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The Royal Opera House is to open a permanent base in Manchester. But some voices are opposed to this southern invasion
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
AFP
Marina Poplavskaya may be Manchester-bound as a result of the Royal Opera House's deal with The Palace Theatre
With a forthcoming programme of events including Freddie Starr, a stage psychic and an evening of Queen covers as performed by the former Stars in their Eyes winner Gary Mullen, Manchester's Palace Theatre is light years away from the rarefied atmosphere of London's Covent Garden.
But the grand old Victorian venue, once a powerhouse of Vaudeville and regional music hall is set to become the northern outpost of Britain's premier purveyor of the high arts when the Royal Opera and its sister company the Royal Ballet announce plans to open a permanent base in the city later this week.
The decision follows months of speculation over the future direction of the Royal Opera House chief executive Tony Hall's much-praised mission to bring Mozart to the masses. Although there are no official details yet, the move is expected to yield 35 weeks of new world-class music and dance in Manchester each year.
The plan, which has the backing of the Culture Secretary and the MP for nearby Leigh, Andy Burnham, follows a series of innovations which Mr Hall oversaw that was designed to bring high art to a wider audience. Among the more controversial ideas was this autumn's""cut price"" performance of Don Giovanni for readers of Rupert Murdoch's Sun newspaper.
But while few would turn their noses up at the prospect of seeing talent such as Marina Poplavskaya, the star of the ROH's production of Don Giovanni, there are mounting concerns as to whether the region can sustain so much extra arts programming without damaging existing venues not just in the North West but across the whole of the country.
Although no figures have been confirmed, the deal between Covent Garden and the Palace owner, Live Nation, the multibillion-dollar US promoter of acts including U2 and Madonna, is expected to involve a £100m renovation of the 2,000-capacity theatre and a further £10m each year to meet running costs.
One place which could feel the pinch is The Lowry, the Salford Quays arts venue which already plays host to touring performances by the Leeds-based Opera North and the internationally acclaimed Glyndebourne company. The futuristic complex only opened its doors in 2000 with the assistance of £21m in National Lottery funding and currently boasts the largest theatre outside the West End.
But while The Lowry's chief executive, Julia Fawcett, said she welcomed the imminent announcement, she urgently called for details of the funding plans to ensure that the arts outside London did not suffer. ""We must make absolutely certain that any proposal enhances and does not undermine the existing cultural life of the region and makes best use of public money at a time of economic difficulty,"" she said.
There have been growing hopes locally that Manchester was in line to be on the receiving end of a major government project as compensation after Gordon Brown's decision early into his leadership to scrap Britain's first supercasino, which was planned for a regeneration site in the east of the city. Mr Burnham, whose constituency lies within the boundaries of Greater Manchester, expressed his support for the scheme at the party conference in the city this year.
Before taking on his role at the Royal Opera House, Mr Hall was the head of BBC News, an organisation which is itself in the process of a major relocation to Manchester. He is also an adviser on the Department of Culture Media and Sport's creative economy board. Having taken over the top job in 2001, to the widespread dismay of the opera establishment, he has been widely credited with helping to stabilise the organisation after one of the most turbulent and at times farcical periods in its history, following the renovation of its central London base.
Having been rebuilt with the help of £78.5m of National Lottery money, it was incumbent on the ROH to prove to the Government it could reach out to ordinary people – and not just the evening gowned habitués rich enough to fork out hundreds of pounds for the best tickets at the hallowed venue.
Mr Hall has proved his detractors wrong, establishing a highly acclaimed programme of events, balancing the budget as well as setting about breaking out of the Covent Garden citadel with determined energy. He has overseen the purchase of the DVD company Opus Arte which makes performances available for home viewing as well as introducing live and pre-recorded opera and ballet to 113 cinemas across Britain. Last year, the companies performed 250 times outside its home venue, reaching a combined audience of 696,791 – nearly half of whom were new patrons. Mr Hall has also championed what he describes as the ""democratisation of our art"" through new technology, giving the ROH a presence on both YouTube and Facebook as well as offering podcasts of performances for the first time.
Even those who sneered at The Sun promotion were forced to admit that audience members, nine out of 10 of whom were sampling opera for the first time, proved a lot more appreciative than many black-tie-sporting corporate theatre-goers who spend many performances glued to their Blackberries.
According to John Allison, the editor of Opera magazine, the ROH is now ""unrecognisable"" compared to the house it was a decade ago and that the return to the regions marked the reversal of an unwelcome London-centricity that has been underway for 30 years.
""It is good news that they are going to Manchester and I wouldn't be too cynical about it – it certainly beats a casino. Though English National Opera and Covent Garden are national companies in name they are essentially metropolitan. Manchester already supports two great orchestras – The Halle and the BBC Philharmonic – so a city which can do this will certainly have room for more opera.""
Yesterday, Mr Hall said the creation of the production, training and performance base would build on the earlier successes of his seven-year tenure as chief executive. ""The Palace Theatre is an iconic building in the heart of Manchester and is a perfect location for developing our relationship with cultural and educational centres in the City,"" he said.
It also drew plaudits from Sir Howard Bernstein, the chief executive of Manchester City Council who heaped extravagant praise on the venture, describing it as a ""compelling proposition"". He insisted the presence of the Royal Opera House would ""deliver significant economic benefit to the city by attracting more visitors and creating new jobs for local people.""
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