BBC recasts top team at Proms
NewsWith David Pickard’s departure as Proms director, control of the season reverts to the head of Radio 3, Sam Jackson.
Hannah Donat, Artistic Producer of the Proms for the last seven years, has been promoted to Director of Artistic Planning.
This restores the natural order. Pickard was hired nine years ago after the BBC DG, Tony Hall, installed as head of R3 a former civil servant, Alan Davey, with no programming knowhow.
Given Mr Jackson’s recent changes to Radio 3, should we be concerned for the future of the Proms? I’d like to remain open-minded but….
Take a look at the schedule – it’s out. Some good stuff, as ever, but a very high percentage of pop.Starting on the second night with a disco evening.
“A very high percentage of pop”.
Seriously? I counted 7 Proms that contain what might be described as pop, out of 73 concerts. Not that high really, is it?
Not Yet…write your’s in 5 years time.
Is the Proms a classical music festival or isn’t it? I think I know what Henry Wood would say!
But also he programmed popular ballads of the day among classical pieces; not Florence & the Machine but Florence Aylward
What exactly is the problem? Is 73 classical music concerts, of world class orchestras and soloists, at extremely low prices and every one of them broadcast to you free, not enough?
Sam Jackson’s few changes to Radio 3 seem absolutely fine and very sensible to me.
I had a listening schedule on radio 3 which fitted my schedule nicely. Now they have changed it for reasons best known to themselves I don’t listen any more.
Let’s hope that this festival, that has become a real joke after Brexit and the artistic decisions made in recent years, gets transformed again into a classical music festival. Cut the cr-p, avantgarde not Whitaker, Stravinsky not pop sh-t!!!!