Editing Opera (section)

==Funding==
Outside the US, and especially in Europe, most opera houses receive public subsidies from taxpayers.<ref>{{cite news |title=Special report: Hands in their pockets |url=https://www.economist.com/special-report/2001/08/16/hands-in-their-pockets |url-access=subscription |newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=16 August 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907172508/https://www.economist.com/special-report/2001/08/16/hands-in-their-pockets |archive-date=7 September 2018}}</ref> In Milan, Italy, 60% of La Scala's annual budget of €115&nbsp;million is from ticket sales and private donations, with the remaining 40% coming from public funds.<ref>{{cite news |last=Owen |first=Richard |title=Is it curtains for Italy's opera houses? |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/opera/article7136329.ece |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |date=26 May 2010 |access-date=23 June 2010 |archive-date=12 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712014302/https://www.the-tls.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2005, La Scala received 25% of Italy's total state subsidy of €464&nbsp;million for the performing arts.<ref>{{cite news |last=Willey |first=David |title=Italy facing opera funding crisis |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4381128.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=27 October 2005 |access-date=23 June 2010 |archive-date=12 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912080536/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4381128.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In the UK, [[Arts Council England]] provides funds to [[Opera North]], the [[Royal Opera House]], [[Welsh National Opera]], and [[English National Opera]]. Between 2012 and 2015, these four opera companies along with the [[English National Ballet]], [[Birmingham Royal Ballet]] and [[Northern Ballet]] accounted for 22% of the funds in the Arts Council's national portfolio. During that period, the Council undertook an analysis of its funding for large-scale opera and ballet companies, setting recommendations and targets for the companies to meet prior to the 2015–2018 funding decisions.<ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |website=[[Arts Council England]] |date=2015 |url=http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/our-investment-2015-18/national-portfolio/opera-and-ballet-statement/ |title=Arts Council England's analysis of its investment in large-scale opera and ballet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323121819/http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/our-investment-2015-18/national-portfolio/opera-and-ballet-statement/ |archive-date=23 March 2015 |access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref> In February 2015, concerns over English National Opera's business plan led to the Arts Council placing it "under special funding arrangements" in what ''[[The Independent]]'' termed "the unprecedented step" of threatening to withdraw public funding if the council's concerns were not met by 2017.<ref>Clark, Nick (15 February 2015). [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/news/english-national-operas-public-funding-may-be-withdrawn-10042767.html "English National Opera's public funding may be withdrawn"] ''[[The Independent]]''. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829184605/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/news/english-national-operas-public-funding-may-be-withdrawn-10042767.html |date=29 August 2017 }}. Retrieved 5 May 2015.</ref> European public funding to opera has led to a disparity between the number of year-round opera houses in Europe and the United States. For example, "Germany has about 80 year-round opera houses [as of 2004], while the U.S., with more than three times the population, does not have any. Even the Met only has a seven-month season."<ref>{{cite web |last=Osborne |first=William |title=Marketplace of Ideas: But First, The Bill A Personal Commentary on American and European Cultural Funding |url=http://www.osborne-conant.org/arts_funding.htm |date=11 March 2004 |publisher=William Osborne and Abbie Conant |access-date=21 May 2017 |archive-date=25 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025005538/http://www.osborne-conant.org/arts_funding.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>