TO DIE FOR [A COMEDY] to Make UK Debut at London Coliseum

For one night only this autumn, English National Opera (ENO) will welcome guest opera To Die For [A Comedy] to the London Coliseum for its UK premiere. With a libretto by Arkady Zastyrets, this black comedy by British-Russian composer Elena Langer shines a light on celebrity culture and society's obsession with fame.

This first UK performance on 29 November 2026 follows its acclaimed world premiere during a national Dutch tour in April 2026, which The European Arts Desk called 'an absolute masterclass in pitch-black comedy and musical brilliance,' and The Opera Journal praised as 'an exuberant and highly subversive black farce'. The production is presented by Nederlandse Reisopera in collaboration with the Phion Orchestra.

Based on Nikolai Erdman's 1928 play The Suicide, this witty tale of redemption is one of the only works to be banned on at least two separate occasions in Russia, a hundred years apart. In a double cancellation, Erdman's original play was banned before its first performance, and Langer's opera – having been commissioned by the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow – was cancelled following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Updated from the 1920s to the riotous post-Soviet years of 1990s Russia, To Die For is set in a grimy communal flat, and then in the superficial world of reality TV, where the suicide of the desperate Semyon Podsekayev is scheduled to be broadcast live on a vulgar variety show. Spearing the materialism of 1990s Russia, this exuberant farce satirises our modern-day fixation with celebrity, and the enthusiastic exploitation of other people's misery for profit and entertainment. The opera's hopeful conclusion suggests, however, that while life may sometimes be chaotic, cruel and absurd, it is still arguably better than the alternative.

Through a vivid score that blends 21st-century opera, cabaret, folk and music-theatre influences, Langer brings extraordinary scale, musical colour and subversive humour to this darkly comic story.

Composer Elena Langer commented, ‘I am so delighted to finally see my comic opera To Die For staged in the UK, after it was commissioned and then cancelled in Russia in 2022. I wanted to make fun of celebrity, materialism, exploitation and the absurdity of human behaviour – themes which in today’s society, feel more pertinent than ever. But the opera also has a hopeful side, and may contain surprises! To see it performed on the London Coliseum stage will be one of the proudest moments of my career. I am immensely grateful to Annilese Miskimmon for making this happen, and to everyone at ENO and Reisopera for turning it into a reality.’ 

Elena Langer is one of today’s leading opera composers. Born in Russia, she studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow and the Royal Academy of Music in London. Since moving to the UK in 2000, she has built an internationally acclaimed career, becoming the Almeida Theatre’s first composer in residence. Her operas include Figaro Gets a Divorce, Rhondda Rips It Up! (both written for Welsh National Opera), Ariadne and The Lion’s Face, and her operatic, vocal and orchestral works, including the concerto-cantata The Dong with a Luminous Nose (based on Edward Lear’s nonsense poem), have been performed across Europe and North America. Most recently, the revival of her opera Four Sisters at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre was hailed by the Guardian as ‘effortlessly witty’. Ariadne, Elena Langer’s setting of Glyn Maxwell’s poem Ariadne to Theseus, is currently being performed as a double bill with Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas as part of English Touring Opera’s autumn tour.

The conductor of To Die For is Adrian Kelly, making his London Coliseum debut. A former member of the Young Artists’ Programme at the Royal Opera House, Kelly has worked previously at the Hamburg State Opera and the Salzburg State Theatre. Since 2018 he has been Artistic Director of the Buxton International Festival.

Directing the production is Sam Brown, who has been Artistic Director of the Nederlandse Reisopera, the Dutch national touring opera company, since 2024. He began his career at Opera North as Assistant Director, and in 2011 he won the Ring Award and the European Opera Directing Prize. Brown has directed more than 30 opera productions across Europe, including The Queen of Spades (Deutsche Oper, Berlin), Parsifal (Opera North) and The Barber of Seville (WNO).

Completing the creative team is acclaimed designer Grace Smart, whose numerous set design credits include Cyrano De Bergerac (RSC/West End); Susanna (ROH); The World’s Wife (Welsh National Opera), and several productions for Shakespeare’s Globe and National Theatre.  

Among those reprising their roles from the Dutch tour are tenor Paul Curievici in the central role of Semyon Podsekayev, countertenor James Hall as the monstrous TV presenter Ivan Vane, Idunnu Münch, Jenny Stafford and Richard Burkhard.

A previous winner of Scottish Opera’s John Scott Award, Paul Curievici has performed at the Royal Opera House and New York’s Lincoln Center, and he made his ENO debut in its acclaimed production of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten.

Countertenor James Hall has been praised by The Stage for his ‘voice of exceptional quality’. He appears regularly with leading opera companies, orchestras and festivals across the UK, Europe and beyond, in repertoire ranging from the Renaissance and Baroque to the present.

Mezzo-soprano and former ENO Harewood Artist Idunnu Münch (It’s A Wonderful Life, The Rhinegold, Blue) reprises the role of the writer Kukoleva.

Also returning to the London Coliseum stage in the role of Maria is Jenny Stafford. The soprano made her ENO debut in 2025 in Mary, Queen of Scots, in which she played Mary Seton and covered the title role.

Baritone Richard Burkhard, who has made many appearances at ENO including the roles of Marcello (La bohème), Mahmoud (The Death of Klinghoffer), Dr Falke (Die Fledermaus) and Garibaldo (Rodelinda), plays Semyon’s shifty neighbour Kalabushkin.