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16 December 2021
C O M M E N T
Classical music may never return to normal – but
who wants normality?
Covid, the environment and Brexit are all altering the musical landscape, with luminaries such as
Simon Rattle calling for change
IVAN HEWETT
CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC
Shake-up: Simon Rattle has said the old model of orchestral touring needs to change CREDIT:
Christ Christodoulou
If 2020 was a grim tale of forced shutdown and hibernation in classical music, 2021 has been the
year of hopeful re-awakening. Things that last year were judged to be simply impossible, such as
live audiences at the Proms, this year came roaring back. At venues all over Britain, the constant
diet of streamed concerts that we had to learn to enjoy have gradually been replaced by real live
performances in front of live audiences.
It was a process in which some heroic institutions led the way, above all the Wigmore Hall, which
managed to put on a series of concerts for live (and live-streaming) audiences as early as January.
By contrast, London’s Southbank Centre seemed in the grip of a strange paralysis until late May,
when it finally opened again to socially distanced audiences. Meanwhile, some regional
organisations, such as Snape Maltings and the Bournemouth and Liverpool orchestras, mounted a
rich series of partly live, partly streamed concerts. One of the latter’s June highlights featured a
