The English National Opera's production of Kaija Saariaho's opera Adriana Mater, directed by Annilese Miskimmon and conducted by André de Ridder.
Adriana Mater opens at the London Coliseum on Saturday 28 November, running through to 12 December. It's a new production from the English National Opera, and the story is a heavy one: it follows Adriana, who becomes pregnant after a violent assault by a soldier during a brutal civil war. She names her son Yonas and keeps the truth from him for years, but when he finally finds out, he's consumed by a desire for revenge. She spends the rest of the opera arguing that true strength lies in mercy, not in paying it back in kind.
The opera is by Kaija Saariaho, and it's the second half of a narrative arc paired with Puccini's Tosca — both directed by ENO Artistic Director Annilese Miskimmon. Adriana Mater picks up where Tosca left off, set in a concert hall that becomes a field hospital in the midst of post-war turmoil. The libretto comes from the writer and war correspondent Amin Maalouf, in a new English translation by Saariaho's son, the writer-director Aleksi Barrière.
Saariaho was named 'Greatest living composer' in a 2019 BBC Music Magazine poll and remains one of contemporary classical music's most influential voices; she died in 2023. This production marks the first collaboration between Miskimmon and ENO Music Director Designate André de Ridder, who conducts. The cast features Kristina Stanek in her ENO debut as Adriana, with Caspar Singh as Yonas, Leigh Melrose as Tsargo, and Lauren Fagan as Refka.
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Performances run Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings, with a Saturday matinee added in. Each show runs 2 hours 45 minutes including one interval. Tickets start from ÂŁ15, and the run goes on until 12 December at the London Coliseum on St Martin's Lane.
