Wales names two political women opera chiefs
OperaWelsh National Opera is in trouble. It has hired two co-directors, both with social-campaigning credentials.
From today’s press release:
Welsh National Opera has announced today that internationally renowned Opera and Theatre Director Adele Thomas and visionary Creative Producer from The Royal Opera, Sarah Crabtree will jointly take up the role of WNO’s General Director & CEO from January next year….
Adele Thomas (pictured) has firmly established herself as a major force in opera and passionate advocate of the artform and has a specific interest in campaigning for support for directors from lower income backgrounds…
Sarah Crabtree is Creative Producer and head of Linbury Theatre at The Royal Opera House… Sarah also drives the Royal Opera’s equality, diversity & inclusion agenda.
Do the ellipsis points indicate that in between their social credentials they also have musical ones?
It looks like Norman has cherrypicked parts from WNO materials, missing out the details of their operatic experience…
Two for the price of two. But finances are too tough for a full time chorus and orchestra…
I assumed it would be a job share?
A really great appointment by the WNO. Congratulations to the both of them, great to see a Welsh talent leading the Welsh opera!
Sounds like good news from WNO. Now all we need is for the new Government to sort out the Arts Councils and the status quo will be restored.
Is this the Adele Thomas who wrecked Il Trovatore at ROH? If so, WNO are more than welcome .
That didn’t work for me either – but as contrast her Semele at Glyndebourne last summer was stunning.
I saw both Trovatore and Semele enjoyed both Trovatore was unusual but certainly not boring
Renowned internationally! Passionate! Visionary! Lower income directors, (to be paid lower incomes)!
The only important information is obscured by too many words: Have they done good in other Opera Hauses?
What mediocre appointments. Lately I wonder why the ACE didn’t simply combine WNO, ENO and Glyndebourne Touring into one FULL TIME, FULLY PAID orchestra and chorus of great power to match the ROH. Versus the decimated leftovers scrambling for cash and any artists or leaders of real power. And we all know – deep down – Labour won’t be throwing money back into the arts. It’s already clear they are remaining firm with – arts for everyone (aka, more outside London) and DEI leading all choices.
Yeah, merge companies based in Brighton, London and Cardiff with staff living hundreds of miles apart, completely different touring territories, and funding bases spread across two separate devolved administrations, over one of which the ACE has no jurisdiction. You’ve thought this out, haven’t you?
Your knee-jerk reaction only proves the point above: reducing the absurd overheads of 3-4 minor opera companies to focus more money on the Artists would be a brilliant way to empower full scale opera to more UK citizens, versus three stupidly expensive middle management staffs in three separate cities who have enough money to do squat post the Tory Party decimation of your UK classical arts. While I understand Zania’s ideas are radical for the angry, wounded British arts world, from an EU perspective, Zania’s points would offer more money to Artists and less to all the middle management who eat yearly cash from your dying ACE. Their point is clearly to make one strong touring company that covers ALL of those areas, with ONE management team, one FULL time chorus, one FULL time orchestra … it’s not a horrible idea if you take a breath to reflect instead of reacting. WNO and ENO – like Scottish Opera and even ON – are underfunded half-time companies now. However you want to view it: they are almost dead. Making one well funded company that plays at Cardiff, London, and tours all of the other spots would be a powerful way of getting FULL SCALE opera to more people. Else look into your crystal ball: within 10 years WNO and ENO are gone. With a weak ON leftover. And Glyndebourne continuing to deliver polite British opera to elderly soon to be dead white people. Wake up. Your arts scene is endangered and British pride is getting in the way of seeing practical ways forward to survive. Crib to Cradle is dead. America has redefined arts funding, for the worse, granted, but the Brits are clearly remodeling based on US arts philosophy. Wise up now or your scene will be dead before you know.
how are they “political?”
Nowadays opera tries to get more accessible, and to find new, younger audiences, and given the current trend of focussing on RELEVANCE, the idea is to make the art form more socially relevant and more compatible with the modern world as it really is (implying that opera is about irrelevant historic things and dead people with crazy customs). An opera theatre should be more related to the entire community of the town or city, in all its diversity, and that means: making opera accessible to people who would ‘normally’ never want to set a foot into the theatre building. So, staff is appointed who are supposed to develop new ideas to get all this done. All these intentions are entirely legitimate.
The problem arises when attempts are made to address the outside of the art form, the ‘wrapping paper’, i.e. presentation, marketing, publicity, to make opera look more ‘contemporary’ and low treshold. This often includes the way ‘old war horses’ are staged, to make them look like contemporary shows, which clashes with the nature of the work. It is like changing the dress of a woman to understand her better, to make a better contact with her as a human being.
Because the modern world is so focussed on the outside of things, and target audiences are supposed to only be sensitive to outward appearances, the one thing that really MAY work is forgotten: education and information about what opera really IS. This is not a matter of presentation but of correct information, and at the heart of the matter is the notion that opera is a contemporary art form in itself, timeless, and not a museum product. It is a sung play about universal emotional experiences, carried by the music, and all the good works are contemporary forever. The wrapping paper is not important, and all attempts at ‘adapting to contemporary needs’ are doomed to fail because winning new audiences can only succeed by addressing their inner life experiences, not any idea of modern wrapping paper.