In Friday’s (9/2) Daily Telegraph (London), Andrew Hough reports, “The BBC was forced to suspend a live Proms broadcast on Radio 3 last night when a performance by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was disrupted by protests. Up to 30 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were ejected from the Royal Albert Hall after attempting to drown out the orchestra. They shouted anti-Israel statements throughout the concert, leading to clashes with members of the audience who wanted to hear the music. Witnesses reported seeing a fight break out. Different groups of protesters stood up to chant at the start of each of the four pieces of the evening, meaning that fresh people had to be ejected each time. Radio 3 broadcast the first piece, which lasted about seven minutes, including the protests. When the demonstrations started again at the start of the second, the broadcast was halted and a recording of a different orchestra playing the same music was played instead. The BBC tried to resume the broadcast at the start of the second part of the concert, but further protests led to it being abandoned.” The program was conducted by Israel Philharmonic Music Director for Life Zubin Mehta; Gil Shaham was the soloist in Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto, which was disrupted by the protesters.
Posted September 2, 2011
