The end of ENO?

[alywin]

It is indeed. I went to a performance of Eugene Onegin some years ago and sat in either front Dress Circle or front Upper Circle (reduced-price ticket from tkts, naturally) and was blown away by it, so much so that I took a friend I was trying to persuade to like opera to see another performance of it: same month, same cast. We sat in the rear Upper Circle, and were really disappointed - and she hated it.

[JasonPalmer]

Having been to both I find where you sit is crucial.

[Prommer]

This has been said for many years - the Colliseum is too large for young singers + also for most performances

Yes...BUT... for the right music and shows it is unbeatable. Better than the ROH... (Wagner, big Verdi, verismo...)

[Keraulophone]

.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64305759

They'd better get their thinking caps on pronto before the year's out... very difficult decisions to be made, especially in the light of WNO and Glyndebourne cancelling their touring. It doesn't look as though there'll be much opera down here in Kernow.
.

[Frances_iom]

... They should also sell the Colly and move to a 1500 seat London theatre.....

This has been said for many years - the Colliseum is too large for young singers + also for most performances

[Ein Heldenleben]

It looks to be this announcement, dated today:

https://www.eno.org/news/joint-statement-from-arts-council-england-and-the-english-national-opera/

I obviously have no understanding of the internecine politics of the UK classical and opera scene to parse all the subtexts, except that perhaps there might be some between-the-lines acknowledgement of the mess that ACE has created here. Although it is kind of nice to see ENO twist the knife to ACE with this bit in the announcement:



If Sir Bryn and others can keep the pressure on ACE for the next 2 years, perhaps the hope is to inch ACE back to restoring ENO's primary base in London at the Coliseum, but with enhancing / buffing up outreach activities outside of London. Since Opera North was formerly an arm of ENO, maybe as a face-saving measure, Opera North and ENO can announce long-term collaboration and sharing of productions, for a "base outside of the capitol". I'm totally making this up, of course.

Not that David Pickard is reading the Forum (but perhaps if Petroc does still read these posts occasionally, and perhaps he can get this idea to David Pickard and/or Sam Jackson), here's an idea for the 2023 Proms. Annelise Miskimmon said a while back in the NYT that ENO shelved a planned production of Tippett's King Priam. Dare I suggest a Prom this summer by ENO with King Priam in a staged concert presentation?

Thanks so it looks like the usual British messy compromise.
I think ENO need to be bold and reject the idea of a second base . Far too capital heavy. They should undertake to tour for 6 months of the year with a smaller orchestra and British singers taking in cities like Bristol , Plymouth , Norwich, Southampton , Oxford , Birmingham, Liverpool that either have little opera provision or about to lose it through cuts to WNO and GTO . Long term they should argue for a £20 million annual budget. They should also sell the Colly and move to a 1500 seat London theatre. The key thing is they shouldn’t compete for audience with Opera North.

[bluestateprommer]

This update from Bryn Terfel is worth quoting

“PETITION UPDATE

An update from the ENO

Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, CBE
London, ENG, United Kingdom
24 DEC 2022 —
Thank you for your support of the #LoveENO campaign and signing this petition to support the English National Opera in asking Arts Council England to reverse their decision and reinstate the ENO's funding.
This company is so important in developing incredible artists and staging work of the highest quality and integrity.
I wanted to update you as the ENO have informed me that they are in discussion with Arts Council England and hope they will have news regarding their future in mid-January.
The petition is now at 80,000+ and I thought if we could all send it round (again) to our friends and family and share on our social media channels that it would give a boost to the company over this Christmas period. It would be great to get it to over 100,000 signatures before the New Year.
Thank you once again for your support. Have a wonderful festive season.
Nadolig Llawen,
Sir Bryn Terfel CBE”


Any ideas what this “news” might be ? A reprieve?

It looks to be this announcement, dated today:

https://www.eno.org/news/joint-statement-from-arts-council-england-and-the-english-national-opera/

I obviously have no understanding of the internecine politics of the UK classical and opera scene to parse all the subtexts, except that perhaps there might be some between-the-lines acknowledgement of the mess that ACE has created here. Although it is kind of nice to see ENO twist the knife to ACE with this bit in the announcement:

"While we fundamentally disagree with ACE’s decision to remove the ENO from the NPO list having met or exceeded all success criteria laid down...."

