By Anthony Tommasini [NY Times, 8 July 2009]
LONDON — The struggling New York City Opera should take heart from its “people’s opera” counterpart in London, the English National Opera. Not so long ago the English National was similarly mired in an artistic, administrative and financial crisis. But under the leadership of John Berry, as artistic director, and Edward Gardner, as music director, the company has rebounded. It now draws large audiences to innovative productions at its meticulously restored home here, the old Coliseum Theater, originally a variety hall.