The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant to open English National Opera season

The 2005-2006 season of the English National Opera will launch with a new opera, The Bitter Tears of Petra van Kant, based on the play and the film by legendary gay filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, reports BBC News. The all-female opera about obsession and jealousy tells the story of doomed lesbian love in a fashion studio. "We want to make a bold statement and a rallying cry to our audience," said ENO artistic director Sean Doran to The [London] Guardian. Bitter Tears will be the first production in Doran's first full season in the position.