Under pressure, the English National Opera will move to Manchester
For decades, English National Opera, the critically acclaimed British opera company, has made its home in London. There it has drawn audiences, nurtured singers and developed a host of major productions, many of which have toured the world.
But faced with financial problems – and pressure from Arts Council England, which last year cut its vital government funding and urged the country to develop ‘a new business model’ that could involve a move away from London – the UK announced National Opera announced on Tuesday that it will move its main base about 200 miles north of Manchester by 2029.
The company said in a news release that it would still present a “substantial opera season” at the London Coliseum, its home since 1968, which it owns and operates. But it will now work to develop new audiences and programs in Manchester.
Jenny Mollica, interim director of English National Opera, said the company and Manchester shared a vision of working to “open new possibilities for opera in people’s lives.”
“We look forward to embarking on new adventures with partners, artists and audiences across Greater Manchester, as we create a range of operatic repertoire on a local, national and international scale,” she said in a statement.
England’s National Opera has been in flux since Arts Council England announced last year that it was ending its subsidy to the company, worth 12.4 million pounds a year, or about $15.6 million. The Arts Council instead gave it a one-off grant to help it develop a new model, possibly outside London.
At the time, the leaders of the English National Opera, as well as many performers and audience members, expressed their opposition to the idea of relocating the company, which traces its origins to 1931, when Lilian Baylis, a theater owner, founded the Sadler’s Wells Opera Company to bring the art form to a wider audience. In 1945 the company premiered the groundbreaking Benjamin Britten opera ‘Peter Grimes’. The company found a way to serve audiences even while competing with the larger Royal Opera.
The move from London was opposed by many. Stuart Murphy, who was CEO of the English National Opera until the end of August, initially described the plan as “absurd” and “insane”, according to the BBC. reported last year.
The row soured relations with officials in Manchester, which had been shortlisted for the company’s new base, along with Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Nottingham. It revived the debate about whether smaller cities could support a major opera company.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said last year that English National Opera was not welcome if the company had any doubts.
“If they think we are all pagans here and that no one would go, then I’m afraid they don’t understand us and therefore they don’t deserve to come here,” Burnham said in a speech. report in The Guardian.
But the company and Manchester eventually found a way forward. Burnham described the English National Opera on Tuesday as “one of the most exciting cultural institutions in the country.”
“We are extremely proud to bring them to a new home here,” he said in a statement. “Greater Manchester’s world-renowned history of radical art, activism and influencing change, and the cultural renaissance taking place in our towns and cities, make it the ideal home.”
English National Opera has long played an important role in the global opera industry. After the Arts Council’s budget cuts were announced last year, dozens of leading cultural figures — including Peter Gelb, the general director of the Metropolitan Opera, and Yuval Sharon, the artistic director of the Detroit Opera — signed an agreement. letter to The Times of London, warned of a wider impact.
The company has experienced leadership turnover in recent years. In October, Martyn Brabbins, music director of the English National Opera since 2016, said: resigned suddenly. He said he “could not in good conscience continue to support the board and management’s strategy for the future of the company”, including cuts to the orchestra and choir.