The end of ENO?

[Darkbloom]

One of the oddest things about arts funding in general (whether it's the ENO, the BBC or R3 in particular) is that there is an unquestioned assumption that great efforts should be made to appeal to people who have no interest what they are doing, and never will, no matter how hard they try. So, instead of using the money to be the best at what they do, they get distracted with meaningless and rather patronising access projects that are only there to get a few short-lived headlines. It seems that ENO went through all the hoops in this regard and it still made no difference to the final outcome.

[Master Jacques]

One of the oddest things about arts funding in general (whether it's the ENO, the BBC or R3 in particular) is that there is an unquestioned assumption that great efforts should be made to appeal to people who have no interest what they are doing, and never will, no matter how hard they try. So, instead of using the money to be the best at what they do, they get distracted with meaningless and rather patronising access projects that are only there to get a few short-lived headlines. It seems that ENO went through all the hoops in this regard and it still made no difference to the final outcome.

I quite agree. The (sometimes overt) acceptance that artistic quality must play second fiddle to condescending, pre-doomed outreach and social change strategies has been eating away at the performing arts for a decade or so now. At least now, all of us can see this corrosive approach for what it is.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I quite agree. The (sometimes overt) acceptance that artistic quality must play second fiddle to condescending, pre-doomed outreach and social change strategies has been eating away at the performing arts for a decade or so now. At least now, all of us can see this corrosive approach for what it is.

I spent a lot of time on this both as a manager/employer and content creator (as we are now so dismally styled ) and came to the conclusion that targets and quotas made a difference - but not much . What really made a difference was addressing social inequalities : housing and health inequalities in particular ; and things that don’t immediately spring to mind like good quality pre school childcare and education. Trying to fix social inequalities at the apex - virtually all of my staff had a post graduate qualification like a PG Dip or MA is next to impossible - you have to look at the root causes. That’s why - in terms of addressing social injustices - cuts to things like Sure Start will have a much bigger impact than either cuts to Arts in this country or doubling the spend on them . What ACE are doing may look laudable in some eyes but it’s completely ineffective. If they really wanted ti make a difference they would have more impact volunteering for 8 hours a week as literacy coaches.

[Master Jacques]

It's hard to disagree with your expert conclusions, Ein Heldenleben. I'm tempted to add, given the CEO's inanities this morning, that he and his ACE team might be better employed working as car park attendants, bar staff and IT repair people, instead of wasting taxpayers' money pontificating from their increasingly ineffectual quango.

[Ein Heldenleben]

It's hard to disagree with your expert conclusions, Ein Heldenleben. I'm tempted to add, given the CEO's inanities this morning, that he and his ACE team might be better employed working as car park attendants, bar staff and IT repair people, instead of wasting taxpayers' money pontificating from their increasingly ineffectual quango.

Well I wouldn’t go that far and I wouldn’t say I’m an expert but even indirectly pointing the finger at the hapless Britten Sinfonia for the many injustices in our society seems a bit rich . Particularly as Ben Britten and Pears were so extraordinarily generous in their wills leaving so much to a (well - run ) charitable foundation.

[Dave2002]

I spent a lot of time on this both as a manager/employer and content creator (as we are now so dismally styled ) and came to the conclusion that targets and quotas made a difference - but not much . What really made a difference was addressing social inequalities : housing and health inequalities in particular ; and things that don’t immediately spring to mind like good quality pre school childcare and education. Trying to fix social inequalities at the apex - virtually all of my staff had a post graduate qualification like a PG Dip or MA is next to impossible - you have to look at the root causes. That’s why - in terms of addressing social injustices - cuts to things like Sure Start will have a much bigger impact than either cuts to Arts in this country or doubling the spend on them . What ACE are doing may look laudable in some eyes but it’s completely ineffective. If they really wanted to make a difference they would have more impact volunteering for 8 hours a week as literacy coaches.

