Ellen Kent is a producer with 38 years experience hosting operas across the globe. She has worked across Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania, with numerous Opera societies, even branching into ballet for a while. Her productions are known for their traditional approaches and grand spectacles. She has sold out the Royal Albert Hall, staged shows for various outdoor festivals, and received honorary medals to mark her contributions to international opera. We sat down to discuss her career, from her first moments in opera to her ongoing Farewell Tour.
What inspired you to work in opera?
“I went into it by accident. It started in about 1988. I was an actress and I had about five years in Emmerdale. Then my ex-husband, who was in the BBC, talked about working on children’s shows, and I got an Arts Council Grant to tour them.”
In 1988, Kent produced Plumes d’Amour, followed by Bleu D’Ecailles (Why the Fish Left the River) in 1991, and Mowgli L’Enfant Loup in 1992.
“[Bleu D’Ecailles] was such a big show that they had to plumb it into the building, and we had koi carp floating around. Then we did Mowgli and we asked Judi Dench to be the English Narrator, and she said she’d love to do it!”
Also in 1992, Kent collaborated with Rochester Festival to create an exciting show to draw in the crowds, culminating in a grandeous Nabucco revival with a nearly 200-strong company.
“I was living near Rochester Xastle and was approached about a new show. They said: ‘Ellen, you’ve got these big shows from France – would you bring one here?’. And I said, ‘I’m not sure a children’s show from France would bring in big enough audiences for your outdoor shows’, so I suggested opera. We rang up the Romanian National Opera and went to Bucharest in the era after dictator Ceaușescu was President. They had a more social government after that. Rochester Council went crazy over bringing the Romanian National Opera in with all the trains from London.”
In 2002, Kent established strong connections with the National Opera of Ukraine, the company she still tours with to this day.
“We started expanding from Romanian operas to Ukrainian and went to Odessa and mounted some fabulous shows there. The conductor, Vasyl Vasylenko, is still the conductor on tour today! We did five, six, seven years there, and I was given some very high medals by president Yushchenko. He said he wanted to present them, but I was on tour, so he sent his ambassador! I had medals from the President of Moldova too.”
Ellen continued collaborating with Ukraine throughout the war, supporting her performers and continuing UK tours. One of her remarks perfectly summarising her optimistic and persevering attitude: “I am very determined. When I say I’m going to do something, I do it, through hell and high water.”
A history in ballet:
“I did ballet for many years too. By that time, I was doing opera across the world. I met with Yuri Grigorovich and we toured The Nutcracker. There were fabulous sets, and it was very innovative. It sold out every venue in the UK! But I haven’t done ballet in a very long time. It didn’t inspire me to persevere.”
Choosing operas and creating spectacles:
“We chose the operas that we thought would sell well. Opera is still very alive in Eastern Europe but less so in the UK. Opera is mainly an old person’s sport, and it’s getting harder unless you repeat them. We keep up our figures with the more popular shows that we keep repeating. I’ve done Butterfly for so long, and it does so well, but I get a bit bored of it. It’s always been the most popular, but this year Carmen has taken the lead for the first time ever!
“Carmen is my absolute favourite. I was born and brought up in India. My mother used to run an amateur operatic society, and I appeared in every one I could since being a child… including Butterfly. Then, when I was 13, my father retired as high commissioner, and we moved to Spain. My mother, who was a little dotty, made an animal sanctuary where we rescued cats and fish and donkeys. I wanted to go to boarding school, and I made lots of friends, and we went to the bull fights to see El Cordobés. Now I’m horrified by it – I wouldn’t dream of seeing a poor bull be killed now.”
Her experiences have distinctive impact on her work, mixing a passion for language and culture, with the vivacity and artistry of Spain, and her own love of animals. In 2008, Kent staged Carmen at Leeds Castle with the most striking large-scale sets.
“For my Carmen, I have all the background of Spanish colour. I had a huge amphitheatre that was like a Roman Coliseum. It hadn’t been used for about 25 years but we dug it out of storage, and it felt very Spanish. So, I gave them pictures of Picasso and Goya to dress the set.
“I’ve put lots of animals into my shows too, a black stallion in Aida and a white stallion in Carmen, a golden eagle and greyhounds in Rigoletto, and koi carps [in Bleu D’cailles]. There’s not enough money for it now. There will be a huge Japanese Akita dog in Butterfly but not in Manchester.
“Butterfly has a beautiful set, but I do love my Carmen – the set that rescued me! I have a singer called Mariia Davydova with flaming red hair as Carmen. Elena Dee is one of the best I’ve ever had as Butterfly. She came to me at 18 while she was still a pianist, and I sent her to work with an opera master for her vocal work and with me for acting.”
When talking about Carmen, I could see the passion radiating from Kent. It was heartwarming to see how important this show and its strong-willed protagonist meant to her. Her feisty personality and zeal for the arts were refreshing.
Is it truly ‘The Farewell Tour’?:
“I’m not retiring… I’m not ready to give up! I decided to retire in 2019 after lots of tours across the world… then I didn’t retire! Previously, I put my own money into funding projects but then Ollie Rosenblatt and SONY Music asked me to come back. They wanted to call this ‘The Farewell Tour’. But what’s next? I don’t know what I’m going to do but I’m certainly not going to sit here doing nothing. They want me to do a tour but I have a couple of ideas of my own. Money isn’t my primary object. Will I ever retire, or will I drop down dead first?!”
Although the future seems to be brimming with possibility, she did share that her daughter Juliet would be working on a documentary about Ellen Kent and co.
A final message to the audience:
“Ellen Kent opera always seeks to entertain and not to educate. Operas trying to say something don’t always translate. English National Opera always hated me and wrote to the Arts Council to try to stop me bringing Eastern European works to the UK. They want to educate. I want to put on things that look beautiful and pretty to the eye. I like to do the operas as the composer and libretto had it in their mind’s eye. Why turn it into a sterile modern version? I get to the heart of it and try to make my sets feel like a wonderful painting.”
Ellen Kent’s Farewell Opera Tour runs at Opera House Manchester until March 26 and tours the UK until May 13.
Photo: Andrew Billington Photography
JADAR 