ENO

Craig Simpson jaa

The Arts Council is a “philistine” organisation that has “emasculated” English National Opera, a board member has said, after quitting in an escalating classical music row.

Former Supreme Court judge Lord Jonathan Sumption has left the board of the ENO over a “forced” plan for it to relocate outside London, or have its £12 million funding slashed entirely.

Lord Sumption has called the plan put forward by Arts Council England a “travesty” that will leave ENO an “emasculated” ensemble without a paying public or professional musicians.

He has argued in a resignation letter seen by The Telegraph that without the guarantee of a financially viable audience outside the capital, the move outside London would effectively be a “delayed death sentence” for the company.

Writing to the director of the ENO, he stated:  “ENO will become a mere brand-name for a fringe offering, a pale imitation of the real thing that we have been putting on in London for decades.

“Our advertisements used to promise ‘magnificent opera, sung in English’. What is now proposed is a travesty of our values, our traditions and our achievements.”

He added that the ENO’s directors would not have accepted the Arts Council’s proposals unless their hand had been forced.

He said: “The only advantage in continuing under these conditions is that a change of personnel at the Arts Council may at some stage produce a less philistine approach and that a new government may have a more realistic view of the value of a great capital city. But it is hard to be optimistic even about that.

“It is one thing for public authorities to save a thriving company such as ENO currently is. It is another thing altogether for them to help rebuild it once it has been emasculated in the way that the Arts Council currently proposes.”

Arts Council England announced in 2022 that the ENO - based at the London Coliseum -  would lose 100% of its £12 million funding unless it moved out of the capital, presenting the choice between relocating and effectively “closing down”, according to critics of the decision.

ENO has since been given £11 million in “emergency funding” to prop up planned productions following crisis talks overseen by the government, ultimately rising to £24 million to support a move outside the capital.

However, no alternative base has been confirmed.  Arts Council Chief Executive Darren Henly has suggested a new generation of opera lovers could enjoy the artform “in car parks” or pubs.

Lord Sumption has stated this small-scale “provincial” approach is “patronising” to intended audiences outside London sought after by the Arts Council, and will additionally not allow ENO to reach its full potential by playing as a large-scale ensemble.

He has raised concerns that the proposals so far will involve musicians playing as “scratch teams in unidentified venues in an as yet unidentified city”, along with venues including “churches, schools, libraries, cafés, private homes”.

The former judge has said that even the largest venues outside of London will not draw the same audience for opera, which has been carefully grown in the capital, and will leave the ENO ultimately without a paying public to support its activities.

Lord Sumption has stated that this amounts to the Arts Council “forcing on ENO a model which, artistically and financially, is no more than a delayed death sentence”.

Concerns have also been raised with the ability of the company to retain its professional musicians, with “families and mortgages” in London, who will only be able to play in the capital for a limited time each year, as the ENO will be largely operating further afield.

This, he has argued, will inevitably lead to talent being drained from the organisation, and reduce it to a “scratch” ensemble with members unused to playing together.

ENO boss Stuart Murphy had previously warned that a financial “sword of Damocles” hung over the classical company as a result of Arts Council cuts and the uncertainties of relocation.

The alleged threats to the future of the ENO in London first arose in 2022 when a new funding arrangement was announced, which led to the Welsh National Opera having its £6 million funding cut by a third, and the Royal Opera House losing £3 million compared to its £25 million grant from the previous funding settlement.

Sussex opera house Glyndebourne lost half of its £1.6 million funding. The cuts were branded “contradictory”, after the Arts Council offered its stated aim to cater for “everyone, everywhere” by redistributing funding, as the loss meant its annual tour was cancelled.

Arts Council England has been contacted for comment. In April, it issued a joint statement with the ENO saying the company’s developing plans are “based on a reimagined artistic and business model with a primary base out of London, whilst continuing to own, manage and put on work at the London Coliseum.”