Barenboim saves Berlin opera at cost of 300 jobs

Daniel Barenboim's Berlin opera house appeared yesterday to have won its battle for survival, with a rescue by the state at the cost of 300 jobs.

The German capital, laden with debts of almost £30bn, is under intense pressure to curb the generous sums it spends on maintaining its status as one of Europe's outstanding cultural centres.

Under proposals announced by the city's arts chief, the Staatsoper and its renowned orchestra, the Staatskapelle, would retain their independence. But the three opera houses would pool a wide range of technical and administrative facilities and their ballet companies.

A Staatsoper spokesman said the precise details of the scheme were still not clear and the management would be making no comment until the city's 204-page document had been fully studied.

Thomas Flierl, culture minister in the Berlin city-state government, said his plan - hammered out with his opposite number in the federal government - would save the capital about £6.3m. But the new arrangements would require start-up capital from the federal coffers of £2.3m and an annual subsidy initially fixed at £14m.

Mr Flierl said some 220 jobs would be axed in the opera sector. Other measures announced yesterday would make another 80 people redundant in Berlin's theatres.

The 261-year-old Staatsoper has had its back to the wall for more than two years. Proposals floated in late 2000 would have meant the fusion of the Staatskapelle with the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper in west Berlin. Mr Barenboim fought off that idea with a vigorous lobbying campaign. But last November his opera house's future was again cast into doubt after the federal finance minister made it clear that he would give no more handouts to Berlin.

The Staatsoper, which stands on the Unter den Linden, the main thoroughfare of central Berlin, fell into the eastern, communist sector at the start of the cold war. After the Berlin wall came down, it experienced a glittering revival under the artistic direction of Mr Barenboim.

The Staatskapelle, of which Richard Strauss was once the musical director, has preserved from pre-war days a unique tone often referred to as the "German sound".

Mr Flierl said yesterday: "With this concept, we can bring the three Berlin operas through the budget emergency phase."