BACKRule, Britannia! will be played at Proms but not sung, BBC confirms
The Last Night of the Proms will feature the traditional flag-waving anthems Rule, Britannia! and Land of Hope and Glory, the BBC confirmed on Monday night, but they will be performed as orchestral versions with no singing.
Following suggestions that the music might be axed because of perceived links to colonialism, the BBC said the songs would be played, but in an adapted form without a singer in line with new coronavirus restrictions.
Commenting on the move, the BBC’s media and arts correspondent, David Sillito, said: “The Last Night of the Proms will still have Jerusalem, the national anthem and new orchestral versions of Rule, Britannia! and Land of Hope and Glory. However, there will be no live audience in the Royal Albert Hall to sing along, and the number of musicians and singers will be reduced and dispersed around the hall because of social distancing.
“The music will, the BBC says, have to be adapted to reflect the new circumstances – which means there will be no singing of Rule, Britannia! and Land of Hope and Glory.”
Maske ab, Ohren auf
Fünf Monate und zehn Tage ohne Publikum in einem Haus, das sonst immer, immer, immer ausverkauft ist. Was haben sie dort in dieser Zeit gemacht? “Rückerstattet”, sagt der freundliche Mitarbeiter im Ticketcenter der Elbphilharmonie. 250.000 Eintrittskarten waren es, die keinen Eintritt mehr gewährten.
Und jetzt kommen wieder Leute, an diesem Sonntag, dem 23. August 2020, der in die Geschichte des Hamburger Konzerthauses eingehen wird: als Tag des “Testkonzerts” unter Corona-Hygienebedingungen.
Endlich Musik, endlich Menschen! Alle sind eingeladen. Keiner muss zahlen. Dafür sind die Gäste Versuchskaninchen. So vieles wird ja jetzt getestet, um Befürchtungen durch Befunde zu ersetzen.
Von den insgesamt 2.100 Plätzen des Großen Saales werden nur 628 vergeben. Die ersten beiden Reihen vor der Bühne bleiben frei; zwischen den Sitzen klaffen große Lücken.
Mask off, ears on
Five months and ten days without an audience in a house that is otherwise always, always, always sold out. What did they do there during this time? “Refunded”, says the friendly staff member at the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall’s ticket centre. There were 250,000 tickets that no longer allowed admission.
And now people are coming again, on this Sunday, 23 August 2020, which will go down in the history of the Hamburg Konzerthaus: as the day of the “test concert” under corona hygiene conditions.
Finally music, finally people! Everyone is invited. Nobody has to pay. But the guests are guinea pigs. So many things are now being tested to replace fears with findings.
Of the total of 2,100 seats in the Great Hall, only 628 will be allocated. The first two rows in front of the stage remain empty; there are large gaps between the seats.
Festival de La Roque d’Anthéron : un taux de remplissage de 90 %
Parmi les « grands » festivals français, celui de La Roque d’Anthéronest le seul à s’être maintenu cet été. Bien qu’adapté aux contraintes de la crise sanitaire, ce cru 2020, qui s’est achevé le 21 août, peut s’enorgueillir d’un bilan des plus enviables. «
Pour cette édition si particulière, nous avions mis en vente 35.000 billets, a confié son directeur René Martin au Figaro. Et malgré une ouverture de billetterie le 25 juin, nous avons eu plus de 30.000 spectateurs, avec un taux de remplissage à 90 %. C’est la preuve que le public du classique est prêt à revenir à partir du moment où l’on fait respecter les mesures sanitaires. »
Outre le port du masque obligatoire et le lavage des mains à l’entrée des concerts, le festival avait fait fait le choix de laisser deux sièges vides entre chaque spectateur. Ce qui, pour René Martin, a contribué à démultiplier l’émotion du concert : « Tous les artistes nous l’ont dit : on n’a jamais ressenti une telle qualité de concentration dans le public. Paradoxalement, la distanciation a créé chez le spectateur une intimité avec l’artiste qu’on ne ressent pas d’ordinaire. »
La Roque d’Anthéron Festival: a 90% fill rate
Among the “big” French festivals, La Roque d’Anthéron is the only one to have been maintained this summer. Although adapted to the constraints of the health crisis, this 2020 vintage, which ended on August 21st, can be proud of a most enviable record. «
For this very special edition, we had put 35,000 tickets on sale,” its director René Martin told Le Figaro. And despite the opening of the ticket office on 25 June, we had more than 30,000 spectators, with a 90% fill rate. This is proof that the public of the classic is ready to come back as soon as the health measures are enforced. »
In addition to the compulsory wearing of masks and hand washing at the entrance to the concerts, the festival had made the choice to leave two empty seats between each spectator. This, for René Martin, contributed to multiplying the emotion of the concert: “All the artists told us: we have never felt such a quality of concentration in the audience. Paradoxically, the distancing created an intimacy between the spectator and the artist that we don’t usually feel. »