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That terrible concert
May. 8th, 2023 02:15 pmThe Coronation Concert! Seldom have I sat through a more excruciatingly embarrassing evening. Why didn’t I just switch off? Maybe I hoped it would get better. There was a brilliant light show and an amusing encounter between Hugh Bonneville, Miss Piggy and Kermit. The rest was third-rate dross.
Lang Lang won’t do his career as an international concert pianist any good by accompanying some forgettable young singer. Why not play some electrifying classical music? Why did Sir Bryn Terfel and Andrea Bocelli sing You’ll Never Walk Alone rather than, say, the crowd-pleasing duet from The Pearl Singers? As my musical hero Sir András Schiff said of The Three Tenors: ‘I don’t understand why they would prostitute themselves in this way.’
Prince William spoke nicely of his father but would it have killed him to have said that he would carry out his duties with the help of the Queen? Apparently so, yet her late majesty Queen Elizabeth II described Charles as ‘so ably supported by Camilla’. Our former Queen more gracious, kindly and realistic than her vengeful grandson? Absolutely. Given the longevity of the Windsors, I’m unlikely to see William crowned, thank goodness. It would have been more dignified in the King, I thought, to have remained seated rather than standing, waving a flag and trying to look as if he were enjoying himself. As for the Queen, she made little attempt to hide her boredom and I don’t blame her.
I can’t think why Steve Winwood agreed to take part. In the clip below you can see him aged seventeen singing with the Spencer Davis Group in 1965. That record sounds as fresh today as when it was made. This is what we used to be able to do.
Take that, Take That!
I’m in a filthy mood. Read this quickly before I take it down again.
Lang Lang won’t do his career as an international concert pianist any good by accompanying some forgettable young singer. Why not play some electrifying classical music? Why did Sir Bryn Terfel and Andrea Bocelli sing You’ll Never Walk Alone rather than, say, the crowd-pleasing duet from The Pearl Singers? As my musical hero Sir András Schiff said of The Three Tenors: ‘I don’t understand why they would prostitute themselves in this way.’
Prince William spoke nicely of his father but would it have killed him to have said that he would carry out his duties with the help of the Queen? Apparently so, yet her late majesty Queen Elizabeth II described Charles as ‘so ably supported by Camilla’. Our former Queen more gracious, kindly and realistic than her vengeful grandson? Absolutely. Given the longevity of the Windsors, I’m unlikely to see William crowned, thank goodness. It would have been more dignified in the King, I thought, to have remained seated rather than standing, waving a flag and trying to look as if he were enjoying himself. As for the Queen, she made little attempt to hide her boredom and I don’t blame her.
I can’t think why Steve Winwood agreed to take part. In the clip below you can see him aged seventeen singing with the Spencer Davis Group in 1965. That record sounds as fresh today as when it was made. This is what we used to be able to do.
Take that, Take That!
I’m in a filthy mood. Read this quickly before I take it down again.
