Crisis at ENO?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Well #2 said the problems predated the ACE cuts, and that audiences had declined 'dramatically' before that - hence the querying of the largest theatre in London as a suitable home. The Coliseum wasn't built as an opera house.

No - but it works remarkably well as one.

Ticket prices and a failure to co-ordinate repertoire with ROHCG seem to be the main causes of audience discontent (the "poor management" I referred to) - nobody kept away from the Coliseum in the '70s and '80s when ticket prices were a bargain.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The house is much too large for many younger voices - a move to a smaller house + better management might just revive its fortune.

This is a very pertinent point - why are so many younger voices having difficulty with a venue that their contemporaries of thirty and forty years ago didn't?

[french frank]

If I understand the history, ENO was at Sadler's Wells theatre as Sadler's Wells Opera? And was kicked out of Covent Garden???

[makropulos]

If I understand the history, ENO was at Sadler's Wells theatre as Sadler's Wells Opera? And was kicked out of Covent Garden???

Yes, it was at Sadler's Wells Theatre as SWO, and was even SWO for a season or two at the Coli before the name change (all that is explained in a wonderfully entertaining and substantial (700+ pages) history of the company by Susie Gilbert called "Opera for Everybody: The Story of English National Opera" (Faber), available incredibly cheaply from resellers on amazon.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

If I understand the history, ENO was at Sadler's Wells theatre as Sadler's Wells Opera?

Yes - responsible for the first production of Peter Grimes.

And was kicked out of Covent Garden???

I don't think that the Opera company ever performed at Covent Garden - but didn't Sadler's Wells Ballet company have connections?

[makropulos]

Yes - responsible for the first production of Peter Grimes.


I don't think that the Opera company ever performed at Covent Garden - but didn't Sadler's Wells Ballet company have connections?

I think that's right. As far as I can tell, the opera company was at the Old Vic, then at Sadler's Wells (from 1931), then at the Coli (from 1968).

[MrGongGong]

I hope you're right, FF. That's a good point. A return to Roseberry Avenue could be a very good idea.

Apart from the fact that Sadlers Wells already has a director and management and programme etc etc etc
Would you like to ask Alistair Spalding what he thinks?

[gurnemanz]

Apart from the fact that Sadlers Wells already has a director and management and programme etc etc etc

Quite. Sadlers Wells seems to be quite successfully filling its schedule in its own way without needing ENO.

[gurnemanz]

Forgot to mention ENO's Bernstein Candide which we also greatly enjoyed - Alex Jennings excellent... and Nixon in China.

[Belgrove]

My introduction to opera was at the ENO and it still did the best Salome I've seen, with Josephine Barstow and (on checking the programme) Mark Elder conducting exceedingly well. But I never subscribed to the hype surrounding the Elder-Poutney era and migrated to the ROH where standards of playing, singing and production values were higher. I rarely go to the ENO these days, I've never liked the cavernous barn with its boomy acoustic, and in spite of its facelift, it is still a rather dowdy venue. It needs to address precisely what it is for. I'm at a loss to provide a convincing reason. It needs to be doing something very different from the ROH, which has transformed itself from the toffee-nosed venue of the 70's and has embraced the outreach industry with gusto. Even the perceived accessibility that obtains from singing in English has been negated by introducing surtitles (probably because of the poor diction of many singers, and Satyagraha was performed in Sanskrit!) Of late I've enjoyed Nixon in China (originating from Houston) and the very beautifully staged Death in Venice, but not much else springs to mind. A big plus is The Harp next door, among the best pubs in London.

[Flosshilde]

It needs to address precisely what it is for. I'm at a loss to provide a convincing reason. It needs to be doing something very different from the ROH, which has transformed itself from the toffee-nosed venue of the 70's and has embraced the outreach industry with gusto. Even the perceived accessibility that obtains from singing in English has been negated by introducing surtitles

Exactly. There is probably still an argument to be made for singing in a language the audience understands (a disadvantage with surtitles can be heard when people who rely on them laugh at a joke before those who are listening to the singers), but one has to be able to hear the words in the first place - a difficulty in the Coliseum. But there are wider issues. Should a company calling itself the English National Opera put on all its performances in London - perhaps it should also tour? With ticket prices reaching (and exceeding?) Covent Garden's, its artistic standards should be as high - including the singing; but, if it's not getting the international stars that CG has, can they be? (And I do realise that's no guarantee of quality, but if your paying top prices you should be able to expect top singers.) I think that perhaps ENO has got ideas above its staion, and does need a radical rethink.