An interesting view, and follows on from a conversation at lunch today. Schools in the UK have a wide variety of problems. In some areas the kids are well looked after, and parents are motivated to help, but in others - dare one mention it - probably socially deprived areas - parents and schools may be well matched - both equally useless. This almost becomes self perpetuating. Few teachers would want to go to teach in a sink school - unless they had some sort of social mission. These are the sorts of school where some of the kids come in tired, and hungry, and can't focus. Forget about education - the kids need feeding first.

If I write much more I'll probably be struck down as non PC - but I can say with some certainty that there are schools with problems like this in the part of Scotland where I currently live.

I have also had knowledge of some schools in CA - USA. There there are some very good schools, but there are also schools were the students are deprived. Thus if a teacher says "We won't be here next Monday - it's a holiday" - which in many schools might be met with cheers - many of the kids look unhappy. It's only when the message is spelled out to such a teacher "but don't you realise they won't eat again until Tuesday?" that the problems become clear.

Sometimes there are at least some remediations - such as breakfast clubs.

[Nick Armstrong]

One of the oddest things about arts funding in general (whether it's the ENO, the BBC or R3 in particular) is that there is an unquestioned assumption that great efforts should be made to appeal to people who have no interest what they are doing, and never will, no matter how hard they try. So, instead of using the money to be the best at what they do, they get distracted with meaningless and rather patronising access projects that are only there to get a few short-lived headlines. It seems that ENO went through all the hoops in this regard and it still made no difference to the final outcome.

Quite so. Something I posted about R3’s output is clearly very relevant here too:

Good words, which apply across the board and not just to opera it seems to me:

'Stop apologising, stop trying to sell our music by dumbing it down. Sell opera on the basis that it is like nothing else on the planet, not on the basis that it’s superficially cool and hip – that is so phoney.'

Joyce DiDonato

[Dave2002]

Quite so. Something I posted about R3’s output is clearly very relevant here too:

Reminds me of the old saying "You can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink".

[Nick Armstrong]

Reminds me of the old saying "You can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink".

Or Dorothy Parker’s variant involving ‘culture’…

[oddoneout]

Stop apologising, stop trying to sell our music by dumbing it down. Sell opera on the basis that it is like nothing else on the planet, not on the basis that it’s superficially cool and hip – that is so phoney.'
Joyce DiDonato

This touches on an important point in my opinion which is often overlooked. Those who haven't experienced live opera, orchestral playing or ballet will have a different reaction from those who have. The physicality of what's going on is very different from watching on a screen let alone just listening to a recording and can engage attention even if the music or art style is completely outside their reference familiarity. Children watching an orchestra will be intrigued at the different instruments, the way they are played, and the sound they make. Ballet can come as a surprise when you hear the thumping of feet on the stage floor, so at odds with the grace and fluidity of the dancers' movements. The drama of opera can be absorbed from the singer's actions and expression even if the dialogue is unknown.
Those who control, pontificate and meddle, seemingly have no understanding of that;perhaps their own experience is so long ago they have forgotten or perhaps they never had it. The inevitable result is that initiatives, targets etc risk becoming "we know best", patronising, imposed on, affairs, which even if they deliver something of value will always tend to be subject to the feeling that something much better could have been done with the resources. Listening to those who deliver successfully and have much experience of doing so seems to be something that has now been dispensed with - a case of who you know not what you know?
Another side to this is the lift that performers can get from an audiences that haven't had their reactions blunted by familiarity. The RPO has had a longstanding relationship with Lowestoft in Suffolk and one of the reasons the players enjoy their time there is that they are playing to audiences who will often react in a much more direct (honest some would argue) way since for many it will be a new and unusual experience; their responses will be to the music as they hear it rather than through the filters of comparison with other performances, composer's intention etc. Those who are more familiar with concerts appreciate not having to travel to London, and the work with schools and others brings pleasure to both the players and the pupils.
How can this sort of initiative https://www.lowestoftsfc.ac.uk/royal...nic-orchestra/ which is surely part of ensuring the future of both the arts and the people involved in them, happen if the likes of orchestras, opera and ballet companies, are not supported at least to some degree by government, and that support needs consistency and objectivity. ACE seems to have dispensed with both those qualities. There are surely better ways of ensuring that the funding is not taken for granted than having the spectre of being dropped off a cliff hanging over the head.

