July 21, 2026
Athens, GR 14 C
Expand search form
Blog

Opera chiefs launch post-curtain assault on Arts Council

Opera chiefs launch post-curtain assault on Arts Council

Peter Grimes opened last night at Welsh National Opera in Cardiff. Nicky Spence was Grimes, Sally Matthews sang Ellen Orford, Sarah Connolly was Auntie and Catherine Wyn-Rogers was Mrs Sedley. The chorus, we are told, ‘sang like demons’. The conductor was music director Tomáš Hanus.

Amid the curtain calls, WNO’s co-CEOs Sarah Crabtree and Adele Thomas, came on stage and made a long, scripted speech about the companmny’s plight after cuts by Arts Council England, describiung the assault on the arts in this country as a ‘threat to democracy’.

The speech was greeted with vociferous applause. We’d like to publish the script.

The post Opera chiefs launch post-curtain assault on Arts Council appeared first on Slippedisc.

Previous Article

John Williams, in wheelchair, greets the LA Phil

Next Article

Remarkable intensity: powerful new 1980s-set Peter Grimes from Melly Still at Welsh National Opera with Nicky Spence

You might be interested in …

San Fran Symphony breaks a long colour bar

San Fran Symphony breaks a long colour bar

Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the SF Symphony have announced the appointment of Joshua Elmore as Principal Bassoon. He is apparently the orchestra’s first black principal player in 50 years. The SF Symphony have also […]

All shall have prizes: Portugal, Korea

All shall have prizes: Portugal, Korea

Portuguese mezzo Cláudia Ribas (pictured) has won the 57th International Vocal Competition ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. Second was UK mezzo Annabel Kennedy. Min Gyu Song from South Korea is the winner of the 13th edition […]

Death of rags-to-riches tenor, 87

Death of rags-to-riches tenor, 87

The Italian-US tenor Lando Bartolini, who died today, had a rags trade to riches story. Unhappy working in his family’s textile factory in Prato, he moved to Philadelphia in 1966 and started taking voice lessons […]