[Conchis]

My introduction to opera was at the ENO and it still did the best Salome I've seen, with Josephine Barstow and (on checking the programme) Mark Elder conducting exceedingly well. But I never subscribed to the hype surrounding the Elder-Poutney era and migrated to the ROH where standards of playing, singing and production values were higher. I rarely go to the ENO these days, I've never liked the cavernous barn with its boomy acoustic, and in spite of its facelift, it is still a rather dowdy venue. It needs to address precisely what it is for. I'm at a loss to provide a convincing reason. It needs to be doing something very different from the ROH, which has transformed itself from the toffee-nosed venue of the 70's and has embraced the outreach industry with gusto. Even the perceived accessibility that obtains from singing in English has been negated by introducing surtitles (probably because of the poor diction of many singers, and Satyagraha was performed in Sanskrit!) Of late I've enjoyed Nixon in China (originating from Houston) and the very beautifully staged Death in Venice, but not much else springs to mind. A big plus is The Harp next door, among the best pubs in London.

I think the idea of 'translated opera' is recidivist. The subtitles have made it irrelevant, in any case; and who (the hell) actually WANTS to hear Verdi in English?!?

The problem for ENO is that, once you drop that fig, you're left with the fact that they're just doing what Covent Garden are doing, yet not to the same standard. Sad, but true.

I'd agree they need to 'get out more' but then they risk treading on the toes of the UK's two principal touring opera companies.

I wouldn't like to see ENO go (though I rarely go there) because of the livelihoods that would be lost: but it's difficult to see what it's for.

[Nick Armstrong]

I too stopped going around 2000 after a sequence of very poor productions.

Me too, with the exception of a couple of Britten productions - notably the outstanding Death in Venice a couple of years back.

And I'll always be grateful for the unforgettable thrill of the first opera production I ever attended, Turn of the Screw at the Coliseum, with Jill Gomez and Philip Langridge

[Ein Heldenleben]

After last nigh's absolutely magnificent Mastersingers I sincerely hope the Arts Council give ENO every penny of the money back . It started with one of the finest account of the overture I have ever heard and reached a climax with a beautifully sung quintet. Iain Paterson's Sachs was one of the most heartfelt and moving I can remember - memories of Norman Bailey on the same stage came flooding back, Truly an overwhelming experience. There are plenty of tickets left though prices seem to have gone up since the 70's.....

[underthecountertenor]

After last nigh's absolutely magnificent Mastersingers I sincerely hope the Arts Council give ENO every penny of the money back . It started with one of the finest account of the overture I have ever heard and reached a climax with a beautifully sung quintet. Iain Paterson's Sachs was one of the most heartfelt and moving I can remember - memories of Norman Bailey on the same stage came flooding back, Truly an overwhelming experience. There are plenty of tickets left though prices seem to have gone up since the 70's.....

Lower priced Dress Circle and Balcony tickets available at 40% off via Time Out at the moment. I've just bought a couple of Dress tickets and am greatly looking forward to it.

But one magnificent production does not a successful opera company make. ENO really needs to get its head out of the sand and address the issues canvassed above and elsewhere: in particular the unsuitability of the auditorium, acoustically and economically; the whole concept of opera in translation following the introduction of surtitles (not visible throughout the house though); and, not least, the insane pricing policy.

It strikes me as a case of a great company of musicians being let down by the management, much like the ROH in the years before the house re-opened. In the economic and political climate that then obtained, the ROH was deemed to be worth saving as a cultural flagship. I can well see that different considerations may apply to ENO in the current climate, and that it may well be left to sink or swim.