 1,640-seat theatre was ready for occupation. The first production there, a fortnight's run from 6 January 1931, was Shakespeare's Twelfth Night . The first opera, given on 20 January, was Carmen . Eighteen operas were staged during the first season. The new theatre was more expensive to run than
2300-477: The "Powerhouse", initiated a new era of "director's opera". The three of them favoured productions described, contrastingly, by Elder as "groundbreaking, risky, probing and theatrically effective", and by the director Nicholas Hytner as "Euro-bollocks that never has to be comprehensible to anybody but the people sitting out there conceiving." Directors who did not, in Harewood's phrase, "want to splash paint in
2392-559: The 1920s, Baylis concluded that the Old Vic no longer sufficed to house both her theatre and her opera companies. She noticed the empty and derelict Sadler's Wells theatre in Rosebery Avenue, Islington , on the other side of London from the Old Vic. She sought to run it in tandem with her existing theatre. Baylis made a public appeal for funds in 1925. With the help of the Carnegie Trust and many others, she acquired
2484-529: The 1950s. New repertoire was explored, such as the first British staging of Janáček 's Káťa Kabanová , at Mackerras's urging. Standards and company morale were improving. The Manchester Guardian summed up the 1950–51 London opera season as "Excitement at Sadler's Wells: Lack of Distinction at Covent Garden" and judged Sadler's Wells to have moved "into the front rank of opera houses". The company continued to leave Rosebery Avenue for summer tours to British cities and towns. The Arts Council (successor to CEMA)
2576-574: The 2,351-seat London Coliseum for a summer season. Ten years later, the lease of the Coliseum became available. Stephen Arlen, who had succeeded Tucker as managing director, was the primary advocate for moving the company. After intense negotiations and fund-raising, a ten-year lease was signed in 1968. One of the company's last productions at the Islington theatre was Wagner's The Mastersingers , conducted by Goodall in 1968, which 40 years later
2668-468: The 2011 season continued the company's traditions of engaging directors with no operatic experience (a well-reviewed The Damnation of Faust staged by Terry Gilliam and set in Nazi Germany) and of drastic reinterpretations (a version of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream presented by Christopher Alden as a paedophile parable set in a 1950s boys' school, which divided critical opinion). In
2760-472: The 2012–13 season ENO introduced "Opera Undressed" evenings, aimed at attracting new audiences who had thought opera "Too pricey, too pompous, too posh". Operas advertised under this banner were Don Giovanni , La traviata , Michel van der Aa 's Sunken Garden (performed at the Barbican ) and Philip Glass's The Perfect American . In January 2014, the ENO announced Gardner's departure as music director at
2852-557: The 45th annual Blue Tip Festival. The festival is named after the historic strike-anywhere blue tip matches which were once manufactured in Wadsworth. While match manufacturing left Wadsworth in the 1980s, the Blue Tip Festival uses the name and giant match to affirm the community's past and celebrate the modern American city. The festival is now run by a non-profit organization, staffed entirely by volunteers, referred to as
Daniel Kramer - Misplaced Pages Continue
2944-640: The Blue Tip Festival Committee. Revenues from the festival are donated to Wadsworth area non-profit groups. English National Opera English National Opera ( ENO ) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane . It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera . ENO's productions are sung in English. The company's origins were in
3036-475: The Carmelites (1999). Co-productions, enabling opera houses to share the costs of joint enterprises, became important in this decade. In 1993 ENO and Welsh National Opera collaborated on productions of Don Pasquale , Ariodante and The Two Widows . The aim must be to create a new audience that does not see opera as a middle class trophy art form: an audience that Payne was beginning to attract to
3128-459: The Coliseum. Director Tim Albery and colleagues, The Times , 18 July 2002 Operagoers want to hear great singing and orchestral playing presented in the context of a work's ethos rather than in some form only comprehended by the director. Critic Alan Blyth , The Times , 19 July 2002 Martin Smith, a millionaire with a finance background, was appointed chairman of
3220-471: The ENO announced that surtitles would be introduced at the Coliseum. Surveys had shown that only a quarter of audience members could hear the words clearly. With a few exceptions, including Lesley Garrett and Andrew Shore , ENO singers of the 21st century were considered to have poorer diction than earlier singers such as Masterson and Derek Hammond-Stroud . Harewood and Pountney had been immovably opposed to surtitles, as both believed that opera in English
