Farewell...

...to the London Coliseum and all the wonderful folk at English National Opera. The revival of The Passenger  was a great working experience for me and the audience reaction to this remarkable piece and production truly special.

Almost there

The Passenger at ENO - Concert Scene

We're in the final stages of preparing the revival of The Passenger at English National Opera. Last night was the Piano Dress Rehearsal and tomorrow the Orchestral Dress Rehearsal, so my job is all but over.

It has been great to revive this show with an almost totally new cast and a new conductor. The differences between this revival and the original production are subtle and interesting, with new aspects of the score and the characters coming out. This makes me very lucky - far from me being the one to 'teach' the show to a new cast, they have taught me more about it. I have gathered more depth of knowledge about this fabulous piece which I will carry with me to the next revival in Tel Aviv in 2013. As with the other show which I have revived several times, Death in Venice, each revival is more rewarding and fun than the last so I a looking forward to the bigger journey with The Passenger; after Tel Aviv to Houston, New York, Chicago and beyond.

The experience has been made all the more rewarding by the calm and experienced hand of conductor Sir Richard Armstrong and by the unsurpassable stage and technical team at the Coliseum. It has been a great experience.

As to the production, well I'm very proud of this revival and I can't wait to see the London audience experience it.

Here's a link to a piece in today's Guardian about The Passenger.The Passenger - English Nation Opera