Composer calls empty Proms a ‘true disaster’

We’ve been alerted to this tweet by Thomas Ades.

No Rule Britannia is one thing, but isn’t No Audience in the @RoyalAlbertHall the true disaster? @bbcproms

— Thomas Adès (@Thomas_ades) August 24, 2020

Watching the premiere of his new piece ‘Dawn’ by Simon Rattle and the LSO, one could only agree.

The vast Royal Albert Hall, capable of seating more than 5,000, rang hollow with new sounds.

How is it that no-one at the BBC could figure out how to get a couple of hundred people safely into the hall – if only into the standing spaces on the top rotunda? That would, at least, have given a bit of atmosphere.

But the BBC officials responsible just sat back, drew their pay and decided that doing anything original was just too much bother.

This is one reason why the BBC is losing the battle for public opinion.