Strike up the band

In yet another example of life in W1A mirroring life in "W1A", the BBC Concert Orchestra is in the headlines.

Classical music blogger Norman Lebrecht reported on Wednesday that there were lists of potential cuts inside the BBC which now included the Orchestra. The Sunday Times says the Orchestra will do fewer live shows for Radio 2's Friday Night is Music Night in the year ahead, turning instead to "cheaper bands and versions of performances from the Radio 3 Proms". And presumably, more repeats.

A BBC spokesman tells Mr Lebrecht "The portfolio of work for the BBC Concert Orchestra has a number of strands which, can and do change over time. We are increasing their workload in some areas while reducing in others – none of this calls into question the orchestra’s future.

"The BBC Concert Orchestra will still appear in Friday Night Is Music Night, it’s just the number of original programmes with the concert orchestra within that programme which will be slightly reduced."