With a slap of firm government from Labour, opera lovers in Britain are aghast at plans announced by the Culture Secretary, Mr Chris Smith, this week to force the English National Opera (ENO) to abandon its current home and join with two other companies in an attempt to save money. Under the government's proposals, the ENO will leave the London Coliseum near Covent Garden and join the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House (ROH) nearby, which will be renamed the Covent Garden Theatre when its redevelopment is complete.
The future of the three companies will be reviewed by a task force set up by the government and led by the former director of the National Theatre, Sir Richard Eyre. But it is the government's proposal to have the Covent Garden Theatre run along the lines of a separate, non-profit company leasing itself to each of the companies that has drawn the fiercest criticism from opera buffs. The ENO's music director, Mr Paul Daniel, said yesterday that he was "greatly concerned" a move across to Covent Garden would undermine its identity. The company was rescued from its debt of u4 £4 million by a National Lottery grant this year and its members favoured a new home close to the Tower of London.
Similarly, the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet have struggled to keep touring with debts of about £5 million and a mixed response at the box office despite a government subsidy of £15 million a year. Underlining the ROH's financial difficulties, its chairman, Lord Chadlington, told the Culture, Media and Sports Select Committee sitting in the House of Commons yesterday that without additional funds the ROH would be "insolvent" within "a very short time". The ROH must come up with a rescue plan before a crucial meeting with the Arts Council next week or it could go into receivership.
Mr Smith remained committed to the plans yesterday saying they would provide a "long-term solution, not a solution to the immediate crisis". The government's hand had been forced, he indicated, because of the funding problems faced by each of the companies. As well as appearing in London and touring throughout the country, which the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet have been unable to do during the £213 million redevelopment of the ROH, a combined residency would save the government and the taxpayer money, Mr Smith said.