Verdi or the force of destiny?

Earlier this year, the wonderful Albanian soprano, Ermonela Jaho, made her Royal Opera House debut after flying in overnight from New York to step into the shoes of the Russian soprano, Anna Netrebko, who became ill after her first performance as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata. The Home Office and the UK Border Agency pulled out all the stops to get Ms Jaho a work permit at such short notice. Without their help, we would have disappointed many thousands of audience members that night. However if the Home Office proposals for a new points-based immigration system go ahead this autumn, getting many foreign artists at a very late stage would no longer be possible and performances could be cancelled.

Artists from outside the European Economic Area will be subject to a points-based scheme to qualify for entry, and many will have to get a biometric visa. It will add many more financial and bureaucratic hurdles to British arts organisations. Each artist in a visiting dance troupe, opera company or orchestra will have to individually attend a British consulate to obtain a visa, surrendering their passports for a few days, and then get it renewed after six months… These barriers will diminish the artistic vibrancy and the richness of British cultural life. The Home Office states that the new scheme will “ensure that UK borders are open to people who bring talent, business and creativity, but closed to those who might cause harm or come here illegally”. But it is hard to imagine a group of people to whom this applies more directly than the international artists who perform with our companies and on our stages.

Excerpted from a comment by Tony Hall in ‘The Times’