tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post2953638451135028505..comments2024-03-26T15:57:13.443+00:00Comments on On An Overgrown Path: The BBC Proms - a sad historyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-11037371134675194402008-03-06T19:38:00.000+00:002008-03-06T19:38:00.000+00:00Things are worse elsewhere, which doesn't mean you...<I>Things are worse elsewhere, which doesn't mean you shouldn't push for change at the Proms.</I><BR/><BR/>This might be a case of "the grass is greener" syndrome, but I'm with Lisa on this. I look at the Proms schedule every year and drool--I mean, it's not the Lucerne Festival, but still. :-) <BR/><BR/>The problem for me living in Los Angeles is that there's really one game in town: the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I've been at the mercy of Esa-Pekka Salonen's programming decisions since the late 80's. Imagine my horror of going from "YES! He's a committed post-war avant-gardist! I'll finally get to hear <I>Gruppen</I> live! [which hasn't happened]" to "Oh. my. gawd. he's become a fan of minimalism. Freakin' California sun, it turns people's brain to mush!". And E-PS *loves* Peter Sellars work. Yikes.Henry Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15871451112170286316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-26960501465014948862008-03-05T18:52:00.000+00:002008-03-05T18:52:00.000+00:00Margaret Hodge hasn't attacked the South Bank Mess...Margaret Hodge hasn't attacked the South Bank Messiaen Festival because she doesn't know it exists, or if she does, she assumes her audience won't understand what she's talking about. Besides, she'd be worried about mispronouncing 'Messiaen'. <BR/><BR/>The Proms, on the other hand, are known to practically everyone - if only as a caricature, so much the better for Hodge's axe-grinding.Ben.Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11879705585399028153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-77753255252385715632008-03-05T08:55:00.000+00:002008-03-05T08:55:00.000+00:00In today's press Gordon Brown describes the Proms ...In today's press Gordon Brown describes the Proms as a <I>'wonderful, democratic and quintessentially British institution.</I> Quite so.<BR/><BR/>While Nicholas Kenyon defended the Proms with these words: <I>'There's no cultural event that's more opening, </I>sic<I>more welcoming, more accessible.'</I> Which neatly writes out of history a 2006 season that failed to include a single female composer.<BR/><BR/>Almost everyone misses the point that the criticism wasn't about classical music <I>per se</I>, it was about making it more inclusive. <BR/><BR/>But Candace Allen gets the point, and tries to open up the debate instead of stifling it with knee jerk denials - <BR/><BR/>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/05/race.classicalmusicPliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-15131047447624644762008-03-05T07:36:00.000+00:002008-03-05T07:36:00.000+00:00'And how would the Proms be helped by having them ...<I>'And how would the Proms be helped by having them promoted less heavily on the BBC?'</I><BR/><BR/>Ben, the current excellent South Bank Messiaen Festival, for instance, was not attacked by Margaret Hodge.<BR/><BR/>Yet it is far narrower and more exclusive than the Proms.<BR/><BR/>The reason it was not attacked was that it has not been subject to the remorseless empty hype and spin that the BBC apply to the Proms.<BR/><BR/>The BBC has done itself no favours by claiming to run 'the world's greatest music festival'. But it has set itself up as a sitting target for the kind of criticism we have just seen, with it's jingoistic Last Night and its evening of Michael Ball.<BR/><BR/>More promotion does not equal more merit or more diversity. There are many music festivals that do a fantastic job without the promotional resources of the BBC.<BR/><BR/>At some point the classical music community will realise that big is not beautiful and that spin does not equal good.Pliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-71909646079516666632008-03-05T01:01:00.000+00:002008-03-05T01:01:00.000+00:00By all means push for improvement at the Proms, bu...By all means push for improvement at the Proms, but Margaret Hodge is not your friend. I can't see how any top-down reforms made today would not include more and more of those pernicious "marketing plans and ratings measurements". And how would the Proms be helped by having them promoted less heavily on the BBC?Ben.Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11879705585399028153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-48484298725958544662008-03-04T21:44:00.000+00:002008-03-04T21:44:00.000+00:00I looked over the 2007 Proms schedule before posti...I looked over the 2007 Proms schedule before posting my earlier comment. I'm usually interested in about one-third of what SFS performs. I would buy tickets to 90% of the Proms. The repertory is very different from what SFS programs.<BR/><BR/>Things <I>are</I> worse elsewhere, which doesn't mean you shouldn't push for change at the Proms.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-65507409858203355952008-03-04T21:34:00.000+00:002008-03-04T21:34:00.000+00:00Lisa, I think you would have found the programming...Lisa, I think you would have found the programming at the 2007 Proms remarkably similar to the SF Bay area. It included a concert by the San Francisco Symphony - another touring orchestra and another war horse programme already trotted out in other European capitals.<BR/><BR/>As I've said here before, I'm afraid I don't subscribe to the school of thought which says that because the quality is much worse elsewhere you should simply accept, without question, a lowering of quality aspirations.<BR/><BR/>I'm afraid the BBC Proms have lost their way. Irrespective of what is, or is not, happening in the SF Bay area.Pliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-57700610461501522092008-03-04T21:11:00.000+00:002008-03-04T21:11:00.000+00:00I'll tell you, if I had a festival with the kind o...I'll tell you, if I had a festival with the kind of programming on a typical Proms schedule, I'd fall on my knees and thank [favorite deity here]. From my perspective in the SF Bay Area, the programming is superlative.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-82397494691143421852008-03-04T13:14:00.000+00:002008-03-04T13:14:00.000+00:00Here is a link to a report on Margaret Hodge's spe...Here is a link to a report on Margaret Hodge's speech:<BR/><BR/>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7276684.stm<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure I'd agree with her that Coronation Street and the Eden Project are more inclusive. Coincidentally we've just returned from the Eden Project and found it a rather politically-correct theme park with its acres of car parks and shopping mall.<BR/><BR/>The danger of this type of speech is that it becomes an attack on quality, intellectualism and aspirations in the arts. But it is a good starting point to question the role of the Proms. And if the Proms had seen more intelligent programming and less hype and stunt-marketing by the BBC they would not be in the firing line.<BR/><BR/>And as for David Cameron defending the Proms -<BR/><BR/>http://www.overgrownpath.com/2006/07/maxwell-davies-rages-at-musical.htmlPliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-69934418051398853142008-03-04T12:18:00.000+00:002008-03-04T12:18:00.000+00:00Nice 'broad view' email just in:Did you remember t...<I>Nice 'broad view' email just in:</I><BR/><BR/>Did you remember that yesterday was Freedom of Music Day 2008? Apparently this started last year and it is still going, just. Here's a bit of a Lithuanian blog about it, http://vilnius.cafebabel.com/en/post/2008/03/03/Muzikoslaisvesdiena - though in some typical Lithuanian fashion's it becomes all esoteric and oak trees, so you don't actually understand what she is trying to say, and some of the statements are a bit off...<BR/><BR/>but in view of your recent comments about China it might be an interesting topic<BR/><BR/>Take care<BR/><BR/>BeatePliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.com