Page 302 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

I realise this comes across as outright snobbery: who am I to pronounce my recherché tastes better
than anyone else’s? But really – is this the best Britain could muster? While Katy Perry was slick
and professional, the other pop acts felt like stand-ins at a second-rate shiny-floor show from the
1970s. Had the ghost of Larry Grayson appeared on the ramparts of the Castle, like Hamlet’s
father, I wouldn’t have been surprised. It’s all a long way from the glories of the Golden Jubilee in
2002, when Brian May climbed on to the roof of Buckingham Palace, and the bill featured, among
others, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Ray Davies and Shirley Bassey.

It made me think, in fact, that this sort of all-star jamboree has had its day: that, at a rumoured
cost of £10 million, the cash-strapped BBC could concentrate on other things, on world-class
outfits such as the benighted BBC Singers, who only cost around £1 million a year – because I
would like to think that the Coronation has made us, as a nation, realise that professional choirs
are to be cherished.

Brian May on the palace roof in 2002 CREDIT: REUTERS/Stephen Hird REUTERS

You could argue that such events wield a sort of soft power for the Corporation, except I don’t
think any sentient being would have been impressed by the sight of Paloma Faith wearing an