Page 942 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

Leo Bill, John Relyea and Crispin Lord in English National Opera’s production of Duke Bluebeard’s Castle. The
company has been relocated to Manchester
NIRAH SANGHANI
Opera

The problem

Morale has never been so low. It’s not just the lamentable decision by ACE to force English

National Opera to relocate to Manchester (already served by the excellent Opera North),

probably ditching its orchestra and chorus in the process. Huge budget cuts have also been

imposed on Welsh National Opera and Mid Wales Opera (some of them signed off by the

Labour-run Welsh government, which gives one pause for thought). With ENO, WNO and

Scottish Opera all presenting a small fraction of the shows they gave 30 years ago, your chances
of seeing a live opera performance with full-size orchestra are rather less than they were in the

1930s — unless, that is, you can afford Royal Opera tickets or similarly priced admission to the

privately run summer opera festivals.

The solution

Britain either wants to support proper opera or it doesn’t. For our national companies to operate
with part-time or pint-sized orchestras and choruses is a hopeless travesty of the art form. And