It started life as an offshoot of English National Opera and had the specific intention of delivering high-quality opera to the northern areas of England which, up to that point, had had no permanently established opera company.
It started life as an offshoot of English National Opera, and was known until 1981 as English National Opera North. It had the specific intention of delivering high-quality opera to the northern areas of the country which, up to that point, had no regular opera company.