A statement by artistic director, John Berry:

In a climate of decreasing public investment in the arts, an explosion of new technologies and changing audience expectations, every sensible company has been thinking creatively about how to make more with less. We knew we’d have to come up with a plan which protected our unique artistic qualities but at the same time make big changes where needed. This is what we have begun to do.

While it’s challenging to manage such a substantial reduction in our funding, we have been planning for this decision for some time. We are radically reinventing ourselves, and the Arts Council’s offer of transition funding is very welcome in helping us do this.

ENO won an Olivier Award two years ago for the breadth and diversity of our artistic programme and just last week we finished a smash-hit run of Terry Gilliam’s production of Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini. It is this type of adventurous project that defines ENO and the kind we want to do more of. We need to attract ever more diverse audiences, including more first-time opera-goers, to the “Coli”, as our home is affectionately known, and to the Barbican, the Young Vic, Bristol Old Vic and cinemas — all venues where you’ll see our work in the months and years ahead.

We intend to carry on playing a key role in the London, UK and international arts scene and economy by collaborating with innovative British companies such as Improbable, Complicite and Fabulous Beast, London 2012 Olympic video artist 59 Productions and British artists such as Fiona Shaw, Richard Jones and Tom Morris. We will also continue to provide unique opportunities for new and established British singers, composers, conductors, directors and designers.

We will maintain our partnerships with 40 opera companies around the world — collaborations that have brought more than £20 million in investment to the UK over recent years and made it possible for London audiences to see exciting new work that without those partnerships would not have been made.

How are we going to do all that in the face of funding cuts? We’re going to be as creative off the stage as we are on it.

We’ve already formed collaborations with commercial partners willing to make substantial investments in ENO’s vision — such as Michael Grade and Michael Linnit, with whom we’ll begin producing large-scale, high-quality musical theatre next season, and with restaurant chain Benugo. The BFI and the British Museum have been transformed by Benugo and it is going to help us open up the Coliseum to visitors throughout the day. Plus we have the invaluable support of a network of friends, donors and partners and a whole heap of dedication from the incredibly talented people we have working in our team.

There’s more to do and maybe you won’t even notice the changes if your gaze is fixed on the performances on our stage. That’s how it should be. But behind the scenes we’ll be working hard to make sure ENO is fit for the future and our work is totally unmissable.

Because this isn’t about being a winner or a loser — it’s about making sure that everyone benefits from something that is so much more than a game.

Colum McCann, whose novel Dancer depicted the inner life of the great Rudolf Nureyev, was taken to hospital in New Haven, Ct., after trying to help a woman who was being attacked.

He’s a good man and a terrific writer. We wish him a swift recovery.

We reported a couple of days back that the Lyric Opera had a record year.

Larry Johnson, one the scene and on the ball, points out that the company had to draw down $15 million from its endowment to stay in the black.

Read here.

A remarkable document has been retrieved and published by two Mahler scholars, Morten Solvik and Stephen E. Hefling. It consists of a letter to her literary executor by Natalie Bauer-Lechner, a viola player who attached herself to Mahler at college and became, for a decade, his personal chronicle during vacations that she took with his family. Her memoirs are vivid and, to all appearances, invaluably objective.

Natalie was in love with Mahler, of that there is no question. Mahler mostly tolerated her and was sometimes irritated enough to banish her. After his marriage to Alma in March 1902, she was expunged from his life. She died impoverished in 1921.

It has been generally assumed until this discovery that Mahler was not physically attracted to Natalie – in fact, actively repelled by her. There is one incident in Berlin when she appeared to force herself upon him and was driven from his room.

In the sixty-page letter, however, Natalie claims to have enjoyed a full sexual relationship with Mahler through the 1890s, avoiding detection by his jealous sister, Justine. She was also, at the time, in an open relationship with Mahler’s married friend Siegfried Lipiner.

Natalie goes on to list in the letter several more of Mahler’s lovers, including the singers Marie Renard, Rita Michalek and Selma Kurz –  but not his protégée Anna von Mildenburg, with whom we know from passionate letters and other evidence that he had a relationship.

So what are we to make of this fascinating new document (which you can read here in German and English)?

If the letter is factual, every Mahler biography including my own will have to be rewritten. If not, it may cast doubt on the authenticity of other facts for which we rely upon Natalie as sole witness.

Given certain internal inconsistencies in the letter, some of which are noted by Solvik and Hefling, the prospect of rewriting biographies  seems unlikely for the time being. Natalie , when she wrote this document,was a woman in her late 50s, looking back on two men, Lipiner and Mahler, neither of whom returned her feelings. She loathed Justi and Alma and may have revenge. She was also unwell, with spells of amnesia and mental illness.

