It has been a tumultuous couple of years for UK opera companies – the big ones anyway – and millions of words about cuts, levelling up, ENO’s move to Manchester and the disappearance of touring have appeared, written by a variety of authors. But there has been a misguided logic to many of the complaints, including some rantings in response to the Arts Council – an organisation that has certainly made some mistakes.

A narrative exists that ACE want to 'destroy' opera – a concept that makes no real sense. To answer their critics, ACE completed a review of the current opera scene but only reported on the opinions of professionals within the industry. It was met with much opprobrium and dismissive rumbling, with accusations that much of the content was the direct opinion of those within the Arts Council.

I do not want to revisit all this history because the die is cast, and the new Labour government is unlikely to put even a spoonful of new cash into opera. It means we must confront the problem head-on, address the top-to bottom ecology of our industry with courage, and reframe the entire system by which we provide careers for our artists and technicians. ACE do not have all the answers, so we need to start trying to provide some of our own – to prove we can spend money better and more productively. The view that the Arts Council should just shut up and give us lots more money is not realistic.

We have a very top-heavy industry, with all the available money going to a handful of companies which, it is worth reporting, continues to be judged as inadequate. A new ecosystem can sit beneath the current pinnacle houses and festivals. What I propose is not something I expect to see them embracing for themselves. Leave them to their own ways and let their boards and their funders address it.

'During the furore over ENO, whether by design or delusion, a narrative formed that any opera that wasn’t on a grand scale or in large theatres was unworthy of consideration. It is time to change.'

But imagine a world where we could employ excellent singers and artists on annual contracts, working daily at their job, taking on several roles a year, engaging with their communities while all the time mounting exceptional mid-scale productions that focus on the singers, the directing, the atmosphere. Concerts of interesting works become possible, as well as rarities – new works, even. There would be singers on decent salaries, with sick pay, and on equal pay as part of companies putting out lots of work throughout the year in different regions of the country.

Imagine, too, that these singers have agency, feel able to speak out within their company without worrying they might be placed on the professional naughty step, and that they need not stroke egos. Exciting orchestras and ensembles would be partnered with, extending their own work schedules, and providing opportunity for talented musicians.

And the real kicker is the economy of it, the stability of it, the adventure of a wild plethora of operas and concerts, with artists developing their skill and craft in an intense way, performing to audiences throughout the year on tight, imaginative schedules. It will not be grand scale, of course, but it would be first class. Think of the talent that may appear for the big houses to offer opportunity to. Think of the output of a company that need not find economies by cutting productions or work, because it is committed to paying an ensemble of artists for a year. The artistic payroll would dwarf the administrative one, and would cost a fraction of normal operatic expenditure.

The company I work for – If Opera – does this now, but the challenge is having to condense it all into a shorter period. As we move forward this will expand, but our three seasons have produced outstanding work. Our acclaimed production of Lucia di Lammermoor this past summer didn’t have much of a set to speak of, but it had visual intensity and fabulous singing. Artists in our industry are ready to take up the opportunity of regular, decently paid, reliable salaries and (say it quietly) even some who work at the big houses are open to the idea. During the furore over ENO, whether by design or delusion, a narrative formed that any opera that wasn’t on a grand scale or in large theatres was unworthy of consideration. It is time to change.

But hang on. This is not, in fact, new, is it? They do it already in Germany and elsewhere and ENO’s best years were under such a system. The funding picture could be immeasurably improved were we able to finally prove that there are audiences who would have a regional loyalty and ownership of their local rep company and that hundreds of first-rate singers enjoy regular, reliable careers. And collaboration becomes possible, between these ensemble companies and even with the bigger houses and festivals, all linked by this ecology of opportunity. None of this intends to replace, threaten, or undermine the big national companies. It just helps us increase the amount of opera and better develop a cohort of talent in collegiate, concentrated, flexible, and richly varied company environments.

Nothing has really changed for decades; there has been no profound new method, no refocus onto artists, no reappraisal of what constitutes good opera. Without any of this, audiences have been moulded to believe in only a certain kind of opera and its value thereof. We perpetuate the problems and that is not sustainable.

Michael Volpe was the founder and General Director of Opera Holland Park, and is currently Executive Director of If Opera. ifopera.com