A 40 percent funding cut by London wokies has placed the Elgar Festival of middle England in dire jeopardy.
Their patron Julian Lloyd Webber is leading the fundraising.
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Wasn’t Elgar rather too German? And he did move over to Rome, you know. Not really “us”.
Elgar did not “move over to Rome”. His mother converted to Catholicism and canon law required her to educate her children in the Catholic faith. He wrote for the Catholics – one his early compositions turns up as “Firmly I Believe and Truly” in Catholic hymnals to this day – but he wrote for the Anglicans as well. As for sounding German, so did every other British composer of his generation.
“… and I next acknowledge Julie” 😉
Andrews or Christie?
The tune also appears in “The Nursery Suite” or something like that.
I’m a British Catholic. Are you othering me? Does anti-Catholicism really still exist in England?
Elgar was English, and was born (and died) a Roman Catholic.
Your UK monarchy is worth billions, why can’t they contribute a few million pounds pocket change? Even better, donate Balmoral Castle as an opera festival venue.
Yes, perfect place to perform all of those Elgar operas…
Because most of the millions from the Royal Estate is administered by the British government. The Royal Family’s personal income is allocated in the Civil List. I doubt that is within their power to rescue the Elgar Festival and/or the ENO by selling off Buckingham Palace or Sandringham for example.
Good idea. The monarchy is stinking rich with all its palaces and properties.
“with all its palaces and properties.”
Most of the famous palaces and properties are not “owned” by the monarch in the normal sense and the monarch cannot dispose of them.
Balmoral is an exception and is now open to the public for the first time.
Happy now?
Why don’t you offer your house as an opera venue then?
“donate Balmoral Castle as an opera festival venue”
That should work, the Highlands are ideal. The nearest train station is Pitlochry but if that’s too far, you can always camp out in the Cairngorms.
The midges are fun.
We’re all doomed!
Arts “COUNCIL” England.
You need a brain transplant. And here I was thinking this is one of the wittiest wordplays I have seen in a long time. Which it is.
Or in other news – they applied for Arts Council project grants and didn’t get as much as in previous years (presumably because they chose to apply for less?).
Or in other news, this has been a pretty poorly attended and unispiring enterprise, condescending in its marketing and disappointing in its execution, that really didn’t warrant funding when so many higher quality projects have also been cut or failed in their funding bids. So, while it’s great that they’re trying to fundraise for music in the regions, are we really going to suggest that they were equally or more deserving of ACE money than so many others that don’t have it right now? But don’t let me be the judge, make your own minds up: https://elgarfestival.org/
Oh and PS… if it’s a project grant won’t it have been assessed by the West Midlands ACE people? Not really London’s fault on this occasion…
Imagine ACE imposing staunchly conservative budget cuts (you know, financial measures that Tories love) and calling them woke.
I’m trying to see the “woke” connect. Or are we just seeing it used, as it is so often used today, for something we don’t like or agree with?
Use the Downton Abbey castle for country opera venue it’s sure to turn a profit.
From: Richard Stanbrook.
19th April 2024.
As a matter of interest to me, I wonder what the repertoire was to have been. Any chance of a Bax symphony plus works by Moeran, Bliss, Bowen, Foulds and Holbrooke, to name just a few?
Not forgetting William Reed, who was associated closely with Elgar. How about his delightful Violin Concerto …
Look at their website, Elgarfestival.org. They have a ‘What’s on in 2024’ page. It seems rather thin, which may be why their ACE grant this year is only £29,999.
The orchestral parts for the Reed Concerto are lost, are they not? How would it be performed?
It’s pathetic to keep blaming ‘wokies’ for this when the real reason for these cuts boils down to Conservative austerity and animosity to the arts in general.
The last thing we need is more venues, the arts need cash. Maybe a tax break for companies and individuals if they donate to orchestras or classical music institutions. Or maybe make the banks re-invest directly in the arts, as they once did in Spain.