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Sir John Tuda (left) with Norman Lebrecht at Daunt Books on Monday |
A moment’s silence for classical music
THE classical music industry is dead – long live classical music.
This was the pronouncement of two long-standing music journalists and enthusiasts, talking this week at the Daunt bookshop in Marylebone High Street.
Author Norman Lebrecht and Sir John Tusa, managing director of the Barbican, agreed the classical music industry has been killed by “cupidity and stupidity” and yet, despite this, the performing arts in this country have never been better.
“A hundred years ago music was an intangible, ethereal thing,” Mr Lebrecht told the audience. “The nature of music changed with the advent of sound recording – it became tangible. But the focus has shifted away.
“Records and CDs are being printed less and less – a lot of the classical record companies are closing – and the media is less and less interested in the arts. Classical music has come from the ether and to the ether it is returning.”
Sir John railed against the state of arts funding in Britain today. He bemoaned the fate of the arts in the hands of “civil servants and bureaucrats” who he said spent “peanuts” on the arts and were interested only in results.
He said: “There are ‘Passion for Excellence self-assessment’ tools and a hundred other pieces of bureaucratic legislation just like that which are messing up the arts royally. It is much more difficult to be diverse in the arts than it was.” The continuing success of British arts, both men agreed, lay in the unwavering desire of the British public to create.
“We are the first post-manufacturing society,” said Mr Lebrecht proudly. “We make only ideas.”
Hear ye, hear ye: Town crier does not support BNP
WESTMINSTER’s newly crowned town crier has criticised the British National Party for using his photograph on a leaflet without his permission.
Peter Moore said the leaflet, which shows him dressed in his full regalia, has been distributed across much of the north of England.
The photograph appears next to the words “Yes To Celebrating British Culture” under a wider article entitled “The BNP Plan For A Better Britain”.
Mr Moore said he was not asked if he wanted to appear on the leaflet and he wanted to make it clear he was not affiliated with the BNP. He said: “I’ve had around 19 or 20 phone calls in the past few days asking me about this photo. I’ve had calls from Lancashire, Manchester and Birmingham.
“It appears to be a national leaflet, and could lead people to think I support the BNP.
“I live in a multicultural city and I have nothing to do with the BNP and do not agree with what they stand for. I want people to know that. The role of town crier is supposed to be non-political.”
Mr Moore, who has been London’s town crier for more than 30 years and was made Westminster’s town crier in a special ceremony last month, said the photo was taken at an event he attend ed in Covent Garden two weeks ago.
BNP spokesman Dr Phil Edwards said he did not believe the party was aware who was in the photo when it was used.
Dame Shirley costs another £427,000 but are we bovvered?
THE District Auditor’s 21-page report absolving the council of any wrongdoing in clawing back Dame Shirley Porter’s missing millions cost £427,000.
The report found the council had acted responsibly and followed its own legal advice correctly.
Now Westminster Tories are criticising the Labour Group for calling the costly investigation.
Council leader Simon Milton told Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg the council “had blown the money to satisfy his political obsession”.
He said: “We warned you with letter after letter of the legal costs – you must bear the responsibility.”
Paraphrasing television comic Catherine Tate, he added: “But am I bovvered? I’m glad you are still going on about this – 20 years later – like some tramp, unkempt in the street and muttering Shirley Porter, Shirley Porter, Shirley Porter.”
Cllr Melvyn Caplan added: “The investigation had no merit – but to publicise Mr Dimoldenberg’s book on Porter.”
Cllr Dimoldenberg said: “The question is how has the council spent £427,000 on producing a 21-page report. The whole episode is a disgrace to the city council.”
Cllr David Boothroyd said: “Why is Shirley Porter still honoured by the city? There are thousands of memorials and plaques across the city bearing her name – she should be wiped from the annals of history.”
Happy Birthday Mr Fielding
DIARY attended the 300th birthday celebrations of Henry Fielding, the former Bow Street JP, in the heart of Lincoln’s Inn Fields on Saturday.
A professionally produced play about his life and works was staged in the magnificent Middle Temple Hall, preserved since 1573, where the first performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night was staged.
Fielding founded the Bow Street Runners, the world’s first police force, with a £600 government loan.
The production, which has been commissioned by the court’s new owners, Irish firm Edward Holdings, included an impressive cast of established actors from Theatre of Memory, set up by Mark Rylance’s daughter Juliet.
Although Fielding is celebrated for his novels, including Tom Jones, his plays were less well received, especially by the authorities. His Grub Street Opera led to new censorship laws banning independent theatre
in 1737.
His great, great, great, great grandson Henry Thorsbury Fielding attended the event. He told Diary he was pleased the birthday had got a proper send-off after the 200th anniversary was marked with a simple dinner. He said: “He was a great man who rose above his problems”. |
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