An Arts entrepreneur, who has brought the Bolshoi to London in the past talks frankly, as always:

Raymond Gubbay: Populist showman who likes the sound of success
By Simon Tait for The Independent

The origins of the great war between Raymond Gubbay, showman of operatic production, and the publicly-financed opera establishment can be traced to his lavish and disastrous Wembley Arena production of Turandot in 1991.

That opening night was festive, even if two-thirds of the 8,000 seats were empty, and he still smiles wryly at the crassness of having a champagne bar insisted on by the Royal Opera marketing department next to the one selling the more familiar Wembley fare of crisps and lager.

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<small>[ 14 December 2003, 09:33 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

An article about Raymond Gubbay, the arts entrepreneur who is bringing the Stanislavsky Ballet this Christmas. Have a guess whether the interviewer brings up the question of ballet?

You can all join in
Raymond Gubbay aims to make London the opera capital of Europe. Genius? Fool? Robert Thicknesse met him for The Times


Thankless tasks, no 23: getting the English to swallow high art, particularly if it happens to be music. Gilbert & Sullivan did it by dressing up their shows as amiable burlesques. After that, well, there’s always the Opera Babes . . . Raymond Gubbay’s preferred method was always to fill the Albert Hall with big bangs and coloured smoke in his Classical Spectaculars.

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<small>[ 14 December 2003, 09:38 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>