ENO’s new Ring Cycle is a bold statement and will not be one to miss

This, for many, has been unexpected. Until recently, the company’s headlines have been doom-laden, with Arts Council England placing the company in special measures. Onstage work was hit and miss and, backstage, morale was low. High-profile exits dwarfed auspicious entrances.

But beneath the negative commentary, things were being turned around. Before Covid closed its doors, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe, Philip Glass’ Akhnaten and, especially, the company’s first production of Porgy and Bess were runaway hits, the last being the biggest single hit in the company’s financial history.

As ENO’s chair of the board, Harry Brünjes, says: “We entered the crisis with more than £12 million in reserves. That has protected us. We received a loan from the Culture Recovery Fund but it didn’t have to be huge to sustain the company.” (ENO’s loan was £8.5 million, which compares with £21.7 million for the Royal Opera House, which also covers the Royal Ballet.)

Brünjes is understandably proud of the company’s Covid initiatives, which have gone beyond its artistic output – including new artistic director Annilese Miskimmon’s brainwave of presenting performances of La Bohème as a drive-in experience (subsequently shown on Sky Arts) and a starrily cast Mozart Requiem broadcast by the BBC.

The company gained attention when its costume department began making scrubs for the NHS, and ENO Breathe is proving influential as a nationwide programme for long-Covid sufferers that reduces lethargy by teaching patients singing techniques online to boost oxygen levels in the bloodstream. The latter is so successful that the British Medical Journal, the leading general medical publication, is publishing a report on it written by Brünjes, himself a doctor.

The combination of ENO’s raised profile, financial security and ongoing co-production deal with New York’s Metropolitan Opera has created space for confident planning – including the Ring, which will premiere gradually between this October and 2025.

That it will be directed by eight-time Olivier-winner Richard Jones is the icing on the cake. He knows the work inside out, having previously directed it for the Royal Opera. His last Wagner at ENO, The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, glowed with his directorial hallmark. Instead of flaccid, generalised ‘opera acting’, Jones ensured every single moment of stage time was filled with proper dramatic energy. If you’ve never even thought of capitulating to Wagner, this looks set to be the best possible introduction.