To mask or not to mask

[marvin]

Very moving indeed and an excellent speech. It still looks odd that all the performers are distanced but the audience is not.

Well, members of the Berliner Philharmoniker were certainly not distanced in last night's live concert from Berlin. The audience were all masked though. Certainly a much better alternative to the rag tale Proms.

[Bryn]

Just broadcast on BBC News channel, a 'trail' (more like trial) for the Last Night of the Proms "live next Saturday"!

[french frank]

Just broadcast on BBC News channel, a 'trail' (more like trial) for the Last Night of the Proms "live next Saturday"!

Where are they holding it?

[Petrushka]

Well, members of the Berliner Philharmoniker were certainly not distanced in last night's live concert from Berlin. The audience were all masked though. Certainly a much better alternative to the rag tale Proms.

It looked to me as if the ratio of unmasked/masked in the audience at the RAH was 90/10 and everyone happily bellowing away! Johnson washed his hands of restrictions so everybody thinks the pandemic is all over so apart from proof of double vaccination there's nothing the Albert Hall can do and have given up.

I'd imagine that the BPO would be tested both before and after the concert so no need to distance. With the audience masked I'd have had no problem in attending in the Philharmonie but the RAH last night looked a decidedly risky proposition. Looked like a super-spreader event!.

[marvin]

Unlike myself nowadays, the majority of shoppers in Tesco were wearing masks or at least some form of face covering.
In a local pub on Friday, a group for lunch came in all wearing masks but one or two were quite disgusting and looked as though they'd been used forever, screwed up and kept in a coal cellar. Yuk.
I haven't worn a mask for nearly two months now.

[duncan]

It looked to me as if the ratio of unmasked/masked in the audience at the RAH was 90/10 and everyone happily bellowing away!

I guess it’s hard to bellow with a mask on but this contrasts with my experience earlier in the season at the Pergolesi/Stravinsky (estimate ~75% masked). Further proof, if any more needed, that the LNOTP is not for me.

[Bryn]

Unlike myself nowadays, the majority of shoppers in Tesco were wearing masks or at least some form of face covering.
In a local pub on Friday, a group for lunch came in all wearing masks but one or two were quite disgusting and looked as though they'd been used forever, screwed up and kept in a coal cellar. Yuk.
I haven't worn a mask for nearly two months now.

Not something to be proud of, potentially leading to the death of others.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Not something to be proud of, potentially leading to the death of others.

[marvin]

Why would you come to those conclusions? Of course I realise it is still mandated for bus and train travel but I don't use those forms of transport but if I did, then I would comply.
Mask wearing was no longer mandated from July 19th, I believe. do you not realise this?

[french frank]

To mask or not to mask

Mask wearing was no longer mandated from July 19th, I believe. do you not realise this?

No one was suggesting that you HAVE to wear a mask, merely that it indicates a care for the welfare of others, or as Prof Whitty and others have said, it is a courtesy to them. If one accepts this, then one might conclude that not wearing a mask indicates having no concern for the welfare of others, or a discourtesy to them. While this perfectly legal, it is not necessarily something everyone would want to own up to publicly.

[cloughie]

Interesting to be in the back row stalls last night. I didn't have any issues personally with people unmasking as the evening went on, even if I chose to stay fully masked throughout. Everyone's risk appetite is different, is it not?
I found the atmosphere in the hall to be more "rugby club" than in previous LNOTP visits. Perhaps the fact that tickets were easily available via the box office almost up to kickoff had something to do with this.
One group of young bucks in the row in front arrived shortly before the start, carrying two pints each. Later they dispatched one of their number to the bar at least twice during proceedings. This made for an awkward shuffle along the row, merrily dripping lager on their fellow concert goers as they returned to their colleagues.
Lubricated boorishness was in evidence with the inelegant bellows of "Encore" after Jerusalem from various parts of the hall.
Some wag on the front row of the arena prom felt the need to shout "humorous" slogans every now and again. These seemed to amuse him and nobody else.
The hornpipe was ruined by a small group of prommers who, ignoring the dictum that 'less is more' decided to punctuate almost every cadence with a pyrotechnic. Tiresome.
That apart... thoroughly enjoyed the evening. I went ostensibly for the Arnold but enjoyed the accordion works very much as well as the orchestration of the opening piece.
Interesting that with the reduced orchestra (a) it could not be heard during the feet stomping/clapping of the hornpipe and (b) the organ absolute overwhelmed it during Land of Hope and Glory.
Just a few rambling notes from the trenches!

So there was actually an organ in use! I thought that perhaps the Anne Dudley arrangement had removed it as I could not hear it from th BBC1 relay! I always listen out as in days gone by it was possible to watch BBC1 and listen simultaneously to R3 FM via big speakers on my hifi system!

[Serial_Apologist]

So there was actually an organ in use! I thought that perhaps the Anne Dudley arrangement had removed it as I could not hear it from th BBC1 relay! I always listen out as in days gone by it was possible to watch BBC1 and listen simultaneously to R3 FM via big speakers on my hifi system!

That's progress for you!

[Bryn]

That's progress for you!

And they still broadcast the pip, so that you can set your watch to the wrong time. It gets worse, my Pure DAB radios are approximately 1 minute adrift in their time displays. When I queried this with their customer support, I was advised that it was an inherent error in the chipset they use.

[Prommer]

Why would you come to those conclusions? Of course I realise it is still mandated for bus and train travel but I don't use those forms of transport but if I did, then I would comply.
Mask wearing was no longer mandated from July 19th, I believe. do you not realise this?

Am with you on this! It must be up to the individual, at least from a certain point. And that point was July 19th, rightly or wrongly.

[edashtav]

Not something to be proud of, potentially leading to the death of others.