ENO funding cuts

[aeolium]

This doesn't bode particularly well for ENO:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-28104684

I'm in favour generally of providing more funding for the regions which seems to have happened in the recent settlement, but that is a pretty severe cut for ENO. I wonder if its "new business model" will be along the lines of the BBC's "Delivering Quality First", i.e. greater accessibility, less risk and more popular stuff. Would the recent Benvenuto Cellini production have been mounted under the new budget?

[amateur51]

"An Arts Council statement said: "In spite of the indisputably ambitious quality of work and the important role this company plays in developing talent, ENO has struggled to reach box office targets and to achieve long-term stability."

The opera company will, however, get a further £7.6m in one-off "transitional funding" as it moves to a new business model that includes working with commercial producers to stage modern musicals"

Failing to meet targets is a two-way street of course - perhaps the targets were too ambitious too soon?

And I wonder what sort of modern musicals they have in mind.

Wot, no film music?

[Dave2002]

They need to put up lots of screens with adverts - dynamic, and changing every few seconds - on around the stage, and in the auditorium. Make sure that these are visible whenever there is a relay or TV broadcast. The characters on stage should wear clothing with logos, maybe the more the better.

Whenever anything interesting happens, such as a singer going to a high C or above, there should be a flashing sign which whizzes round the building with "Wow! Wow! Wow!" and at climaxes there could be "Wait for it ........ Ah.....!"

There could be separate interactive replays of some scenes on monitors, with "analysis" showing the way the characters move around the stage - as in football.

Orchestral concerts could be livened up in the same way too, of course.

[Honoured Guest]

Failing to meet targets is a two-way street of course - perhaps the targets were too ambitious too soon?

That's the point. ENO's activity has been unsustainable at the box office.

[amateur51]

Lots more cinema-performance tie-ups would encourage a new audience perhaps and generate new income streams. My local indy cinema was 80% full for the relay of Peter Grimes from ENO a few months back

[amateur51]

That's the point. ENO's activity has been unsustainable at the box office.

I've obviously not expressed myself adequately - I'm saying that perhaps the targets were set too high within too tight a time-scale, almost as though ENO was set up to fail.The failure lies not exclusively with the performance but rather is shared with the initial target-setting.

[LHC]

I've obviously not expressed myself adequately - I'm saying that perhaps the targets were set too high within too tight a time-scale, almost as though ENO was set up to fail.The failure lies not exclusively with the performance but rather is shared with the initial target-setting.

ENO have suffered from poor artistic management for several years now. A few productions have been good, but too many have been artistically suspect. Too many shows have been directed by people new to opera with no understanding of or interest in the medium. These poorly received productions have resulted in half-empty houses with many tickets having to be sold at knock-down prices. ENO's response to its poor box-office has been to raise prices way above inflation, meaning that previous regulars now wait for the special offers to flood in (and the reviews to come out) before booking for anything.

For example, last year both ENO and the Opera House put on productions of Wozzeck. The opera house cast included Simon Keenlyside and Karita Mattila, but stalls seats for these performances cost considerably less than ENO was charging! Next year, stalls tickets at ENO will rise to over £100, despite dwindling attendances. No one will pay that when you know the same seats will be available for less than £50 as a result of the various special offers that will inevitably appear.

[Honoured Guest]

ENO (like every other organisation) has always set its own budgets for its expenditure and for its income targets. Its model has proven itself unsustainable, so they've now come up with a different model of activity for the future.

[amateur51]

ENO (like every other organisation) has always set its own budgets for its expenditure and for its income targets. Its model has proven itself unsustainable, so they've now come up with a different model of activity for the future.

A funder as substantial as The Arts Council will not accept an organisation's budget as a 'given'. It will work with the applicant organisation to understand better the underlying assumptions, likely success of plans etc. It is not unusual for an applicant organisation's application budget to be completely reworked during this process.

[Frances_iom]

I think the opportunity to move to a smaller house (which would be friendlier to new voices) was missed - instead the very large Colliseum was expensively refurbished - it was never designed as an opera house but as a music hall for popular entertainment

[Conchis]

I'd agree with all points made here.

Another point is that successive governments, both Tory and Labour, have pursued policies that are hostile to all the arts, particularly opera.

[MrGongGong]

I think much of the current "problem" with the funding of Classical music goes back to the ill fated Wilding Report and the failure of folks (maybe to do with excessive politicking on the part of a certain well known CFM Football strip wearing tory?) to grasp the nettle.

[Honoured Guest]

This specific case of ENO is different because many other classical music organisations will continue to receive the same ACE National portfolio grant, in cash terms, and others will receive an increased annual grant.

[MrGongGong]

This specific case of ENO is different because many other classical music organisations will continue to receive the same ACE National portfolio grant, in cash terms, and others will receive an increased annual grant.

I think (and being rather careful about choice of words here !) that some (SOME not ALL) of the "National" organisations don't do enough work that reaches the rest of the country, a few gigs north of Watford simply isn't good enough IMV.

[Honoured Guest]

ENO is to co-produce a baroque opera in Bristol next year, but it's true that it has no equivalent of the Linbury Theatre at the ROH which presents and co-produces with many companies and so contributes directly to a wide range of work, some of which is performed around the UK. The National Theatre has the NT Studio which provides countless development opportunities to theatre artists and companies based throughout the UK. Does ENO have any equivalent operation which would provide a national service to opera and music theatre?