Last word on the Proms
It’s been another hectic period, seeing, experiencing and, for the most part, enjoying a great variety of performances. One highlight was the performance of Britten’s Peter Grimes at Sadler’s Wells by the Opera North ensemble. The third Britten I’ve seen in the last year and again an example of how Britten tackles difficult subjects in a very direct way, using music filled with poetry and human emotion. Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts in the central character had the ‘mission (almost) impossible’ of making us feel something beyond dislike and revulsion towards Grimes, and pulled it off with subtlety and aplomb. The sets were powerful and simple. There was lots of strong singing and acting and I left emotionally drained and uplifted. Well done to Opera North.
From there to the BRITS where I was taken back to my youth by the great Paul McCartney. And a visit to the Brixton Academy to see Mika performing live. The place was full and he successfully got everybody filled with fervour, taking part and joining in with music and song. I came out with a much better understanding of the importance of trying to keep live music venues going – for the pleasure it brings to many and most especially, of course, the young.
Another good fun event was attending the Bird’s Eye Festival at the BFI. This was to mark International Women’s Day, and I got to see some pre 1930’s silent comedy film extracts directed by women: some great cinema in a great festival, put together by Rachel Millward and her team to celebrate women’s achievements in film. It’s pretty shocking, I think, to learn that fewer than 7 per cent of British films are directed by women, and only 12 per cent of scripts are written by women. We’ve got lots of enthusiastic and talented women waiting to break into the industry, and we’ve all got to do more to ensure they are given the opportunity to realize their potential.
Meanwhile, The Other Boleyn Girl which I saw in preview has drawn mixed reviews since opening at the Berlin Festival, with critics panning it as more soap opera than period drama. That’s sort of true but not, I think, any the worse for being so. A strong narrative, sparkling performances in the female leads and some gorgeous outside locations made it a treat for me. David Starkey, who is – let’s face it – better qualified than most to comment on this era, has criticised the film for not using British actresses in the main roles, I believe. A fair comment, of course, although we seldom turn up our noses when Brit actors take roles as North Americans, so I’ll keep out of that one.
And this thought was in my mind earlier this week as I prepared a speech for the IPPR about Identity and Britishness and the role of our cultural institutions. It’s an interesting and complex debate, although familiar territory, and not one I particularly expected to attract much media attention. Well, as John Lennon put it ‘Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans’ and, the press did their best to sensationalize and trivialize what I said – perhaps because they wanted to close down discussion on a devilishly difficult area.
But may I put the record straight? I love the Proms. I’ve been going for as long as I can remember. Indeed, sharp-eyed readers of this diary will recall that last September I wrote:
Monday saw me at The Albert Hall on a balmy evening to marvel at Daniel Barenboim and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performing Schubert’s 5th symphony and Bruckner’s 4th. It was a glorious evening which demonstrated yet again what a fantastic institution the Proms are. There’s a lot of fuss (rightly) made about the Last Night each year but for me it is the season as a whole that means the most. A wonderful part of summer in London, the Proms had the hang of broadening access decades before it became a Government staple.
So what was I trying to say this week? Well, the main point was that I believe that culture, history and heritage are really important when it comes to giving meaning to our shared values and common identity. Sport can work in the same way too. The Proms, though, are a really great example of this: a high-quality cultural experience that welcomes all without dumbing down, and really does have something for everyone. So my speech was not – repeat not - a plea to change them, or to row back on the access policies they have instituted.
It was, instead, an acknowledgement of a pretty widely accepted view: that if we want an inclusive British identity, our audiences need to reflect our multi-ethnic population. And at present the self-evident truth is that too many of our great cultural events do not attract mixed audiences. As a matter of fact, what I said about the Proms season is just as true of most professional football, and a great many of the big rock festivals.
And I don’t want to change them either.
What I want is for us all to work to ensure the audiences becomes more representative and really inclusive. Non of us in public life or the Arts can pat ourselves too warmly on the back until the mainstream arts and culture in this country are enjoyed - and seen to be enjoyed – by more than simply a sea of white faces.
Interestingly, public libraries seem (to my eyes at least) to be addressing this issue with great success. But the tumbling retail price of books and the proliferation of home computers, with their ready access to pretty well unlimited – and unregulated – information, present the public library service with a particular challenge if they are to stay relevant today to the many and varied people who use them. I was in Brighton last week kicking these issues around to an audience of London librarians. And I was at the Bodleian at the weekend talking to some of their founders about similar issues. I made the point that books and the written word were – and always ought to be – the ‘irreducible core’ of the library service. But I threw a few challenges in as well: thinking aloud which local council would be the first to introduce evening and Sunday opening, or home delivery services, or loyalty cards or tie-ins with commercial partners.
Needless to say the media decided to ignore what I had actually said, and I found myself accused of turning my back on books in favour of gimmicks and flim-flam. Sometimes you really can’t win. See you again soon.