CLASS DISMISSED Wasfi Kani CBE

THE FOUNDER AND CEO OF GRANGE PARK OPERA ON DCMS, IVAN THE TERRIBLE AND HER DESERT ISLAND DISCS

Can you tell us about your reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic at Grange Park opera?

When I’d finished faffing around doing refunds, it immediately struck me that people were allowed to go to work, if they couldn’t work from home and why shouldn’t we create new performances... but film them. Thus, we created the Found Season involving 108 artists in 15 new events, eight filmed from the stage of the Theatre in the Woods.

How many people do you employ at Grange Park?

During the season we employ 350-400. The core team is only 14. Well, it was 14 until all this happened.

Did you benefit at all from the DCMS’ funds for charities?

No, we didn’t apply for it! This was because I thought smaller charities with less access to London wealth should get the money. Little did I realise that it was a free for all. Some classical music agents applied for money and got it! Yet a singer who has earned £55k pa has no access to any money.

Overall, do you feel the Government response was satisfactory?

If you mean the Government response to the pandemic overall, I would say it was catastrophic. Questions must be asked why so many people have died in the UK. And it isn’t over.

Tell us about your work with the Romanoff Foundation.

This is a new collaboration. Normally there would have been fascinating talks about the two Russian operas in this year’s season (Ivan the Terrible, The Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko) but uncertainty is limiting what we can do.

Just how terrible was Ivan the Terrible ?

Well, he loved his son. And he was probably damaged by his own lack of a father figure -his father died when Ivan was three. I’ve been studying a long history of Russia and it seems that what happened before Ivan was there were bunches of gangs going round Russia proclaiming ownership of territories. Ivan tried to unify the country but at a cost to its people and long-term economy.

Has your audience become more global during the pandemic?

Our extensive filmed output has had 120k views. Some are in far-flung corners. However, when will they be able to get on a plane and visit the Theatre in the Woods... who knows??

What do you think we most miss about the live experience?

Feelings. Having a collective emotional experience.

Is there anything about the online music experience that is superior that you’ll want to keep once we’re all fully vaccinated?

I’ve been listening to a lot of the oldies playing the piano -Michelangeli, Lipatti and so on. But people are fed up of looking at screens. They are flat. That says it all.

It’s fascinating to see that you worked in the City designing computer systems - did you miss music during that time? Is there tension between the businesswoman and the artist in you?

While I was in the City, I continued to have an active music life, playing the violin in orchestras and chamber music. I used to practice in the lunch break.

I know some of my computer colleagues thought I was a bit nuts.

What would be your Desert Island Discs?

Michelangeli playing something.

Brahms’ string sextet - either of them.

Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade

Verdi’s Don Carlo. Wagner’s Tristan. It’s a secret. I’m waiting for the phone call.

Is there a listening experience that really changed you?

I love music -it gives my life another dimension. And I have a bond with people who feel similarly. Those that don’t . . . I want to open that door. The greatest gift of my life is being able to play a Mozart string quartet.

What character traits do you particularly look for in young employees?

Hard work. I don’t want to see them waiting for 5.30 and rushing out the door.