The Week in Light & Sound
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It follows an original that became a popular classic and the highest grossing film at the UK box office of all time - despite being widely panned by critics on release.
At the premier of Mamma Mia Here We Go Again Pierce Brosnan, who plays a past love interest of Meryl Streep's character Donna, told Sky News he wasn't bothered by bad reviews. "The critics could have a good old field day with us, but I think at the end of the day the people are going to enjoy it even more then the last one," he said. Mamma Mia, which was a hugely successful stage musical first, made more than $600m (£453m) worldwide.
After Brexit - A government blueprint for the UK’s future relationship with the EU has emphasised the importance of the “continued mobility of talented individuals” and proposes a new culture agreement that allows the UK to participate in European programmes. The white paper describes mobility as a “key element of economic, cultural and scientific cooperation”.
Regarding culture specifically, the paper says the UK attaches importance to the “continued mobility of talented individuals and groups”. It says the UK and EU will need “provisions that allow mobility” for areas including culture, such as allowing musicians to perform at concerts.
The UK, it states, will always be a country that “advocates cultural diversity as part of its global identity and is committed to ensuring its support of European culture”. It proposes a “culture and education accord” that provides for UK participation in EU programmes and “allows UK institutions to be partners, associates or advisers” to EU projects and vice versa. The paper adds that the UK would want a deal that allows for the “temporary movement of goods for major events”.
Now 100 - Key themes for this year’s BBC proms season, now in full swing, include marking the centenaries of: the end of the First World War (including a commission from composer Anna Meredith on the opening night), of the birth of Leonard Bernstein, and of women receiving the right to vote in the UK.
Other anniversary events include a concert celebrating 40 years of the BBC Young Musician competition, at which former winners Nicola Benedetti and Sheku Kanneh-Mason will perform.
90 debuts by artists include the first visit to the Proms by the Estonian Festival Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Teodor Currentzis and MusicAeterna. The music of Debussy, Lili Boulanger and Hubert Parry also get a special focus, while Bach's Brandenburg Concertos will be heard alongside new responses commissioned from contemporary composers.
At the other end of the musical spectrum, the 100th edition of Now That's What I Call Music will be released this Friday, featuring the biggest chart hits of the last four months.
The Now series began in 1983 as a way of showcasing the success of Virgin Records which, at the time, was having an unprecedented run of hits with acts like Culture Club, Phil Collins and UB40. They took the idea to EMI, who were so impressed they linked up with Virgin to release it - the first time that two major labels had collaborated in such a way.
(Jim Evans)
17 July 2018