3312-465: The ENO board in 2001. He proved to be an expert fund-raiser, and personally donated £1M to the cost of refurbishing the Coliseum. He and Payne came into conflict over the effect on revenue of the "director's opera" productions that Payne insisted on commissioning. The most extreme case was a production of Don Giovanni directed by Calixto Bieito in 2001, despised by critics and public alike; Michael Kennedy described it as "a new nadir in vulgar abuse of
3404-685: The English National Opera was conducted by Valery Gergiev for the Mariinsky Theatre and Bolshoi Theatre . Kramer and Gergiev subsequently collaborated on Pelleas and Melisande . His first dance collaboration, Mussorgsky's Pictures from an Exhibition , played at the Young Vic and Sadlers Wells . His radical rethink of Carmen – set in Seville, Ohio – played at Opera North and Vlaamse Opera . Kramer created
3496-490: The London opera scene, Tucker, his deputy Stephen Arlen , and his musical director Alexander Gibson resigned. The proposals were modified, and the three withdrew their resignations. In 1960, the Carl Rosa Company was dissolved. Sadler's Wells took over some of its members and many of its touring dates, setting up "two interchangeable companies of equal standing", one of which played at Sadler's Wells theatre while
3588-605: The Old Vic, as a larger orchestra and more singers were needed, and box office receipts were at first inadequate. In 1932, the Birmingham Post commented that the Vic-Wells opera performances did not reach the standards of the Vic-Wells Shakespeare productions. Baylis strove to improve operatic standards, while at the same time fending off attempts by Sir Thomas Beecham to absorb the opera company into
3680-680: The Sadler's Wells opera company. He considered Sadler's Wells to be a worthy organisation, but also "dowdy" and "stodgy". Even with a policy of singing in English, he believed that he could assemble a better company. The management of Sadler's Wells was unwilling to lose its company's name and tradition. It was agreed that the two companies should remain separate. Divisions within the company threatened its continued existence. Cross announced her intention to re-open Sadler's Wells theatre with Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten , with herself and Pears in
3772-814: The South Bank Show Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for the ENO at the Young Vic season 2008, and was nominated for the Golden Mask award for Best Director for Bluebeard , at the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow. Kramer has been in relationships with the actor Simon Callow and with fashion designer Jurgen Oeltjenbruns . Wadsworth, Ohio Wadsworth is a city in Medina County, Ohio , United States. Founded on March 1, 1814,
Daniel Kramer - Misplaced Pages Continue
3864-640: The South Bank of the Thames near the Royal Festival Hall , which fell through because the government was unwilling to fund the building. Once again, there was serious talk of merging Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells. The Sadler's Wells board countered by proposing a closer working arrangement with Carl Rosa. When it became clear that this would require the Sadler's Wells company to tour for 30 weeks every year, effectively removing its presence on
3956-643: The United States; the travelling company, led by Elder, consisted of 360 people; they performed Gloriana , War and Peace , The Turn of the Screw , Rigoletto and Patience . This was the first British company to be invited to appear at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where Patience received a standing ovation and Miller's production of Rigoletto , depicting the characters as mafiosi ,
4048-697: The anti-war musical Hair for the Gate Theatre , Notting Hill. Both shows garnered his first award nominations. Between 2004 and 2006 he was Associate Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre; between 2005 and 2006 he was Creative Associate at the Royal Shakespeare Company ; between 2008 and 2012 he was an Associate at the Young Vic . During this time, he was noted as a "directing talent worth reckoning with". His commercial debut
4140-525: The award-winning production of King Kong in Melbourne, Australia starring Esther Hannaford . His Tristan and Isolde for the ENO, designed by Anish Kapoor , premiered during the 2015/2016 opera season. His Magic Flute at the Grand Théâtre de Genève was cancelled by the director of the Grand Théâtre owing to the artistic angle taken by Kramer, who wanted to focus on the violence present in
4232-458: The campaign against yet another proposal to merge Covent Garden and ENO, which was rapidly abandoned. In 1998 Nicholas Payne, director of opera at Covent Garden, was appointed as ENO's general director. Productions in the 1990s included the company's first stagings of Beatrice and Benedict (1990), Wozzeck (1990), Jenůfa (1994), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1995), Die Soldaten (1996), Doctor Ox's Experiment (1998) and Dialogues of
4324-478: The city was $ 22,859. 5.4% of the population and 4.2% of families were below the poverty line , including 5.7% of those under the age of 18 and 5.6% of those 65 and older. As of the census of 2010, there were 21,567 people, 8,609 households, and 5,803 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,030.8 inhabitants per square mile (784.1/km ). There were 9,320 housing units at an average density of 877.6 per square mile (338.8/km ). The racial makeup of
