English National Opera names five cities on relocation shortlist

The English National Opera has narrowed down its search for a new home to five cities, after being forced to move its headquarters out of London.

The opera company has been told by Arts Council England to relocate from the capital or lose its public funding.

Birmingham, Bristol, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Nottingham are on the shortlist.

"All the cities have brilliant stuff going for them," ENO chief executive Stuart Murphy told the BBC.

"But there'll be different versions of the ENO depending on which city we go to."

In November, the ENO was told to move its HQ from London after the Arts Council was instructed by the government to spread more money beyond the capital.

The Arts Council suggested Manchester, the biggest city in Europe without a resident opera company, as a possible destination.

On Tuesday, the ENO is performing in another shortlisted city, Liverpool. It will deliver an operatic take on Eurovision classics before the first semi-final of this year's song contest, which is being held in the city.

"Our performance on Tuesday is the start of us testing different things over the next few years," Mr Murphy said.

"Each city allows us to do a different version of the ENO. So what people who will see on Tuesday at Eurovision is a version of the ENO that is doing something really mad and bonkers in front of 15,000 people."

The company's orchestra and singers will perform at the official Eurovision fan village with guest vocalists including Russell Watson, 1990s pop star Sonia and Ukraine's 2004 Eurovision winner Ruslana.

"It's not that we would only do that type of opera if we were to go to Liverpool. But actually, it's really clear that Liverpool do mass-scale events sort of effortlessly," Mr Murphy added.

The company will narrow down the shortlist to three cities by the end of this month before making a final decision by the end of the year.

Asked about the criteria, he said: "We haven't said it all depends on who will put in the most money, or which is the biggest catchment area for population, or the youngest area. It's a whole combination of stuff.

"It's how excited the city is about us going there, what opportunities there are for partnerships, what things organically happen, like Eurovision.

"If there's already an opera company there, like Birmingham Opera, how can we partner with them."

Although it has told the ENO to move its main base, the Arts Council has said it does expect the company to continue to stage shows at its current home, the London Coliseum.

The Arts Council originally planned to effectively halve the ENO's grant to £17m over the next three years, even if the company did agree to move.

However, the funding body has now agreed to increase that and provide £35.5m for the next three years.

Mr Murphy said: "It won't take a brilliant mathematician to work out that we have to make exactly the same funding work for two locations, not just one.

"It's not like we're just lifting out of London and moving somewhere else. We're going to have a presence in London and open up a new base as well.

"So that's what the funding is there for. And over the three years we'll move to that [new] place."

He also warned that wider cuts would have a "cataclysmic effects for the for the classical music world".

The Arts Council handed major cuts to other opera companies like Glyndebourne and Welsh National Opera, while the BBC recently announced reductions for its English orchestras and the possible closure of the BBC Singers choir.