Pop news: Morrisey orders lunch for Liszt piano competition
mainContestants and judges at the International Franz Liszt Competition in Utrecht, Netherlands, came down to lunch to find that meat and fish had been banned from the canteen menu.
The British pop singer Morrisey was due to perform in the venue and he had banned all flesh from the premises.
‘We try to honour our artists’ wishes as much as possible,’ a Tivoli spokesman said.
Honour? This is abject surrender.
The competition jury includes Claire Chevallier, Leslie Howard, Andrea Bonatta, Paul Bodura-Skoda and Fumiko Eguchi. We can hear their hunger from here. Why are pop stars allowed to behave like petty tyrants? Report here.
(reading the revised menu)
(sniffing the gravy)
One of the contestants tried to play “La Chasse” (Paganini/Liszt) that day but he was also immediately interrupted.
Not eating meat for one day won’t kill anyone, neither will anyone starve if given vegetarian options. I’m not a vegetarian, by the way, just astounded that some people think they will starve if they don’t eat meat at every meal. Morrissey is known for demanding that venues go meat-free when he performs there, and Tivoli knew that when they booked his sold-out show.
I think you’ve missed the point entirely. The issue is Morrisey imposing his views on others.
Despite his rigorously healthy and ethical diet he has recently had a severe peptic ulcer. Desperately sad.
So what. Big deal. Morrissey is a jerk. Nothing new here.
Not serving up animals as food is an entirely reasonable demand. If they want Morrissey to perform at their venue they shouldn’t serve up meat or fish. If they don’t want his business he’ll do his show somewhere else.
I see: long live despotism!
More important than the question of vegetarianism is the fact that the wishes of a pop musician are deemed of more consequence than people scraping at classical music. And that in a building originally designed as a concert hall for classical music. Nice demonstration of the current cultural climate in the Netherlands.