tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-416983732847060845.post7511455803253033652..comments2024-03-05T10:14:38.181+00:00Comments on CLASSICAL ICONOCLAST: Practical and important improvements : BBC Proms 2016 Post MortemDoundou Tchilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469682216179706743noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-416983732847060845.post-14351840626320122552016-09-13T14:03:13.474+01:002016-09-13T14:03:13.474+01:00Graham Jefcoate added : "Dumping some of the ...Graham Jefcoate added : "Dumping some of the Great British Bake off-type proms would be helpful. Also improving audience behaviour by clearer instructions and better stewarding - won't forget the woman eating behind me (in a expensive seat). And doing something about the phones going off in the quietest moment should be a priority too. Is it Singapore that has technology to disable phones in the Hall? I'd also like more 20th cent British music, more 2nd perfs (rather than premieres) and more neglected composers e.g. Haydn."Doundou Tchilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07469682216179706743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-416983732847060845.post-74843273477802634982016-09-13T13:56:12.444+01:002016-09-13T13:56:12.444+01:00Latecomers out in force at Theielmann/Dresden whe...Latecomers out in force at Theielmann/Dresden when streams of 'em held up the flow of the music by trailing in during movements. It didn't help that some latecomers, with mobility problems had t be seated in middle row at the front : Not their fault, but spoiled the music for others. In fact one of the ushers who let them in then wasn't a junior but one in a jacket, who ought to know better<br /><br />Doundou Tchilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07469682216179706743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-416983732847060845.post-16351927513033358672016-09-13T13:47:37.305+01:002016-09-13T13:47:37.305+01:00The suggestion of special provision for people wit...The suggestion of special provision for people with mobility problems (but not wheelchair-bound) is a sensible one. Ticket buyers who want to be certain of getting tickets for popular concerts feel constrained to buy online immediately after sales open but this, as the blog says, means booking blind. Reserving, for part of the booking period, some, not necessarily all or most, of the seats in the rows immediately below the entrance doors to the stalls, say down to row 8, shouldn't be an insurmountable problem for the Albert Hall's online box office administration. It just requires a tick box for something like "easy disabled access". This is unlikely to be subject to abuse -- quite a few able-bodied customers would probably prefer to be in row 3, for example, than row 10.<br /><br />Talk of access to row 3 raises another gripe on my part. This is the irresponsible and cavalier attitude of the Albert Hall's ushers to allowing latecomers into the auditorium. Back in 2011, ushers on both sides of the auditorium evidently concluded there was a quiet moment when they could let latecomers into a performance of Handel's Rinaldo to go down to seats near the front. Unfortunately, the quiet moment was just before Luca Pisaroni started singing a difficult aria. He looked bemused but his professionalism kicked in. After the performance vociferous complaints were put to a senior usher but the complaints have plainly not been taken on board.<br /><br />Latecomers, whether they have not checked the start time or have had transport problems, should not be admitted except at the interval or during a clearly defined hiatus such as a prolonged re-arrangement of the orchestra layout before a work. This year, in the second of Christian Thielemann's concerts with Staatskapelle Dresden, hordes of people were admitted after the first movement of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, to the obvious consternation of orchestra, soloist and conductor. The space between movements in a work is not in any sense an interval. Shamefully, one of the processions to the lower seats was led by a senior Albert Hall official (in grey suit, not red jacket). Significantly the intrusion came at 7.25, presumably some people had assumed a 7.30 start. <br /><br />Please Albert Hall administrators, implement a strict rule on admitting latecomers, however stroppy they might be about having paid good money for tickets. Audiences, just like conductors (Gergiev take note) and orchestras, have a responsibility to be punctual. And please BBC put pressure on the Albert Hall administrators to respect the musicians and the audience that arrived on time and are deep into a performance.Roger Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12448938150029875105noreply@blogger.com