These caveats aside, the letter cannot be ignored. The passage in which she describes her first lovemaking with Mahler deserves to be widely read – not least because Natalie maintains that it was his love for her that brought the third symphony and ten songs into being:

‘Gustav drew me up to his room in the attic…. The way we found ourselves there’ locked in tight quarters and separated from the rest of the world, unfolding our entire lives to each other until the early dawn in the most moving, intimate Scheherezadian manner of telling; the way that the creative power in Mahler, drained away for ten years, returned anew, more powerful than ever because of my belief in his genius and my enthusiastic encouragement…. Would it not have been a wonder, even a sin, if such a transfiguration and consummation of life had not been followed by the highest expression of love?’

The German conductor, who turns 87 on July 18, has been obliged to withdraw from his annual birthday concert in Paris with the Orchestre Nationale de France. Kurt is struggling with Parkinson’s Disease. We send him warm wishes for his birthday.

A unique gift has enable the orch to offer 15,000 free tickets on Cleveland Foundation Day.

Read on:

On July 20, up to 15,000 Northeast Ohioans will be able to enjoy The Cleveland Orchestra concert featuring the music of Weber, Mozart and Shostakovich while sitting on the Blossom Music Center lawn — for free.

Tickets are required to attend the concert. The public will be able to reserve free lawn tickets through the Cleveland Foundation’s website starting Monday, July 7, at 10 a.m. at www.clevelandfoundation.org/orchestra.

With each of up to 5,000 free adult lawn tickets reserved, two additional free tickets for children 17 and under can also be reserved through the Orchestra’s Under 18s Free program for families. Ticketing through the foundation’s website will remain open until all lawn tickets have been reserved for the concert.

The Japanese-American violinist is expecting a baby.

Midori, 42, has cancelled a performance this month with the New York Philharmonic. A statement said she ‘has been advised by her physicians to curtail work and travel for a brief period due to complications of pregnancy.’

We hope she’s well and are delighted for her.

When I met the great mezzo for a BBC Lebrecht Interview in 2008 (not presently available on line), I was struck by how comfortable she was – in herself, her relationship, her past, her place in the world – while remaining full of ambition, energy and an urge to improve the world of singing.

Two of her comments are analysed here.

Brigitte is 75 today.

May she live to 100.

Matching the Berlin Staatsoper’s record season, the Komische Oper has announced a huge increase in attendance – up to 85% capacity from 75 last year, and more than 30,000 extra tickets sold.

The Komische, led by the Australian director Barry Kosky, was named opera house of the year by the magazine Opernwelt.

Opera is on a roll.

Job offer:

The Royal Opera House produces some of the best opera and ballet in the world, in one of London’s most iconic buildings. We are currently seeking part-time Ushers to work at performances and events during the evening and daytime, providing first-class customer service and ensuring the safety and security of customers and visitors.

Description

£8.80 per hour, permanent contract – from 2 September 2014

Part-time (either three or six shifts per week, each shift a minimum of four hours)

Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate the following:

• Previous experience of working with the public in the provision of a service.
• Excellent customer service skills.
• Positive and highly-motivated, with the ability to work pro-actively and flexibly in a friendly, enthusiastic and helpful manner with a wide range of people.
• The ability to accurately handle money and stock, with strong mental arithmetic.
• Good clear, English language and strong communication skills, including the ability to understand and respond to written and spoken instructions and briefings.
• The ability to work calmly and efficiently under pressure.

An interest in theatre would be an advantage but is not essential. Please note that this work involves some lifting and manual handling and requires the ability to work at height and stand or sit for long periods of time. First Aid skills would also be an advantage.

You must be available to work Saturdays and evenings, be able to start work week beginning 1 September 2014, be available to work over the Christmas period and commit to work for us for at least six months. Please indicate in your application whether you wish to work three or six shifts per week.

Information on how to apply for this position is available on our website www.roh.org.uk. If you have any queries regarding the recruitment process please email hr.recruitment@roh.org.uk or call 020 7212 9124.

Closing date for applications is 10am on Monday 7th July 2014.

Mention Slipped Disc in your application.

We have been notified of the death of Kay Hurwitz, widow of the effulgent violinist Emanuel Hurwitz and herself a formidable force in strings education across Europe well into her 80s.

Kay was a formidable viola player and chamber musician who developed her interests away from her husband’s high profile as leader (concertmaster) of the English Chamber Orchestra and Otto Klemperer’s Philharmonia. Both were regulars at Aldeburgh, where Britten relied on Manny for advice on strings technique. Kay played in the Melos Ensemble, under Manny’s leadership.

She encouraged Elspeth Iliff, her former au pair, to found the European Strings Teachers Association (ESTA), and herself set up Youth Music in Hampstead and various summer schools. Many careers began in her teaching studio.

Kay is survived by a son and a daughter.

Do share your memories of this wonderful woman and couple.

Hot on the heels of the Met’s wretched Wagner returns comes news from Amsterdam that their recent Ring cycle sold out – and more. Presumably some tickets were sold twice over or some of the skimpier Dutch agreed to share their seat to achieve a 101% records.

Statistics for Dutch National Opera 2013-14 season: 92% capacity attendance, 1o5,000 tickets sold, highest revenue. And this in a city of 750,000 population.

Are you reading, Peter Gelb?