This October sees the debut of English National Opera in Greater Manchester, after being required to move outside the capital
After the British composer and conductor Benjamin Britten wrote two serious operas in the form of Peter Grimes and The Rape of Lucretia, he decided to turn his hand to comedy. The result was Albert Herring. Set in a small, rural English village, this 1947 opera tells the story of a shy mother’s boy finding himself as he takes on the role of May King. It’s a relatively small-scale opera, but its run with the English National Opera (ENO) this month is significant for a couple of reasons. Following the success of ENO’s previous semi-staged productions at the London Coliseum - Gloriana, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and Suor Angelica - this will be the first time in its history that the company has presented Albert Herring. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE It will also be the first ENO production to be shared between London and Greater Manchester - after being forced to relocate outside the capital. Having debuted at the London Coliseum this week, it will take to the stage at the Lowry in Salford Quays for two shows on October 21 and 22. Almost three years ago, it was confirmed that the ENO would be coming to Greater Manchester following orders from the Arts Council (ACE). Controversially at the time, the globally renowned opera company was told to leave London or lose its £12m annual subsidy, as part of an attempt to “level up” arts funding. The initial announcement didn’t go down well, with the ENOs reluctance to move up north met with some strong words from Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham . He compared ENO's opposition to the outcry in some quarters when parts of the BBC were moved to MediaCity in Salford and the more positive reaction to government listening post GCHQ setting up base in Manchester. "But if English National Opera can't see that and if it thinks that people are so heathens here that nobody would go, I'm afraid it doesn't understand us and therefore, it doesn't deserve to come here,” he told the Great Northern Conference in 2022. Last November, after the dust had settled, the prestigious opera company said it would be “firmly established” in Greater Manchester by 2029. It also confirmed a number of productions at the Lowry, Bridgewater Hall and Aviva Studios from 2025 onwards, as well as plans for the creation of a new youth opera and collaboration with Manchester football teams. At the programme launch, in a bid to clear up past tensions and nodding to commentary that dominated in previous years, Burnham said: “You've been busy over the last 12 months. I just know that this is going to be a partnership that works for both. "I believe the English National Opera is going to change and Greater Manchester is going to change the English National Opera.” ENO bosses confirmed it would also be continuing its substantial opera season every year at the London Coliseum, but would work with Manchester-based arts and music organisations including the Halle Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic, as well as local freelance performers and musicians. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News ahead of Albert Herring’s showing at the Lowry next Tuesday, ENO artistic director Annilese Miskimmon is optimistic about the next act for the organisation even after the difficult start. “Benjamin Britten is in our lifeblood as an opera company so when it was apparent that Albert Herring had never been done, it was too good an opportunity to miss both in London and Greater Manchester. “The really lovely thing about it is that it’s a comedy, a comedy with bite. “I think it’s very English, based in a little village, and the director Antony McDonald is very good at character-driven comedy and satire so it’s this celebration of post Second World War English, rural life, but done tongue-in-cheek and is a microcosm of society as a whole and everyone in it is imperfect. “It’s also a lot about hypocrisy and how we pretend to be things we’re not to attain a status in society but it’s done with a quirky affection. “At the heart of it though, you have an innocent young man who really wants to grow up and is put in an awkward position by his friends, family and neighbours. It’s about courage and having the opportunity to just be yourself.” The unlikely rebel Albert is played by the young tenor Caspar Singh, following his performance at the opening concert of the BBC Proms. Bass-baritone and former ENO Harewood Artist Andri Björn Róbertsson will play the role of Superintendent Budd. On appealing to a new audience, Miskimmon agrees that Britten’s opera also serves as a good entry point. “I always think Opera is a bit like a book shop, you go in and you want to try lots of types of opera, and for me this is a really good start because it’s a good example of what English Opera means. “A lot of people’s idea about opera is the big Italian opera and they’re amazing and the big German repertoire, but opera is not a strange foreign art form, it’s a really fabulous play with music. “For anyone who hasn’t seen opera before, you get a fabulous period experience, with singing, acting and music. And Albert Herring is a perfect, joyous way of connecting with Greater Manchester audiences.” Reflecting on the turmoil and turbulence of the move to Greater Manchester, Miskimmon recognises the challenges of the journey but speaks with enthusiasm about the opportunities the next three years will bring. “The way this happened was not something that anyone involved would want and we were then forced to build the road as we drove the car, but I think ENO at the moment wants to do everything it does with integrity,” she notes. Referring to a production of Philip Glass and Robert Wilson’s opera, Einstein on the Beach with Factory International in 2027, she says that some projects will only be seen in Manchester and led by partnerships here in the region. In addition, the region will serve as a location from which to nurture talent, create jobs, and reimagine what opera can be. “Manchester is really going to be the engine room for making new types of opera. “For example, the Greater Manchester Youth Opera is designed to find and nurture new talent from an early stage, and maybe through non-traditional means attract people to the artform. “Because we’re going to make these productions for a new audience, we’re doing some industry-leading work around what audiences want in opera and tuning into it, which will feed into what we develop and commission. “The crucial thing with Manchester was never to move into a building with a theatre. Of course we have these transition years, and of course we’re going to go to Lowry, Bridgewater Hall, Aviva Studios, but then going forward we really want to make things in as many places as possible in Greater Manchester." Over the next few years, the ENO’s presence will be felt on a greater scale with Einstein on the Beach in Spring 2027, as well as the UK premiere of Angel’s Bone, a Pulitzer prize-winning contemporary opera produced in collaboration with Factory International, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and presented at Aviva Studios in May 2026. The Bridgewater Hall, meanwhile, will present a newly staged concert version of Mozart’s Così fan tutte with the Chorus and Orchestra of ENO in February 2026. Ingratiating itself further, Perfect Pitch, a celebration of opera and community football in collaboration with Salford-based outdoor arts specialists, Walk the Plank, will explore the impact that mass singing has on team performance and spectator experience, while region-wide expansion of ENO Breathe, the organisation’s award-winning creative health programme, originally created for people recovering from COVID-19 with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, will also continue. “This has all happened so fast but the next couple of years is about seeing what people want and how it ties into a bigger picture,” she continues. “What we don’t want to do is invade and kind of decide what we’re going to do in those areas. “The next period is about making those connections and seeing what people are genuinely interested in, and how can build interest, skills and audiences in a sustainable way rather than a scattergun approach - we need partnerships and local expertise to do that. “The caution is simply around making sure the decisions we make are the right ones. The thing about Greater Manchester is there’s so much talent, so much potential, and so much great artistic stuff already happening, so it’s also about having respect for all that and what could we do together. “There will be these things that can only really exist because of Manchester which is thrilling and everyone that works in London can see that as well.”