The English National Opera hopes to get away with murder. It has just invited audience sponsorship for this season's revival of the Shostakovich opera "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk". For £25 you can secure two tickets to the dress rehearsal, an LP and personal line credit in the programme.
The ENO is no stranger to creative financing. It has also secured a share of the £200,000 which KPMG Peat Marwick McLintock is handing out in a tripartite sponsorship deal. The money - a drop in the ocean to KPMG - is hardly big. But what is new is KPMG's success in introducing the tactics of management consultancy to the world of the arts. The three participating companies - the ENO, RNT and Tate - were asked to co-operate in drafting the sponsorship programme.
