UK government criticises top salaries at the Royal Opera House
8 November 2010, London, UK
ROH chief executive, Tony Hall
The UK government has criticised salaries being paid to senior management and artistic staff at London’s Royal Opera House – the country’s most heavily subsidised cultural institution.
An analysis of the institution’s annual report to the UK Charities Commission shows two top salary bands totalling over £1.2 million per year.
Although the top earners are not named, they have been identified as music director Antonio Pappano (£630,000) and chief executive, Tony Hall (£390,000).
By comparison, Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the four Tate galleries in London, Liverpool and Cornwall, receives £180,000, while Sir Nicholas Hytner, artistic director the National Theatre in London, earns £165,000.
Commenting on the Royal Opera House report, the Liberal Democrat arts spokesman and MP, Don Foster, said:
“People will be shocked at the salaries of these two people. In today’s climate of cuts in the arts and people agreeing themselves to drops in salaries, I think the Opera House board should take another look.”
The Royal Opera House currently receives over £28 million per year as one of Arts Council England’s 850 Regularly Funded Organisations (RFOs), however from 2012 a new application process will replace the RFO system “with decisions made on the basis of strategic priorities.”
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