[oddoneout]

Only a few days separate these two quotes.

I couldn’t be prouder of our submission to the Arts Council for our next period of NPO investment, and look forward to discussions with them on what the ENO can deliver for audiences and stay true to our founding purpose that opera is for everyone.’

https://www.classical-music.uk/news/article/stuart-murphy-to-step-down-as-ceo-of-eno

If we don’t lift and shift the company then, on the budget ACE is suggesting, the only thing we can do is make the orchestra chorus and technical teams redundant.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/15/cuts-to-funding-will-decimate-english-national-opera-this-is-a-howling-mistake

[Ein Heldenleben]

Interesting about the RPO and Lowestoft. When the BSO come to Plymouth twice a year it sells out. When they go to (the supposedly more upmarket ) Exeter it generally doesn’t. When the Philharmonia came to Plymouth and did a live opera air concert following a week long tent -based digital exhibition on The Rite Of Spring they packed Armada Way . I think opera companies could do something similar even if it’s only greatest hits. Going back many years I was loosely involved in a TV / Radio classical music presentation on Plymouth Hoe . It benefited from massive marketing but there must have been 10,000 people there. It’s amazing when people actually get an opportunity to see live music and opera how much they like it. The tragedy is that they are put off by ridiculous pre-conceptions.

[oddoneout]

Interesting about the RPO and Lowestoft. When the BSO come to Plymouth twice a year it sells out. When they go to (the supposedly more upmarket ) Exeter it generally doesn’t. When the Philharmonia came to Plymouth and did a live opera air concert following a week long tent -based digital exhibition on The Rite Of Spring they packed Armada Way . I think opera companies could do something similar even if it’s only greatest hits. Going back many years I was loosely involved in a TV / Radio classical music presentation on Plymouth Hoe . It benefited from massive marketing but there must have been 10,000 people there.

It’s amazing when people actually get an opportunity to see live music and opera how much they like it

. The tragedy is that they are put off by ridiculous pre-conceptions.

And it's interesting how many times hearing something from opera is mentioned as the light bulb "my way into classical music".
Taking the arts to where people are and feel comfortable has a lot to recommend it, as does offering the chance to see and hear on a "happened to be passing" (ie can get away if it doesn't appeal) basis. I think shopping centres need to be regarded as a resource to be exploited by more than the local Britain's Got Talent wannabes!

[Master Jacques]

Interesting about the RPO and Lowestoft. When the BSO come to Plymouth twice a year it sells out. When they go to (the supposedly more upmarket ) Exeter it generally doesn’t. When the Philharmonia came to Plymouth and did a live opera air concert following a week long tent -based digital exhibition on The Rite Of Spring they packed Armada Way . I think opera companies could do something similar even if it’s only greatest hits. Going back many years I was loosely involved in a TV / Radio classical music presentation on Plymouth Hoe . It benefited from massive marketing but there must have been 10,000 people there. It’s amazing when people actually get an opportunity to see live music and opera how much they like it. The tragedy is that they are put off by ridiculous pre-conceptions.

Because people such as Serota and Henley know nothing about the lower classes, they assume that opera and orchestral music is "not for them", unless it's been dumbed down, mucked up, or wrapped in condescending tinsel. How false this is! I remember from my early Hallé-going days, as a teenager (but still able to just about afford a seat) I didn't know whether I'd be seated next to a Duke or a Dustman. We were all there for one reason - the MUSIC!

[oddoneout]

Because people such as Serota and Henley know nothing about the lower classes, they assume that opera and orchestral music is "not for them", unless it's been dumbed down, mucked up, or wrapped in condescending tinsel. How false this is! I remember from my early Hallé-going days, as a teenager (but still able to just about afford a seat) I didn't know whether I'd be seated next to a Duke or a Dustman. We were all there for one reason - the MUSIC!

And those who try and sidestep the class aspect will invoke the irrelevance line - "it doesn't speak to the youth of today", "it has nothing to offer ordinary people", "people can't identify with it". It doesn't fool anyone(least of all the target demographic) and says a fair bit about the people spouting it - none of it good I reckon.