4416-494: The city was 48.1% male and 51.9% female. Of the city's population over the age of 25, 31.2% held a bachelor's degree or higher. The Wadsworth City School District is the single largest employer in the city. The district has benefited from the support of the community, which passed six of the last seven levies put before the voters. In addition, the district voters supported the recent Medina County Sales Tax (the first in Ohio), at
4508-426: The city was 96.9% White , 0.8% African American , 0.2% Native American , 0.7% Asian , 0.2% from other races , and 1.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.2% of the population. There were 8,609 households, of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.2% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had
4600-521: The city was named after General Elijah Wadsworth , a Revolutionary War hero and War of 1812 officer who owned the largest share of the lands that became Medina County. A suburb of Akron , the population was 24,007 at the 2020 census . A post office called Wadsworth has been in operation since 1823. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 10.62 square miles (27.51 km ), all land. It
4692-434: The city. Skypark Airport is located 2 miles west of the city. I-76 traverses the city. State routes include OH-57 , OH-94 and OH-261 . The Blue Tip Festival is a five-day celebration of the Wadsworth community. It starts with a parade and the lighting of a 20-foot-high blue-tip match, which lights downtown Wadsworth during the festival's duration. The festival offers amusement rides, festival foods, midway games, contests,
SECTION 50
#17327915610494784-608: The company moved to the London Coliseum and adopted its present name in 1974. Among the conductors associated with the company have been Colin Davis , Reginald Goodall , Charles Mackerras , Mark Elder and Edward Gardner . The current music director of the ENO is Martyn Brabbins . Noted directors who have staged productions at the ENO have included David Pountney , Jonathan Miller , Nicholas Hytner , Phyllida Lloyd and Calixto Bieito . The ENO's current artistic director
4876-556: The company was "capable of extraordinary artistic work", but "we have serious concerns about their governance and business model and we expect them to improve or they could face removal of funding." In March 2015 Cressida Pollock, a management consultant, was named the interim CEO of ENO. In July 2015, Berry resigned as artistic director of ENO. Critical and box-office successes in the company's 2014–2015 season included The Mastersingers , which won an Olivier Award for best new opera production, and Sweeney Todd , with Bryn Terfel in
4968-663: The conductor Reginald Goodall . Both Sadler's Wells and the Royal Opera House had presented no opera or ballet since 1939. The Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts ( CEMA ), the official government body charged with dispensing the modest public subsidy recently introduced, considered its options on the future of opera in Britain. CEMA concluded that a new Covent Garden company should be established, as
5060-489: The critic Hugh Canning as "the kind of old-fashioned theatre magic which the hair-shirted Powerhouse regime despised". Marks was obliged to spend much time and effort in securing the funding for an essential restoration of the Coliseum, a condition on which the ENO had acquired the freehold of the theatre in 1992. At the same time the Arts Council was contemplating a cut in the number of opera performances in London, at
5152-477: The duties between Loretta Tomasi as chief executive and John Berry as artistic director. These elevations from within the organisation were controversial, because they were neither advertised nor cleared at the top level of the Arts Council. Smith received severe press criticism for his action, and in December 2005 he announced his resignation. In the same week, Caetani's appointment as the next ENO music director
5244-470: The early years of the 20th century, the Old Vic was able to present semi-staged versions of Wagner operas. Emma Cons died in 1912, leaving her estate, including the Old Vic, to Baylis, who dreamed of transforming the theatre into a "people's opera house". In the same year, Baylis obtained a licence to allow the Old Vic to stage full performances of operas. In the 1914–1915 season, Baylis staged 16 operas and 16 plays (13 of which were by Shakespeare ). In
5336-444: The end of the 2014–15 season, to be succeeded by Mark Wigglesworth . At the time, the ENO had accumulated an £800,000 deficit, exacerbated by reductions in public subsidy; The Times commented that the incoming music director had a reputation for "steely, even abrasive determination" and that he would need it. From late 2014 the company went through a further organisational crisis. The chairman, Martyn Rose, resigned after two years in
