A clear vindication of ENO’s artistic standards
Sir,
I am sure that most of those who saw it would agree that the English National Opera’s recent Meistersingers of Nuremberg – sung with such wit and intelligence by Iain Paterson and the rest of the mainly British cast – has been a triumph. A clear vindication of the ENO’s artistic standards and the merits of having a London-based opera company performing in English (Letters, March 11). (Incidentally, I’m not sure how anyone can tell its national content by looking at an audience – the people sitting next to me might well have been English but turned out be German; they were delighted by the freshness and humour of the English version.)
The ENO has long had a distinctively different role from the Royal Opera House, in particular acting as a hotbed for home-grown talent, and with a notably fine tradition of performing Wagner. We need them both; the artistic life of London would be much the poorer without either one of them.
Richard Miles
Chairman, The Wagner Society
Blechingley, Surrey, UK
