In Search of a Magic Flute

The Author: David Ranan is an arts policy researcher whose current area of interest revolves around government and its relationship with opera. He studied Economics and Business Administration at the Tel Aviv University and Arts Policy at City University in London where he was awarded a Ph.D. He spent a number of years as strategy and finance consultant and presently investigates and analyses public policies in the cultural sector.

Contents: Opera - Subsidies - Decision making - Cultural policies - Implementation - Britain and Germany - Power politics - Case studies: Demise of Kent Opera, Establishment of Opera North, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Crises in Berlin, Deteriorating Frankfurt, Tranquil Bavaria - Decision making model for public funding bodies.

«Who should read this book? Apart from those running opera companies, any politician who professes to have an interest in opera should move it to the top of his reading list immediately, and any candidate for the Arts Council's top jobs should study it closely. It should also have a much wider readership among the opera-loving public than its purpose and theme might at first suggest.» (Kenneth Richardson, Opera Now)