5428-435: The expense of ENO, rather than Covent Garden. By increasing ticket sales in successive years, Marks demonstrated that the Arts Council's proposition was unrealistic. After what The Independent described as "a sustained period of criticism and sniping at the ENO by music critics", Edwards resigned as music director at the end of 1995. Paul Daniel became ENO's next music director. In 1997, Marks resigned. No official reason
5520-478: The face of the public" were sidelined. A 1980s audience survey showed that the two things that ENO audiences most disliked were poor diction and the extremes of "director's opera". In the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , Barry Millington has described the 'Powerhouse' style as "arresting images of dislocated reality, an inexhaustible repertory of stage contrivances, a determination to explore
5612-451: The four operas of the cycle were staged at the Coliseum in 2004 and 2005 in productions by Phyllida Lloyd , with designs by Richard Hudson , in a new translation by Jeremy Sams . The first instalments of the cycle were criticised as poorly sung and conducted, but by the time Twilight of the Gods was staged in 2005, matters were thought to have improved: "Paul Daniel's command of the score
SECTION 60
#17327915610495704-577: The high cost of opera productions, enabling a further increase in the size of the orchestra, to 48 players. Among the singers in the opera company were Joan Cross and Edith Coates . In the 1930s, the company presented standard repertoire operas by Mozart , Verdi , Wagner and Puccini , lighter works by Balfe , Donizetti , Offenbach and Johann Strauss , some novelties, among which were operas by Holst , Ethel Smyth and Charles Villiers Stanford , and an unusual attempt at staging an oratorio, Mendelssohn 's Elijah . In November 1937, Baylis died of
5796-794: The highlights of the first ten years at the Coliseum were the Ring , Prokofiev 's War and Peace , and Richard Strauss 's Salome and Der Rosenkavalier . The company's musical director from 1970 to 1977 was Charles Mackerras. Harewood praised his exceptional versatility, with a range "from The House of the Dead to Patience ." Among the operas he conducted for the company were Handel's Julius Caesar starring Janet Baker and Valerie Masterson ; five Janáček operas; The Marriage of Figaro with pioneering use of 18th century performing style; Massenet 's Werther ; Donizetti's Mary Stuart with Baker; and Sullivan's Patience . The company took
5888-506: The late 19th century, when the philanthropist Emma Cons , later assisted by her niece Lilian Baylis , presented theatrical and operatic performances at the Old Vic , for the benefit of local people. Baylis subsequently built up both the opera and the theatre companies, and later added a ballet company; these evolved into the ENO, the Royal National Theatre and The Royal Ballet , respectively. Baylis acquired and rebuilt
5980-523: The leading roles. Many complaints resulted about supposed favouritism and the "cacophony" of Britten's score. Peter Grimes opened in June 1945, to both public and critical acclaim; its box-office takings matched or exceeded those for La bohème and Madame Butterfly , which the company was concurrently staging. However, the rift within the company was irreparable. Cross, Britten and Pears severed their ties with Sadler's Wells in December 1945 and founded
6072-577: The opera, whereas the director wanted a more festive and traditional approach. He was appointed artistic director of the English National Opera in April 2016. Kramer has also been a guest artist and professor at Harvard University , Brown University , New York University , Northwestern University in Illinois and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Kramer was the winner of
6164-435: The other was on the road. By the late 1950s, Covent Garden was gradually abandoning its policy of productions in the vernacular; such singers as Maria Callas would not relearn their roles in English. This made it easier for Tucker to point up the difference between the two London opera companies. While Covent Garden engaged international stars, Sadler's Wells focused on young British and Commonwealth performers. Colin Davis
6256-513: The post, following irreconcilable differences with Berry. Henriette Götz, the company's executive director, who had a series of public disagreements with Berry, resigned soon after. In February 2015, the Arts Council of England announced the unprecedented step of removing ENO from the national portfolio of 670 arts organisations that receive regular funding, and instead offered "special funding arrangements" because of continuing concerns over ENO's business plan and management. The council recognised that
6348-477: The production of the last to the Vienna Festival in 1975, along with Britten's Gloriana . Sir Charles Groves succeeded Mackerras as musical director from 1978 to 1979, but Groves was unwell and unhappy during his brief tenure. Starting in 1979, Mark Elder succeeded Groves in the post, and described Groves "immensely encouraging and supportive". A long-standing concern of Arlen and then Harewood
