The great conductor Simon Rattle hit a nerve when he talked about the recent cuts to the “flesh of our culture”. Three years after the pandemic started, audiences might be back, but confidence that the arts can withstand waning government support isn’t, and classical music isn’t alone in feeling beleaguered.
When I became director of the National Theatre in 2003, things could not have been more different. Government investment was flowing into the arts and the Arts Council had the resources to fund a renaissance in regional theatre. Between 1997 and 2007 arts spending doubled; dance, opera and classical music all flourished.
