Two unspoken themes run throughout Britten’s much-admired opera Death in Venice: the impossible passion that a troubled writer forms for a fellow hotel guest, and the cholera epidemic which the authorities are all too keen to hush up. In Death in Venice, Britten revisits the subject of corruption of youth and innocence that so fascinated him and delivers a haunting theatrical experience of consummate power.
Deborah Warner’s production of Britten’s final opera celebrates the composer’s centenary year and reaffirms ENO’s position as the world’s leading producer of his operas.
This production reunites award-winning director Warner with ENO Music Director Edward Gardner, who returns to Britten following ENO’s productions of Billy Budd (2012) and Peter Grimes (2009), for which his conducting was described as ‘deeply musical’ (Financial Times).
The Death in Venice cast includes John Graham-Hall (Aschenbach), Andrew Shore (Baritone roles) and Tim Mead (Voice of Apollo).
Deborah Warner’s relationship with ENO continues to flourish having directed Diary of One Who Vanished, St John Passion, Messiah and most recently Eugene Onegin, ENO’s sumptuous, elegant and epic co-production with the Metropolitan Opera, New York.