6440-405: The same time she appointed Charles Corri as the Old Vic's musical director. Baylis and Corri, despite many disagreements, shared a passionate belief in popularising opera, hitherto generally the preserve of the rich and fashionable. They worked on a tiny budget, with an amateur chorus and a professional orchestra of only 18 players, for whom Corri rescored the instrumental parts of the operas. By
6532-630: The social and psychological issues latent in the works, and above all an abundant sense of theatricality." As examples, Millington mentioned Rusalka (1983), with its Edwardian nursery setting and Freudian undertones, and Hansel and Gretel (1987), its dream pantomime peopled by fantasy figures from the children's imagination ... Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (1987) and Wozzeck (1990) exemplified an approach to production in which grotesque caricature jostles with forceful emotional engagement. Poor average box-office sales led to
6624-427: The spoken drama, while Sadler's Wells housed both the opera and a ballet company, the latter co-founded by Baylis and Ninette de Valois in 1930. Lawrance Collingwood joined the company as resident conductor alongside Corri. With the increased number of productions, guest conductors were recruited, including Geoffrey Toye and Anthony Collins . The increasing success of the new ballet company helped to subsidise
6716-642: The suggestion that the Sadler's Wells company should be called "The British National Opera" or "The National Opera", although neither Scottish Opera nor the Welsh National Opera opposed such a change. Eventually the British government decided the matter, and the title "English National Opera" was approved. The company's board adopted the new name in November 1974. In 1977, in response to demand for more opera productions in English provincial cities,
6808-408: The theatre licensing laws of the day prevented full costumed performances, Cons presented condensed versions of well-known operas, always sung in English. Among the performers were noted singers such as Charles Santley . These operatic evenings quickly became more popular than the dramas that Cons had been staging separately. In 1898, she recruited her niece Lilian Baylis to help run the theatre. At
6900-456: The war, when Peter Brook was scandalising the bourgeoisie with his opera stagings. The last two seasons at the ENO have been difficult, or at any rate sentiment has turned against the outgoing regime over the last nine months. Audience figures are well down. ... The presiding genius of the Elder years has, of course, been David Pountney. Not because his productions were all marvellous. Perhaps only
6992-691: The week except Sundays. In addition, the Akron Beacon Journal and the Cleveland Plain Dealer occasionally cover the city and Medina County. Wadsworth is served by numerous television and radio stations from both the Greater Cleveland , Greater Akron and Greater Canton areas. Wadsworth is served by the Wadsworth Municipal Airport, which is located 2 miles (3.22 km) southwest of
7084-403: The word meant ... under a wise, fostering guidance it has gradually worked upwards ...Any kind of amalgamation which made it the poor relation of the 'Grand' season would be disastrous. At first, Baylis presented both drama and opera at each of her theatres. The companies were known as the "Vic-Wells". However, for both aesthetic and financial reasons, by 1934, the Old Vic had become the home of
7176-515: The years after the First World War, Baylis's Shakespeare productions, which featured some of the leading actors from London's West End , attracted national attention, as her shoe-string opera productions did not. The opera, however, remained her first priority. The actor-manager Robert Atkins , who worked closely with Baylis on her Shakespearean productions, recalled, "Opera, on Thursday and Saturday nights, played to bulging houses." By
7268-739: Was Martin Sherman 's Bent , starring Alan Cumming and newcomer Chris New , followed by the UK's first national revival of Tony Kushner 's Angels in America for Headlong Theatre . In 2008 Kramer directed his first opera, Harrison Birtwistle 's Punch & Judy for the English National Opera at the Young Vic which subsequently played the Grand Théâtre de Genève . His popular but controversial Bluebeard's Castle for
7360-427: Was announced, but one report stated that he and the ENO board had disagreed about his plans to move the company from the Coliseum to a purpose-built new home. Daniel took over the management of the company until a new general director was appointed. Daniel inherited from Marks a company thriving artistically and financially. The 1997–1998 season played to 75 per cent capacity and made a surplus of £150,000. Daniel led
7452-491: Was appointed musical director in succession to Gibson in 1961. The repertoire continued to mix familiar and unfamiliar operas. Novelties in Davis's time included Pizzetti 's Murder in the Cathedral , Stravinsky 's Oedipus rex , Richard Rodney Bennett 's The Mines of Sulphur and more Janáček. Sadler's Wells's traditional policy of giving all operas in English continued, with only two exceptions: Oedipus rex , which
