Separated at birth

I was at a wonderful Colin Davis/LSO concert last night. Mrs-P-to-be noticed the pianist Evgeny Kissin behind us

How wrong she was. It was, of course, George Osborne.

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Is there a speech?

So which is it?

Daniel Finkelstein reports that Steve Hilton was at a party at 10pm last night. As Daniel writes:

There is an inverse relationship between how late the leader's team finish his speech and its quality.

Last year David Cameron's speech wasn't finished until just before he gave it. And you could tell.

...The earliest sign that this year may be better? Steve Hilton was to be found at a party at 10pm, calmly sipping a soft drink.

There's not necessarily an inconsistency: it's possible that, as Benedict Brogan puts it:

Mr Cameron looked at it [the speech] this morning, chucked it in the bin and announced he'd busk it. Seatbelts on!

Or maybe Mr C is simply going to do his 2005 trick and recite it from memory, and the 'winging it' line is simply, well, a line.

My money's on the latter.

UPDATE: Benedict B has also suggested the latter.

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Polly T

Polly Toynbee:

Here in Blackpool, one drumbeat echoes through the halls - tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts. A poll of 1,500 activists by the ConservativeHome website found that 64% to 24% want to "spend less than Labour and spend more on tax cuts". Osborne and Cameron have heard it loud and clear with these highly symbolic giveaways. They talk gravely of fiscal responsibility, yet at the same time they let loose this cascade of cash at the top.

Valiantly, at a fringe meeting pumping with pressure for tax cuts, David Willetts reminded them that this policy was road-tested to destruction for three elections in a row. He made fun of the flat-taxers and their "sunny Californian Laffer curves", dismissing as fantasy that rightwing belief that cutting taxes brings in more revenue.

For Ms T, it seems, no level of taxes is too high, because none of us has a right to our own money. It's the state's to give back to us.

If the Tories are struggling to push above 34%, can I offer a cheap and cheerful solution? Plaster Ms Toynbee's columns on as many hoardings as possible, with the caption: This woman is Labour.
Should do the trick.

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The BBC - I luv it

There's a heated debate at The Times:

The magic of radio drama is that it provides no visual cues to limit the imagination. That’s what Stephen Pollard argued on this page yesterday. After listening to more than three hours of self-congratulatory programming to celebrate the 40th anniversary of BBC Radio 4 on Sunday night, I can only say, Stephen, either you are wrong or have an enviable ability to suspend your disbelief. 

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Half the Sky

Here's a shameless plug for a very deserving charity. A close friend of mine has adopted two Chinese orphan babies. Both children benefited from the services of a charity, Half the Sky. Here's what my friend says:

Their work is even more important for the children who do not get adopted, and who grow up in the orphanages (e.g., they have a "Big Sisters" program to support the older girls who never find parents.) Please vote for this lady to be an Olympic torchbearer in China Daily's contest, and pass this along to anyone else who may be interested. If she wins, she will run with children from 8 Chinese orphanages. It will be tremendous publicity for an excellent charity. 

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Wagner at the Royal Opera? I just can’t look

I have a column in The Times today, on the Ring Cycle which starts tomorrow. Here's an extract:

Yesterday, as you will be aware, was the fortieth anniversary of the creation of Radio 4. Tomorrow sees curtain up on the Royal Opera House’s first Ring Cycle in ten years. I imagine a sizeable proportion of the Wagner audience will be Radio 4 listeners. My advice to them tomorrow - advice that, I’ve realised, is widely applicable - is simple: pretend you are listening to the radio. Keep your eyes closed.

...I’m giving the Royal Opera’s version a miss. I have no desire to waste the Pollard cash. The four operas have already been performed separately over the past two and a half years. I saw the first two, and the productions managed to be both banal and puerile.

Musically, however, the performances were first class. I saw the second opera in the cycle, Die Walküre, twice: once, fully staged, at Covent Garden; and once, a few weeks later, in a concert performance at the Proms. They had the same conductor, the same orchestra and more or less the same cast. One was six hours of dramatically dead tedium. The other was vibrant, gripping and one of the greatest musical experiences of my life. It was, of course, the supposedly inert concert performance that was sensational.

...When it comes to this week’s Ring Cycle, therefore, I’d much rather hear the real artists - the actors, the singers and the musicians - in concert. They’ll know that their communication with the audience’s imagination is direct, and that they can give their dramatic best without the interference of second-rate direction.

And since I can’t have that this week, I’ll stay home and listen to Radio 4.

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Comments

Apologies to anyone who ahas left a comment since the site changed last week. I've only just realised that none have appeared. It's being investigated and hopefully all will be well soon.

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