English National Opera (ENO) will close permanently in April next year if it is forced to move out of London, its Chair has warned.
The organisation was one of the most high-profile casualties of Arts Council England's latest investment decisions having been dropped from the National Portfolio, through which it was provided £12.5m a year.
ACE has offered it up to £17m over three years to relocate, potentially to Manchester, but The Stage reports that, speaking at an All-Party Parliamentary Group for opera last week, ENO Chair Harry Brünjes said the idea of moving the ENO out of London needed to be "flattened".
"There is a lot of discussion around relocation to Manchester, and we have got to flatten that immediately. There is no relocation," Brünjes said
He criticised ACE’s decision, insisting supporters should not be distracted by the word "relocation", as he argued that, unless the cut was reversed or additional funding found, it would be the end of the ENO.
He added: "This is closing ENO down. This is losing 600 jobs from London of talented and devoted and able people across all departments – so let’s get this clear."
"Manchester is the final scene of The Wizard of Oz – you pull [back] the curtain, and there is a bloke turning a wheel and puffing smoke in the air.
"So as it stands, ENO will close in April after nearly a century, and that’s the end of it."