7544-509: Was cancelled. Berry was at first criticised in the press for his choice of singers for ENO productions, but the appointment of Edward Gardner as music director from 2007 received considerable praise. The Observer commented that Gardner was "widely credited with breathing fresh life into English National Opera". Attendance figures recovered, with younger audiences attracted by ENO's marketing schemes. The company's finances improved, with £5M in reserve funds in April 2009. Productions in
7636-464: Was described by Gramophone magazine as "legendary". The company left Sadler's Wells with a revival of the work with which it had re-opened the theatre in 1945, Peter Grimes . Its last performance at the Rosebery Avenue theatre was on 15 June 1968. The company, retaining the title "Sadler's Wells Opera", opened at the Coliseum on 21 August 1968, with a new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni , directed by Sir John Gielgud . Though this production
7728-539: Was followed by a production of The Mikado in May of the same year. The Islington theatre was by now clearly too small to allow the company to achieve any further growth. A study conducted for the Arts Council reported that in the late 1960s the two Sadler's Wells companies comprised 278 salaried performers and 62 guest singers. The company had experience of playing in a large West End theatre, such as its 1958 sell-out production of The Merry Widow that had transferred to
7820-585: Was given in 2000, followed by Verdi's Requiem (2000), Tippett 's A Child of Our Time (2005) and Handel's Jephtha (2005) and Messiah (2009). ENO responded to the increased interest in Handel's operas, staging Alcina (2002), Agrippina (2006) and Partenope (2008). In 2003 the company staged its first production of Berlioz 's massive opera The Trojans , with Sarah Connolly as "a supremely eloquent, genuinely tragic Dido". In 2005, after an internal debate that had been going on since 1991,
7912-548: Was given sole control. Mudie became ill, and the young Charles Mackerras was appointed to deputise for him. By 1950 Sadler's Wells was receiving a public subsidy of £40,000 a year, whilst Covent Garden received £145,000. Tucker had to give up the option of staging the premiere of Britten's Billy Budd , for lack of resources. Keen to improve the dramatic aspects of opera production, Tucker engaged eminent theatrical directors including Michel Saint-Denis , George Devine and Glen Byam Shaw worked on Sadler's Wells productions in
8004-563: Was greeted with a mixture of enthusiasm and booing. In 1990 ENO was the first major foreign opera company to tour the Soviet Union , performing the Miller production of The Turn of the Screw , Pountney's production of Macbeth , and Hytner's much-revived Xerxes . The 'Powerhouse' era ended in 1992, when all three of the triumvirate left at the same time. The new general director was Dennis Marks , formerly head of music programmes at
8096-515: Was not well received, the company rapidly established itself with a succession of highly praised productions of other works. Arlen died in January 1972, and was succeeded as managing director by Lord Harewood . The success of the 1968 Mastersingers was followed in the 1970s by the company's first Ring cycle, conducted by Goodall, with a new translation by Andrew Porter and designs by Ralph Koltai. The cast included Norman Bailey , Rita Hunter and Alberto Remedios . In Harewood's view, among
8188-528: Was pointless if it could not be understood. Harewood thought, moreover, that surtitles could undermine the case for a publicly funded opera-in-English company. The editor of Opera magazine, Rodney Milnes , campaigned against surtitles on the grounds that "singers would give up trying to articulate clearly and audiences would cease focusing on the stage". Despite these objections, surtitles were introduced from October 2005. On 29 November 2005, Doran resigned as artistic director. To replace him, Smith divided
8280-478: Was sensitive to the charge that since 1945, far fewer opera performances had been given in the provinces. The small Carl Rosa Opera Company toured constantly, but the Covent Garden company visited only those few cities with theatres big enough to accommodate it. In the mid-1950s, renewed calls appeared for a reorganisation of Britain's opera companies. There were proposals for a new home for Sadler's Wells on
8372-587: Was sung in Latin, and Monteverdi 's L'Orfeo , sung in Italian, for reasons not clear to the press. In January 1962, the company gave its first Gilbert and Sullivan opera, Iolanthe , with Margaret Gale in the title role, on the day on which the Savoy operas came out of copyright and the D'Oyly Carte monopoly ended. The production was well received (it was successfully revived for many seasons until 1978) and
8464-490: Was the need to change the company's name to reflect the fact that it was no longer based at Sadler's Wells theatre. Byam Shaw commented "The one major setback the Sadler's Wells Opera Company suffered from its transplant was that unheeding taxi drivers kept on taking their patrons up to Rosebery Avenue". Harewood considered it an elementary rule that "you must not carry the name of one theatre if you are playing in another one." Covent Garden, protective of its status, objected to
#48951