UK press blanks new Manchester conductor

The Hallé (est. 1858) lays claim to being the oldest* and, at one time, most famous orchestra in Britain. A change of leadership at the Hallé would, until recently, have yielded headlines in all broadsheet newspapers the following day.

Today, nothing.

The Times posted a news article online after midnight, but not in print editions. Nothing has appeared in the Telegraph or the ‘i’. Nothing either, shockingly, in the Guardian, which once blazoned ‘Manchester’ on its masthead.

Such is the present invisibility of orchestral music in UK media.

Yesterday’s breaking-news report in Slippedisc has been disparaged by some Hallé loyalists for giving a rounded account of the new conductor’s career so far. Comments from Hallé musicians beneath our report show that the choice was far from unanimous and may prove contentious.

*The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic disputes the Hallé’s precedence, claiming 1840 as a start date.