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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 14, 2023 18:19:38 GMT
Horrific.
The 700 composers who sent a letter should also be commended.
The petition has topped 100k signatures.
This isn't going away
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 14, 2023 16:14:36 GMT
Press nights will, on the whole, will be attended by far fewer 'ordinary' theatregoers than a regular performance. Audiences of critics, mates of the cast and cronies of the producers are less likely to indulge in some of the behaviours chronicled on this thread (and on the previous one on the old forum - this is not a new issue)
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 14, 2023 12:49:02 GMT
The Guardian's chief theatre reviewer just posted this ridiculous piece. www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/mar/14/snobbery-about-audience-behaviour-stifles-theatre-its-a-collective-experienceIt isn't snobbery for anyone to want to enjoy theatre without being distracted by others in the audience. It isn't snobbery to expect people to act respectfully. It isn't a race or class thing. If she had looked at this thread she would see how bad things can be and how the theatregoing experience is ruined by the thoughtless behaviour of others and the lack of enforcement by some theatres.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 11, 2023 10:59:29 GMT
Would you agree that the BBC is right to have rules about impartiality?
If not, why not?
Would you agree that the BBC is right to apply those rules to all on air personalities/high profile individuals irrespective of whether they are salaried or employed via a different but equivalent route?
If not, why not?
From my perspective, impartiality is vital. This issue has arisen because management has been inconsistent in the way they have dealt with these issues over recent years. They have not enforced their own guidelines equally and have allowed past problems to not be properly addressed.
Perhaps it is time to hand over adjudication on such matters to an independent review body rather than leaving it to internal processes.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 11, 2023 10:37:09 GMT
Article in Guardian This article is very eloquent in explaining why the BBC Singers are a uniquely valuable institution
They are able to learn new music more quickly and efficiently than any part time ensemble. They are valued by conductors around the world. They cover a huge range of repertoire
They have an unrivalled reputation because they are funded and managed by a public media organisation that should be making exactly this sort of commitment to culture.
It is a tiny part of the BBC expenditure but it has value beyond the balance sheet. Yes budgets are tight and change is inevitable. But this is a cut that does permanent damage to the cultural life of everyone not just lovers of classical music.
There are other ways to save money in the BBC. But the reality is this sort of choir can only exist with public funding.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 10, 2023 12:31:30 GMT
I remember when the BBC announced they were shutting down the food section of the website. Voices of complaint were raised and they changed their mind
Now you can get free recipes all over the internet and the loss of the BBC part of that would have done little harm
Shutting down a unique choir like the BBC Singers will do harm as there is nothing that can easily replace them.
It is absolutely worth raising voices of protest
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 10, 2023 11:23:49 GMT
That has nearly doubled in under 24 hours. Impressive momentum
My abiding memory of the BBC Singers in performance is when they sang Eric Whitacre's Sleep at the First night of the 2020 Proms
There are very few vocal ensembles who could have stepped up to the plate with such professionalism and musicality under almost impossible circumstances for music making
That alone shows how valuable they are.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 9, 2023 12:56:23 GMT
I have seen no one calling for the removal of sport or drama or Strictly from the BBC
There are many, many people bemoaning the loss of the BBC Singers. A group that has been in existence for very close to one hundred years. A group that has commissioned many new compositions, given the premiere performances of many more, done a huge amount of educational work, provided a launch pad for international careers and much more.
That is why nearly 40000 people have signed the petition calling on the BBC to overturn the decision.
I make no apology for calling out the BBC and the excessive payments they make to certain individuals. It is a symptom of the culture that management at the BBC has allowed and encouraged.
The BBC Singers should be protected as a unique and valuable institution.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 9, 2023 9:27:31 GMT
Sport, and football in particular, is a multi billion pound industry. The fact that MOTD has bigger audience numbers than classical music is actually a good reason to keep protecting minority interests like choral singing via the BBC.
Those who have come for me because I raised Lineker as an overpaid symbol are missing the point. This is not about him per se. It is about a culture in the BBC that is out of kilter with the real world.
We don't need to carry on paying high profile individuals more and more money for the BBC to survive. Indeed, it would be a far more representative organisation if it did away such high payments and channelled those resources into nurturing fresh faces and developing talent.
Multimillionaires being paid seven figure sums to present on TV is quite simply wrong when budgets are under pressure.
Indeed most of those on six figure salaries should be looked at again.
The culture has to change.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 19:18:44 GMT
Having read a bit of the synopsis, I am slightly intrigued. But a lot comes down to the score.
