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BBC: New strategy for Classical Music prioritises Quality, Agility and Impact

Alas, my 'most recent' visit to ENO was to see a performance of the Magic Flute - which I really enjoyed - but back circa 1980! It's a bit far from where I live now, so I do sympathise with an apparent desire by the AC to spread the jam over a wider geographic area. But the reality is per UK National funding for many things - too little, and often too focussed on some 'big' places and activities, perhaps because it can't stretch and then do enough.
 
having spent some of last night with a 1Xtra producer, there is alot of pressure and direction to spend some of the savings on a new BBC rap collective. BBC Rappers
 
Nic Robinson said:
Stop the world. I want to get off.
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this is why the BBC music offering is fantastic - it offers great things for a massively diverse range of listeners. I have no interest in the BBC Singers, but I love their 1Xtra offering.

Don't forget today's 1Xtra listeners, are the demographic that could be future licence buyers.
 
gintonic said:
this is why the BBC music offering is fantastic - it offers great things for a massively diverse range of listeners. I have no interest in the BBC Singers, but I love their 1Xtra offering.

Don't forget today's 1Xtra listeners, are the demographic that could be future licence buyers.
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I would have thought these listeners are quite well catered for by the private sector, no?
 
Nic Robinson said:
I would have thought these listeners are quite well catered for by the private sector, no?
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I think the same would be true for classical singers and choirs, but that's not the point - the BBC should reflect as much of its listening population as it can.
 
Seeker_UK said:
I think the same would be true for classical singers and choirs, but that's not the point - the BBC should reflect as much of its listening population as it can.
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Well, no. I think we put that one to bed above. I do agree that the BBC should reflect everything but when it excels is in areas not adequately served by the market. I would have thought rap might be.
 
Nic Robinson said:
I would have thought these listeners are quite well catered for by the private sector, no?
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not entirely- we do listen to the independent broadcasters and YouTube, but the beebs curation and programming capture a nice selection.
 
Nic Robinson said:
Well, no. I think we put that one to bed above. I do agree that the BBC should reflect everything but when it excels is in areas not adequately served by the market. I would have thought rap might be.
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This is the nub of the Yes Minister argument about funding football.

An equally valid alternative view would be that rap is the province of young black people and the working classes, neither of whom feature greatly amongst the largely southern middle class luvvie bureaucracy that makes funding decisions…Opera is largely attended by people who can well afford to pay the full cost of its production, so in public spending terms, the subsidy is largely deadweight.
 
psi310398 said:
Opera is largely attended by people who can well afford to pay the full cost of its production, so in public spending terms, the subsidy is largely deadweight.
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Bold added by me as it is the operative word. I'm glad you didn't say loved.

I'm not sure how this discussion got to opera, but it's an interesting example. I would say that only a small percentage of opera lovers can afford to go to top productions beyond as a rare treat. Not me, that's for sure. The BBC's weekly relay (many of these are co-produced with America) is a marvel and cheap to produce.
 
I expect they'll have been spooked by the outcry. Nevertheless the BBC orchestras have always been vulnerable, I guess.
 
Sir Simon Rattle on the continuing threats to classical music & opera in the UK.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/e10d796a-df63-11ed-987e-d6cb1598e405 https://archive.ph/821Sj (archived version in case of paywall).

Simon Rattle: ‘This is a desperate moment. The entire art form is threatened’"

"As for the BBC, it’s obvious that the cuts will all be back on the table as soon as the Proms are over. They were just worried about protests and demonstrations [at the Royal Albert Hall].”

"And politicians, at least in the UK, increasingly seem terrified of admitting a liking for something as “rarefied” as classical music, let alone actively campaigning for it. “That’s what has changed so much,” Rattle says. “Someone like Denis Healey may have looked and acted like a tough old bruiser, which I’m sure he was, but he was one of the most widely cultured people I have ever met. Even Margaret Thatcher came to Glyndebourne, when we did Porgy and Bess. But at least she came. Nowadays, if a politician attended an orchestral concert or opera, it would be in secret. They would be frightened of being seen. It seems that more and more people are starting to believe the argument that classical music is only for the elite. And the decisions being taken now will make that come true, slowly but surely.”
 
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