This latest upset comes after a relatively stable period following the turbulence that ensued when chairman Martin Smith and chief executive Seán Doran "stepped down" at the end of 2005. The ENO found firmer footing under chairman Vernon Ellis, although low ticket sales and cuts in government funding have created further difficulties, according to BBC Music.

Tomasi was quoted last month in British media as stating that the staff reductions are necessary to make the company, which has faced several serious financial crisis during the past decade, "artistically and financially viable in the long term."