In the ecology of the country house opera – privately funded, watched by dedicated but relatively small audiences – much remains hidden or invisible. Clothing optional and high ticket prices steal headlines, mostly negative. Their short season, which began in May, is coming to an end. (The older, larger, better-funded Glyndebourne operates somewhat differently, though… Read More »
Every opera company, large, small, private, public, urban or suburban, is preoccupied with the same dry equation: how to combine artistic ambition with financial reality. One answer will always be correct. Georges Bizet Carmen. Going gold at the box office, this 1875 French masterpiece is everywhere. The Royal Opera House’s new staging has been extended.… Read More »
The anti-opera lobby at Arts Council England must be rubbing their hands with glee: an 11.8 per cent cut to home-based funding from Welsh Arts has been added to the draconian 35 per cent cut they have taken for Welsh National Opera. Council. The result was to plunge the company into a financial crisis and… Read More »
The Royal Opera House is to change its name to put ballet on equal footing with opera, in a “long overdue” move according to Covent Garden bosses. From the new season, which starts in September, the organization will be called the Royal Ballet and Opera (but the building will remain the Royal Opera House). It… Read More »