The season, the first fully planned by artistic director Sešn Doran, will also include Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice, directed by Deborah Warner, in the first installment of a five-year Britten cycle. The ENO has declared Britten its "house composer," according to the Guardian.

The company will also present Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sir John in Love; Purcell's King Arthur, with the Mark Morris Dance Group; Monteverdi's Orfeo, directed by Chen Shi-Zheng; and Janšcek's Makropoulos Case, directed by Christopher Alden and conducted by Charles Mackerras.

As previously announced, film director Anthony Minghella will make his first foray into opera, directing Madama Butterfly in a production conducted by David Parry.

The company did not schedule additional performances of Phyllida Lloyd's recent production of Wagner's Ring, as expected, because of a lack of funds. Doran said that he hoped to revive the cycle in 2007.

Doran also said that the ENO has not yet chosen a replacement for music director Paul Daniel, who departs later this year. "We are down to a short shortlist of very credible candidates," he said.