The ENO is proposing to cut the jobs of a quarter of its orchestra, and an unspecified number of its chorus
When English National Opera’s music director Martyn Brabbins tended his resignation “effective immediately” on Sunday night it was a statement of protest. “I cannot in all conscience,” the conductor explained, “continue to support the Board and Management’s strategy for the future of the company”. For anyone following the long-running ENO saga, it was déjà vu.
Wigglesworth didn’t specify what those pillars were, but it’s safe to assume that the company’s award-winning chorus – named the best in the world at 2016’s International Opera Awards – and orchestra were among them: the same chorus and orchestra now, seven years later, threatened with new and life-threatening cuts.The proposal that pushed Brabbins over the edge sees over a quarter of the company’s orchestra and an unspecified number of chorus jobs cut.
It’s also the difference between a national resource and a part-time cultural supplement. At its peak, ENO was essential: staging a wide-ranging, year-round season at affordable prices – “opera for all”, as its founders’ original envisaged.Now, with both productions and performance numbers slashed, and the Coliseum rented out over ever-extending summer and Christmas periods, it looks increasingly expendable.
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