Dutch National Opera nominated for two Opera Awards

The nominations for the International Opera Awards 2023 were announced by UK-based Opera Magazine on 11 October. Dutch National Opera has been shortlisted in the categories ‘Best World Premiere’ and ‘Sustainability’. The winners of the Opera Awards – in a total of 16 categories – will be announced in Teatr Wielki (Warsaw, Poland) on 9 November.

Best World Premiere

Dutch National Opera (DNO) was nominated in the category ‘Best World Premiere’ for Animal Farm, a contemporary operatic take on George Orwell’s famous novel, by composer Alexander Raskatov. The production premiered in March of this year, as part of the Opera Forward Festival, and was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews by the Dutch press. Animal Farm was a composition commission and a co-production between Dutch National Opera, Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna), Teatro Massimo (Palermo) and Finnish National Opera and Ballet (Helsinki).

Sustainability

Dutch National Opera also received a nomination in the category ‘Sustainability’. To preserve the magic of the stage as a source of enjoyment for generations to come, DNO is committed to contributing to a sustainable future. That is why the opera company has implemented sustainable process improvements for years now.

During the next Opera Forward Festival, which will be held in March 2024, Dutch National Opera will present The Shell Trial: a new production about a court case against Shell and its responsibilities in the climate crisis. DNO wants the making of the opera to be as sustainable as possible, not just to walk the climate talk, but also to learn valuable lessons from this pilot for the production process of future operas.

You can read more about the sustainability drive at Dutch National Opera & Ballet here.