South Bank hosts just one orchestra this season
NewsWe’ve been given to understand that the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is the only international orchestra to be invited to London’s Southbank this autumn.
It will be Rafael Payare’s first European tour with the ensemble.
After two years of badly managed Covid closures, London’s premier concert hall is plainly broke.
Using this logic the Barbican must be broke too then because the only ‘big’ visiting orchestra next season is the Concertgebouw.
Maybe it’s just not worth coming here any more? Is it the extra irritations and costs arising from Brexit, current cost of transport and hotels, lack of sponsorship or uncertaintly about ticket sales? Maybe someone who has more inside knowledge can shed some light.
Professional classical music in the UK is clearly coming to an end: With the BBC orchestras threatened with disbandment in face of severe budget cuts and other premiere ensembles like the LSO struggling financially, the future might lie in semi-professional and amateur bands. Simon Rattle was smart to jump ship.
If only I had a £ for every time I’ve heard this….
So are many of the musicians who take on positions abroad…
In the UK: You audition, wait on the trial circuit for an unspecified and often punishingly long time with no employment benefits, and when you do get a job offer the pay is rock bottom low.
Everywhere else: winner of job announced the day of the audition, even during the probation period you are paid a full salary in the region of 3-10x the UK orchestras… if I were a musician I would jump ship too..
But you aren’t a musician are you?
Not exactly true. Even post covid the LSO is still busy with a healthy paycheck and the top freelancers are always busy in the studios! The provincial orchestras have never paid a huge salary but it’s a personal lifestyle choice.
The LSO played its recent tour with reduced strings. Is this a permanent reduction to it’s playing strength?
Given the number of pieces on this blog about ‘what’s the point of touring anyway’, perhaps ensembles and programmers have simply realized that there’s not much point to it, artistically or financially?
As for European orchestras, Brexit is of course a major issue. Less so for Montreal, though it still means extra paperwork for them (assuming the tour continues on to continental Europe).
Including the UK on a European tour always involved additional paperwork and bureaucracy as we were outside Schengen. Additional Customs controls in/out of Europe on instruments now post-Brexit but, if coming from US/Canada/Asia, they would have had that anyway.
Correct – but a work permit in Europe used to include the UK. Now, those are separate.
As for the additional customs controls, they now have to do that for Europe *and* the UK.
Norman, I remember not long ago you wrote repeatedly about how you think the orchestra touring circus is unsustainable and you expect to see less of it.
Well, here it is. Now you think it’s bad news?
Any and all problems there arrive at the same answer : Gillian Moore, the eternal cancerous lesion of London music, whose sole achievement has been to make sure she’s in the frame in photographs with musicians and movers & shakers. Remove her and the patient will be on the road to recovery.
OSM’s sounding really good. People who go will enjoy the concert.
Wonder if as good on their 2009 anniversary tour, their first to Europe in 20 years, I think and first snce Dutoit era. Magnificent performances of Strauss’ Alpensinfonie and Mahler DLVDE with a peerless Gerhaher.
There’s nothing that NL likes more than to counter his own arguments. Actually, that, like so much of NL’s copy, is not true – this blog is a testament to one man’s obsessions and peccadillos. Personally, I just check it daily to check I am still alive by not finding some scrabbily pasted together obit with badly pixelated photo posted here.
The picture, by the way, is with the Ulster Orchestra in the Ulster Hall, Belfast
The problem is neither money nor Gillian Moore. It is an individual by the name of Toks Dada, who killed classical music at Symphony Hall, Birmingham and is now hell bent on doing the same at the Festival Hall with his militant woke nonsense. He would much rather channel public money to one of his homosexualist black lives matter comrades than to the Berlin Philharmonic. Its nothing short of corruption. Fortunately by excluding so many regulars he will save me the cost and difficulty of travel to London for concerts, just has his agenda in Birmingham (along with the appalling degradation of the CBSO’s activities under current management) has saved me thousands of pounds at Symphony Hall.
If it goes on like this the Southbank Centre will go from Dada to Dodo.