“At a cost of £282,000 in lost ticket sales, English National Opera was forced yesterday to swallow its pride and cancel all performances of its re-opening show, Nixon in China. The Coliseum, its London base, will now open after its £41m rebuild on February 21, a date already postponed by a fortnight, for an as yet undefined ‘special event’ – which may just be a grand party with a few songs from the stage. The theatre will then close again and the first performances of The Rhinegold, the opening of the first new production in English of Wagner’s Ring cycle in 30 years, will probably not happen until early March.”