The BBC gets it right at last

@Asylum (47893)

Manchester, England

December 26, 2017 6:33am CST

Occasionally operas are transmitted on British television, which suits me because I do like opera. However, I do have a pet hate concerning the actual timing. For most of the year it would not matter, but during periods such as Christmas and Easter I would expect an appropriate opera to be shown. When it comes to films, they do not show Easter Parade at Christmas or A Christmas Carol at Easter. It therefore follows that operas should also be set to the season at such times, yet they rarely are. I have known Cavalleria Rusticana to be shown over the Christmas period, despite the story taking place on Easter Sunday. This year they have finally got it right and showed La Boheme on Christmas Day, the story of which begins on Christmas Eve. This is actually the first example of seasonal timing oh an operas that I can remember.

13 people like this

13 responses

@JudyEv (339930)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 Dec 17

That's a nice change. You'd think such planning would be a given but it seems not.

3 people like this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

26 Dec 17

It always seemed odd to me that such planning was not applied. It must have been obvious to the planners and makes a big difference overall.

3 people like this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

26 Dec 17

@JudyEv That would not be a bad idea. There are numerous fairy tales and stories available, from which an appropriate pantomime could be devised.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (339930)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 Dec 17

@Asylum It's a wonder they don't show pantomimes at Easter.

1 person likes this

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@LadyDuck (471497)

• Switzerland

26 Dec 17

Someone finally did it the right way. I have seen the Cavalleria Rusticana during Christmas also in Italy.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

26 Dec 17

Exactly Anna. I have watched it during the Christmas season in the past and enjoyed it, but was far happier with La Boheme yesterday.

1 person likes this

@LadyDuck (471497)

• Switzerland

26 Dec 17

@Asylum This is the right time for La Boheme, I surely have a "gelida manina" (cold little hand) today.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

26 Dec 17

@LadyDuck I would have expected you to have two cold hands today.

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Arthur Chappell

@arthurchappell (44998)

• Preston, England

26 Dec 17

I watched it too , and it was a very good production

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

26 Dec 17

It is always good to watch a new production. I have last Boheme on CD, DVD and have seen it Opera North at the Palace Theatre.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

27 Dec 17

@arthurchappell The first time that I went to watch Opera North was a production of Madama Butterfly. I have recordings of it by international casts, but decided to go anyway. It does make quite a difference to watch the performance in an acoustically designed environment.

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Arthur Chappell

@arthurchappell (44998)

• Preston, England

26 Dec 17

@Asylum nice, I have heard it but never saw it before, impressed by a main cast of 6 players meeting about a 100 strong chorus in the bar scene - it looked quite expensive to hire so many voice trained extras

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Belle Starr (Iz)

@BelleStarr (61102)

• United States

30 Dec 17

I am glad they finally got it right for you, well done BBC.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

30 Dec 17

It has taken them decades to finally manage this.

1 person likes this

Belle Starr (Iz)

@BelleStarr (61102)

• United States

30 Dec 17

@Asylum Yes and they managed to lose the Great British Bake Off so they have not been on my happy lists lol

1 person likes this

@Inlemay (17713)

• South Africa

31 Dec 17

I am hoping that the eve into 2018 is treating you well and that we spend many many more hours, days and years chatting here. Hopefully I still get to meet you, until then Happy New Year Barry and Health especially for 2018 xx

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

31 Dec 17

Happy New Year to Lany

Thank you Lany. I am currently far better than I have been for many months. It would be impossible to predict how long I have left, but at least I can enjoy the remaining time to some degree. Happy New Year to you as well.

1 person likes this

@moffittjc (121581)

• Gainesville, Florida

28 Dec 17

If you want appropriately timed Christmas themed TV to watch, then I will happily send you the Hallmark Channel. All they show is Hallmark Christmas movies, and no matter how many hundreds of those made-for-TV movies they produce, the plot and storyline are the exact same in every single one of them. I will happily give you that network to keep, and you can watch Christmas movies to your heart's content.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

28 Dec 17

Christmas movies are in abundance here at this time if year. It is the operas that are rarely scheduled accordingly.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

28 Dec 17

@moffittjc That would leave you with nothing to watch in June.

1 person likes this

@moffittjc (121581)

• Gainesville, Florida

28 Dec 17

@Asylum But I still want to give you the Hallmark Channel so we don't have to deal with it anymore here in the US. You can have it. I say goodbye and good riddance!

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changjiangzhibin89

@changjiangzhibin89 (16763)

• China

29 Dec 17

They finally did the right thing.I like opera too,especially the Beijing opera.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

29 Dec 17

It was a very welcome surprise for me.

1 person likes this

@Angela150 (928)

• London, England

29 Dec 17

Yes the need to get the seasonal timings right!

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

29 Dec 17

It seems to have been the only subject whereby the season was never taken into consideration.

@Madshadi (8840)

• Brussels, Belgium

29 Dec 17

They probably received some complains about the timing. I'm glad they got it right

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

29 Dec 17

This mistiming has existed for years, but nothing has been done about it until now.

1 person likes this

@jaboUK (64354)

• United Kingdom

28 Dec 17

You'd think that the 'high-ups' would give due consideration to timing, wouldn't you? Glad they got it right this time.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

28 Dec 17

It was never a major issue because I would enjoy the music at any time. Nevertheless, I could not understand why the season was not taken into consideration as it is in most program scheduling.

1 person likes this

@Shiva49 (26680)

• Singapore

27 Dec 17

I thought they should have got their act together being highly acclaimed for their preeminent position in broadcasting and coverage of programmes. Happy that you enjoyed the opera relevant to the season this time - siva

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

27 Dec 17

This is the very first time that I have known them to get it right.

1 person likes this

@Kandae11 (54997)

•

26 Dec 17

Maybe someone gave them a hint

Anyway, I hope it continues.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

26 Dec 17

They always have people involved in opera to present the program, so the inappropriate timing is inexcusable.

@peachpurple (13962)

• Malaysia

26 Dec 17

Thank God they got it right

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

26 Dec 17

If they had shown an opera designed for a different season I would still have watched it, but a Christmas orientated one was preferable.