This has quite a small cast from my limited research. Won't that feel a bit lost on the Barbican stage?
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 16:39:38 GMT
Given how the Proms programme is planned a long time in advance, this cut must have been on the cards for ages.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 16:20:09 GMT
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 15:42:12 GMT
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 15:35:40 GMT
There is no reason any one individual should be paid over a million pounds a year for any role in the BBC. No reason at all.
Yes, it was flippant to suggest that sacking Lineker would solve the issues of classical music funding. And yes, there are cuts affecting most parts of the BBC.
But the huge cost of high profile talent is no longer something that can go unchallenged. If 'stars' won't work for a more reasonable salary, let them go off and ply their trade in the open market. I am fine with that.
Doing away with a major cultural institution is a step too far. The BBC Singers can be afforded by the BBC. Indeed should be afforded by the BBC.
Their music making, their collaborations, their educational work and much more should not be sacrificed.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 15:11:21 GMT
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 14:34:51 GMT
But back to the core issue. The BBC Singers are an incredible choir and should be protected.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 14:34:04 GMT
he 8s bound by the rules set out by the BBC. A contract is a contract. A contract which, even according to the BBC, does not require him to be impartial on Twitter. If he worked on news programmes, he would be required to be impartial, but he doesn't, so he isn't. Now, it's true that the BBC could terminate his contract along the lines of bringing the Corporation into disrepute, but that's something that's more difficult to prove, especially considering the volume of tweets today supporting him. After all, giving £400k to the Tories doesn't count as bringing the Corporation into disrepute, so what's a few tweets? Note: I'm not a particular defender of Lineker earning over £1m, but he's an easy punchbag for every BBC cut, when the real reason for the cuts has been a frozen licence fee during a period of high inflation. He is the highest paid person at the BBC - of course he is going to come under extra scrutiny. The fact that the BBC senior management are spineless when it comes to enforcing their own rules is a different issue. Lineker has got away with his online political activity for too long. That has to stop. He is fully entitled to his views. But he should keep them to himself if he wishes to continue pocketing obscene amounts of licence fee payers money.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 13:19:03 GMT
That income is down to the profile of the football teams not the presenter. BBC football audiences would not drop if Lineker ceased to present some of it. Yeah but it is no harm having the best in the business presenting £1.35 million is a lot of harm to budgets. It is an outrageous sum of money. He isn't worth it.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 13:17:53 GMT
They can terminate it because he broke the impartiality rules of his continued employment. That isn't political, that is just the basics of employment law. He isn't an employee. he 8s bound by the rules set out by the BBC. A contract is a contract.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 12:40:30 GMT
I hope they will return to a more mainstream musical like they have in years past. We did enjoy Betty though even without Maxine in it. Surely a more well known show will put more bums on seats and it won't really need a star name. I'm sure La Cage aux Folles was being lined up for the Christmas after Covid broke I suspect La Cage is out on the basis that Regent's Park might be hoping for a transfer after the summer
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 12:38:23 GMT
I agree that the budget for Match of the Day and other football hosting is unnecessarily high, but the BBC can't terminate Lineker's contract right now without it looking like a political decision rather than a cost-saving one. Then again, the current BBC seem to have no qualms about doing things that look partial. They can terminate it because he broke the impartiality rules of his continued employment. That isn't political, that is just the basics of employment law.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 12:37:41 GMT
Since I made my earlier comment about Lineker, it seems like his time at the BBC might actually be coming to an end. £1.35 million a year saved there would be enough to more than cover the costs of the BBC Singers Football does have a very large resale value around the world so BBC is getting large income off the back of football rights. Why Manchester United have not played an untelevised cup game for about two decades That income is down to the profile of the football teams not the presenter. BBC football audiences would not drop if Lineker ceased to present some of it.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 11:16:56 GMT
They have more than enough sports talking heads under contract
My point is that the BBC have rather skewed priorities when they use our money to pay totally unwarranted sums to certain individuals
There is no way that anyone working for the BBC should be paid anything even close to £1350000 a year.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 8, 2023 10:13:17 GMT
Since I made my earlier comment about Lineker, it seems like his time at the BBC might actually be coming to an end.
£1.35 million a year saved there would be enough to more than cover the costs of the BBC Singers
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 7, 2023 23:41:51 GMT
They are, I believe, the only full time professional choir in the UK. They have huge skills with all periods of music including numerous new compositions each year.
20 brilliant singers cost so little in the grand scheme of BBC expenditure.
They will be sorely missed.
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