Sad night for ENO as new opera gets thumbs down

Rupert Christiansen in the Telegraph calls it a charmless disappointment.

Andrew Clements in the Guardian says the music doesn’t do enough to justify making the play into an opera.

Richard Morrison in the Times describes ‘unremitting old-fashioned atonality with an orchestral flourish’.

Richard Fairman in the Financial Times warns that ‘the audience must be prepared to surrender patiently to its fragmentary and elusive style’.

Not a good opening night for The Winter’s Tale by Ryan Wigglesworth, conducted by the composer.

photo: Johan Persson/ENO

The freesheets are a bit more positive. Barry Millington in the Standard reports ‘an immensely accomplished first opera by Wigglesworth’. Cara Chanteau writes in the Independent: ‘Successful, definitely – but perhaps just a tad too respectful.’