Author:
Josephine Allen-Kemper
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Date Posted: 17:06:30 14/07/2002
In reply to:
Simon
's message, "Rule Britannia to be ommitted" on 14:05:20 25/04/2002
So. The “New Broom”, Leonard Slatkin, has taken over the Proms Last Night programme and cut out the soloist for the singing of “Rule Britannia”
True, it has been done before, but that Slatkin, an American conductor, has been unwise enough to label it “militaristic” and “a little outdated” is tantamount to shooting himself in the foot. It seems to be the best, and quickest, way to antagonise the regulars, who like tradition,(don't you?) and so do the television viewers in all other countries. Why else do they watch it? Slatkin says that “The Last Night of the Proms is an important international occasion - in Japan they get up at 4am to watch it.” So our enjoyment of the Last Night has to be deflated in order to please the Japanese.
Does Slatkin also plan on demanding that the Changing of the Guard be scrapped for being Militaristic and the Ceremony of the Keys, at the Tower of London, for being outdated.
Perhaps he will also scrap “Land of Hope & Glory next year in favour of singing “Stars and Stripes Forever” as we all did last year. The National Anthem is clearly also at risk. Whoever agreed to his outrageous demands should hang their heads in shame.
If he is “not completely comfortable with playing it," then I, for one, suggest that he return to the States and let a British conductor take over. If he doesn’t then I do hope that his ‘last night speech’ will be greeted with stony silence, if he is unwise enough to make one.
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