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In the frame? … John Berry.
In the frame? … John Berry. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe for the Guardian
In the frame? … John Berry. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe for the Guardian

Bolshoi denies reports John Berry is to join company's management team

This article is more than 7 years old

Former ENO head, who left the beleaguered UK opera house last year, has not confirmed stories he is to be given a senior appointment at the Russian theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre has denied reports that the former artistic director of English National Opera, John Berry, is to join them as one of the house’s managers.

Last summer, Berry left the repeatedly beleaguered ENO after more than 20 years at the company as casting director, director of programmes and, from 2005, artistic director.

He had been blamed as the principal reason for the ENO’s recent troubles by the company’s former chairman Martyn Rose, who said Berry had to leave for “the very survival of the ENO … preferably soon”.

On Monday, the Financial Times reported that Berry was heading to a top job at the Bolshoi, a place where senior positions usually go to Russians. But the Bolshoi’s general director Vladimir Urin said in a statement: “[The] Bolshoi does not intend to hire Mr Berry as one of the house’s top managers.”

Urin said the company was working with Berry on “one creative project” and that he was coming to Moscow for the premiere this week of Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust, at which point “we will discuss our collaboration further”. The company said full details would be announced after that.

Newspaper reports have suggested Berry will fill a newly created artistic post, developing new collaborations with opera houses, directors and performers around the world.

One of Berry’s notable achievements at the ENO was his success in bringing in new directors to opera, such as Terry Gilliam, who staged The Damnation of Faust in 2011 and Benvenuto Cellini in 2014; and Mike Leigh, who directed Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance.

Berry resigned last year, saying his work at the Coliseum was done, adding: “ENO is today regarded as one of the most creative forces in opera. The decision feels right to leave at the end of a hugely successful season both from an artistic perspective and in terms of audience numbers.”

However, Berry was leaving an organisation which was in turmoil off-stage. Arts Council England (ACE) cut its funding by almost a third in 2014 and it was removed from their national portfolio in February last year, effectively placing it in special measures while it was ordered to improve its governance and business model.

That decision followed the resignations of Rose – and his damning assessment of Berry – and executive director Henriette Götz.

While Berry has had many critics, he has also had many supporters. A month after ACE placed the ENO in special measures, an open letter signed by heads of some of the most ambitious opera companies was published.

Signatories included Peter Gelb of New York’s Metropolitan Opera and Alexander Pereira of La Scala in Milan. Their letter said: “Under Berry’s strong 10-year leadership, the ENO is today regarded as one of the most creative forces in opera, consistently producing important new work.

“At a time when it has helped to further embellish London’s reputation as a leading centre of cultural creativity, it doesn’t seem fair for the ENO to now be under fire.”

Since Berry’s departure, the ENO’s woes have continued with a strike by its chorus narrowly averted and the resignation of its musical director Mark Wigglesworth.

It is hoping for smoother times ahead, under the leadership of Daniel Kramer, who takes up the job of artistic director on 1 August. Kramer said in April: “My intention is to champion this family and to inspire audiences night after night with a thrilling programme of musical diversity, attracting audiences from opera to operetta through to popular music.”

Berry has declined to comment.

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