Kasper Holten to leave The Royal Opera

Danish director Kasper Holten has been the director of opera for The Royal Opera since 2011

The director of opera at The Royal Opera has announced he is to leave the Company at the end of March 2017 and return to Denmark.

The first thing you notice when meeting Kasper Holten is his energy and enthusiasm. Hang around a little longer and you discover a serious figure who is open-minded about his art form and experiential in his approach.

They are good attributes for an organisation such as the Royal Opera House, that is genuine in its desire to develop new audiences and push the boundaries of opera.

But it's not easy. It is an inherently conservative organisation with an old-school establishment core audience.

I suspect Holten will feel creatively freer in a more avant-garde environment, which Copenhagen is likely to provide.

He says he's going home to bring up his family. But maybe there's also an element of flying off before his wings have been clipped.

Do expect him to carry on innovating. Don't expect him to take up the vacancy at the English National Opera.

It's a loss - in my opinion - for London and the Opera House.