Dáil debates
Thursday, 14 October 2010
Performing Arts
4:00 pm
Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
My predecessor announced a decision to set up Irish National Opera, INO, in December 2009 and appointed an interim board to undertake this task.
The process of forming this new entity is a collaborative one involving my Department, the Arts Council, Opera Ireland and Opera Theatre Company, OTC. The latter is fully engaged in that process and is represented on the interim board of INO.
The new opera company will not be in a position to produce its first full season until 2012 and one of the many challenges to be addressed in that regard is ensuring that public resources are available to meet the ambition of having a world class national opera company in Ireland. The Government remains committed to that ambition. In ensuring that we reach it we have taken the best advice internationally and the former director of the Welsh National Opera is on the interim board of the INO. Meanwhile, Opera Theatre Company will continue to produce opera in 2011 and will be funded to do so by the Arts Council. This has been agreed between the interim board, my Department and the Arts Council.
The building of a wider and more informed audience for opera is a crucial task for INO, which will have the mission of bringing opera to all ages and social groups. OTC has experience in this area and its outreach programme is one of its outputs. It has a wonderful track record artistically and is well managed. Regionally, it is the face, voice and sound of opera in Ireland.
It is of the utmost importance that future arrangements for opera provision in Ireland are organisationally well grounded and financially sensible, with due consideration given to putting appropriate arrangements and resources in place that will ensure the success of that endeavour over the coming years. It is also essential that developmental opportunities are provided for Irish opera talent and that we add to our cultural stock internationally. To this end, my Department and the Arts Council will continue to engage the interim board with a view to achieving a sustainable model for medium to long term opera provision in Ireland. As previously announced, Opera Ireland will be wound down after its autumn season, as its business model for opera provision is no longer sustainable in the current fiscal and arts funding environment. However, there will be public provision for opera in 2011.
Brendan Quinn
Posted on 28 Oct 2010 11:52 pm (Report this comment)
Mary, thank you for listening to all those that had voiced their opinion about the loss of OTC; to have discarded this talent pool would have been an act of vandalism. Whilst your predecessors idea for a National Opera Company was very well meaning, I am not sure he had read the plot of most operas - which tend to end in a sorry mess. Your very exalted board will no doubt have spelt out the cost of having a realistic funding for a National Opera Company, I am trying to read betwen the lines in your statement - I remain very cynical about this whole affair; last year the combined OTC/OI grant was 2.45 million - to have a national opera company to achieve what is in the brief the subvention will need to be a great deal more - An example being Welsh National Opera - who two years ago received 10.8 million sterling - about 60% of the company income, Opera is expensive and good quality touring opera is very expensive - Your comment "It is of the utmost importance that future arrangements for opera provision in Ireland are organisationally well grounded and financially sensible, with due consideration given to putting appropriate arrangements and resources in place that will ensure the success of that endeavour over the coming years." is very telling - in this sentence you did not mention INO, which seems to suggest their may be another rabbit to pull out the hat to provide a menu of opera in ireland - I don't believe the model of a national opera company will happen - I hope I am wrong but I am not taking bets on it happening. Here is an alternative plan for you:
Drop the idea for a national opera company - to achieve what is intended the company will be underfunded and will be a mere repeat of Opera Ireland.
Accept that in real terms (taking Wexford out of the equation - that is a separate entity) the subvention for opera outside the WFO is going to remain at 2.45 million.
Double the grant of 650k given to OTC to 1.3 million and agree a service level agreement for them to produce and tour 2.5 operas per annum (ie a 2/3 split over 2 years). to the scale they do now.
Use the remaining 1.15 millin to subvent touring by other other companies - For example I am sure the production team in Wexford could give us a "non festival" repertory opera given in Wexford/Dublin in the Spring for say 400k subvention. Tours by Scottish opera, Welsch national and Opera North from the UK could be subvented. Michael Dervan wrote recently about the success of Scottish Operas boheme in Dublin but the tickets for this show - which was not supported by the Arts council were more expensive than Covent Garden! in Dublin but a reasonable price in Belfast (subvented by NIAC). It would do no harm to give Lyric Opera 100k a year to help that splendid company with the mainstream semi staged opera they put on at the NCH, this small company also deserves praise. OTC would de facto be "our" national opera comapny with an excellent programme of developing young Irish talent - the whole opera menu of whats on offer could be managed by a small agency that would promote all opera in Ireland - The National Opera idea is a bit of an ego trip which I think you inherited from your predecessor - What you need to be looking at is What is the menu of opera on offer in Ireand. There is a lot of twaddle spoken about cultural tourism - we have a gem for cultural tourists in Wexford - don't try and kid yourself for one minute that a small regional opera company which is what INO will the equivalent of is going to attract throngs of tourits in from say the UK to see a performance of Tosca or Boheme - it might stop some of us travelling as much as we do to the UK to see the likes of WNO, but lets not fool ourselves. What this whole process is and should be about is What is the menu of Opera like in Ireland. So here is my vision:
We have an international superstar in Wexford.
We have a superstar that should be developed further in OTC, with extra cash and a fantastic company ethos they coudl deliver so much value for money.
We need a diet of basic mainstream opera - giving us about 3 productions a year - A Wexford Touring Opera Company - (child of the Wexford Festival?) could in part achieve this - and inviting well established companies to visit us could also help fill this part of the menu.
National Opera Company? Unless you are really going to fund it properly - its a piped dream. What you could do on a centralised basis is have a centralised marketing agency that promotes the work of all of these opera providers to the opera going audience in Ireland - and pulls together the strands in some cohesive manner. If we got this much the opera goers in ireland would be happy with their lot.