Royal Opera House musicians go leafletting their audience
OrchestrasStruggling with a 10% Covid pay cut that has not been restored, players in the Covent Garden orchestra are taking their case to the often-wealthy audience.
photo: MU
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This would appear to be genuine, unlike the false reporting a few weeks ago of their wearing these yellow shirts while actually playing in the pit!
Something that would have got them sacked.
You clearly have not been there then. Players have been in the pit in yellow T-shirts on a number of occasions over the last month or so.
Not wearing their concert dress?
Or do you mean, arriving in t shirts and/or putting them on afterwards?
False? Really? You should have watched the cinema stream of Das Rheingold… It was pretty evident!
When I went to a performance of Das Rheingold most of the pit were wearing yellow shirts…
You are talking rubbish or false news. I went to two performances of Das Rheingold when around one third of the players in the pit were wearing highly visible yellow T-shirts. Tony Pappano was not.
On the way into both performances from the Covent Garden piazza, there were a group of – I supposed – Covent Garden orchestral players wearing the yellow T-shirts and handing out leaflets explaining what was happening.
On the first occasion, as I mentioned, not all the orchestral players were wearing T-shirts. So, on my second visit, I asked the people at the entrance handing out leaflets whether those people were against the action being taken. I was told that those not wearing yellow T-shirts were freelance players who by the terms of their contract could not not wear evening dress.
I forgot to add that I was also told that the freelance players were wearing yellow ribbons to show their support but, from my seat right at the back of the amphitheatre, I couldn’t see them.
The most recent set of ROH accounts show overall retained reserves of £213m, £80m of which is in cash. So there doesn’t seem to be much excuse for not paying the orchestra correctly.
Yeah…that’s not how reserves work.
Explain to me in the light of those figures then why they can’t afford to reinstate the orchestra’s pay.
You are privileged to have a secure job by comparison with the ENO
Below the belt I fear!
Musicians as liveried servants all over again. Back to the days of Haydn. Just awful. I wish them well.
We are lucky they have not stopping playing, yellow shirts good idea. Did Pappano wear one, I hope so.
Their ticket prices are the most I’ve ever paid, £310 for Rheingold, what will Walkure be? The orchestra & Pappano were excellent, sadly the same cannot be said about the singing, at best ‘B list’, but 3 or 4 of the performers should not have been on the ROH stage.
I wonder if all the singers this season have all taken a Covid cut in their fees…..
FFS just pay the orchestra what they are due and deserve, at every perf I’ve been to, the orchestra get the biggest/loudest applause (as do the ENO orchestra).