Today I happened to pick up The Independent (one of the major daily newspapers in the UK, for those of you who are not British), as it promised a "15 Page Independent Music Magazine". There was not a single mention of anything pertaining to classical music on any of those 15 pages, further indication of the marginalisation of classical music in this country. I then turned to the charts section in the Arts and Books supplement, and saw that amongst the best selling books, pop singles and albums charts, there was a top selling classical records chart. This made salutary reading. The top 4 albums were all by Katherine Jenkins, a glamorous mezzo soprano, with a mediocre voice, who has never stepped on an operatic stage in her life. The only two albums that had any genuine classical connections were a 3 Tenors Compendium (The Essential...) and a budget priced Pavarotti collection issued by Hallmark.
And yet, when I worked for the LSO, concert attendances were generally pretty high. Even with the high price of tickets, it is often very difficult to book for the likes of the Royal Opera House and the English National Opera; and a look at the magazine racks in Borders, or some such store, will confirm that there are more magazines devoted to classical music than ever before. The audience is still there. So why is is that we classical music lovers are continually ignored by the regular press? Is it, as Peter Maxwell Davies recently maintained, a reflection of the philistinism of our current prime minister and government?
Sir Peter Hall once declared that the Arts were only popular in opposition. How true! I'd be interested in other people's views.