If Sir Bryn and others can keep the pressure on ACE for the next 2 years, perhaps the hope is to inch ACE back to restoring ENO's primary base in London at the Coliseum, but with enhancing / buffing up outreach activities outside of London. Since Opera North was formerly an arm of ENO, maybe as a face-saving measure, Opera North and ENO can announce long-term collaboration and sharing of productions, for a "base outside of the capitol". I'm totally making this up, of course.

Not that David Pickard is reading the Forum (but perhaps if Petroc does still read these posts occasionally, and perhaps he can get this idea to David Pickard and/or Sam Jackson), here's an idea for the 2023 Proms. Annelise Miskimmon said a while back in the NYT that ENO shelved a planned production of Tippett's King Priam. Dare I suggest a Prom this summer by ENO with King Priam in a staged concert presentation?

[Master Jacques]

There's a very good editorial in today's Opera, highlighting the shifty, contradictory vacillations of ENO's CEO Stuart Murphy, and the rabid anti-operatic bigotry of Darren Henley of ACE. From what John Allison says, it seems that the appalling Henley was being lined up to replace Alan Davey (another ex-ACE toady) as Controller of Radio 3, but that his incompetence has become so apparent over the last couple of months that he has cooked his goose as far as that little career move is concerned.

Meanwhile, we're told, poverty-stricken Poland is building a brand new, state-of-the-art opera house for Warsaw's third - yes, third! - opera company: "attendances at the National Opera, Warsaw Chamber Opera and the Royal Opera show that the Polish people love opera. We must make new investments in this field, because that is what our citizens expect".

Couldn't you cry?

[Master Jacques]

Liverpool has never been a philistine city, though it has been a poor one for many years.

I remember a WNO production of Tristan being completely sold out when I attended it in the early 90s (first Wagner opera I ever saw, too). I don't think T&I counts as conservative programming.

Things have obviously changed in the last thirty years.

They have, alas. Give a city the best, and audiences will come. Condescending programming by the visiting companies over the last twenty years has left Liverpool indifferent: people know when they're being palmed off with second-rate, popular repertory fare rather than something interesting.

[ChandlersFord]

I understand that ballet audiences in Liverpool are generally pretty conservative: is it the same for opera? These companies need to sell tickets.

Liverpool has never been a philistine city, though it has been a poor one for many years.

I remember a WNO production of Tristan being completely sold out when I attended it in the early 90s (first Wagner opera I ever saw, too). I don't think T&I counts as conservative programming.

Things have obviously changed in the last thirty years.

[alywin]

I’ve noticed that, in recent years, WNO have not exported their more adventurous programming to Liverpool,

I understand that ballet audiences in Liverpool are generally pretty conservative: is it the same for opera? These companies need to sell tickets.

[mopsus]

They did bring the Makropulos Case to Plymouth in November and very good it was too. Complete with Nicky Spence.

Yes - I had to go and hear it at at the Wales Millennium Centre as it wasn't in Bristol. The last WNO production I heard at the Bristol Hippodrome was Frank Martin's Le vin herbé which was done with minimal staging so easily portable.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I'm not sure what their logic really is. WNO's adventurous progamming (I'm thinking of Janáček and their productions of Lulu and Moses und Aron some years back) doesn't get to the Bristol Hippodrome either and there are plenty of wealthy intellectuals in Bristol and Bath and the area. Perhaps they think that if you are really keen on this repertoire you can make it over to Cardiff from those places to hear it.

They did bring the Makropulos Case to Plymouth in November and very good it was too. Complete with Nicky Spence.

[mopsus]

But hardly surprising.

I’ve noticed that, in recent years, WNO have not exported their more adventurous programming to Liverpool, forcing me to attend performances in Birmingham, as city I dislike and would prefer not to visit. Presumably, the presence of wealthy intellectuals in places like Leamington Spa and Tanworth in Arden explained this programming choice; alas, there are no equivalent wealthy intellectuals on the Wirral.

I'm not sure what their logic really is. WNO's adventurous progamming (I'm thinking of Janáček and their productions of Lulu, Moses und Aron and Khovanshchina some years back) doesn't get to the Bristol Hippodrome either and there are plenty of wealthy intellectuals in Bristol and Bath and the area. Perhaps they think that if you are really keen on this repertoire you can make it over to Cardiff from those places to hear it.

[Cockney Sparrow]

My thought about Dorries is "please send her to the H of Lords; we can then abolish it".