A charming confection with a beating heart, ETO’s period production of The Seraglio, directed by Stephen Medcalf and conducted by John Andrews, promises to be a good night out for all.

With The Seraglio, Mozart’s first real success in the theatre, the youthful genius was conscious of his Viennese audience’s fascination with all things eastern. The harem, or Seraglio, was its centre, surrounded by well-worn walls. Within, a young girl is clearly fascinated by a Pasha who rules by reason – he never sings, unlike his bumptious young rival, the boy from Seville. For Belmonte, and the girl called ‘Konstanze’ (like Mozart’s wife), the young composer wrote his most passionate and difficult music; for their servants, Pedrillo and Blonde, he wrote his wittiest. They are a bit like castaways on an island, free of practical skill, finding out their strengths and weaknesses by trial and error. Mozart up-ends all possible stereotyping in his singspiel. If you meet a more independent and assured maid than Blonde, maybe take cover; if you expect tyranny from everyone who frightens you, look closer at the Pasha. Sung in English with English surtitles

Kamilla Dunstan covers the role of EURYDICE WOMAN during its English National Opera Autumn Season run

Harrison Birtwistle’s iconic masterpiece retells the Orpheus myth in a non-linear narrative, as the opera’s leading characters appear in three distinct guises. The Mask of Orpheus, with a libretto by Peter Zinovieff, is scored for massive orchestral forces, which builds into a three dimensional picture that leads us from inconsolable grief to acceptance and transformation. ENO Artistic Consultant Daniel Kramer’s staging will be the first in London since its premiere at the London Coliseum over 30 years ago. He is joined by conductor and ENO Music Director Martyn Brabbins, following their collaborations on War Requiem and Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel. Costume designs are by ‘England’s most outrageous dresser’ (Vogue) Daniel Lismore, while the cast includes several regular ENO artists noted for their expertise in contemporary music: Peter Hoare; Daniel Norman; James Cleverton and Robert Hayward.

Yakov Strivhak performs the role of Crown in Porgy and Bess

This production of Porgy and Bess was devised in 2003. The cast are comprised of the talented young people of the Looking Glass, and the leading soloists from the theatre. Spectacular, exotically beautiful costumes and sets of Alla Kozhenkova, one of the best Russian theatere artists, have been revived. The text of the opera is presented in a new way with the musical numbers still performed in English, but with the dialogue in Russian. Thanks to the current state-of-the-art technical equipment of the theatre, the light score of the performance is truly musical - in complete harmony with the jazz, blues rhythms and harmonies of Gershwin’s great music.