“The conversation over the last few weeks has at times been difficult,” says the BBC’s director- general Tim Davie. Understatement of the year? Davie is having a torrid month. First he went to war with Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker over political tweets. Then he inadvertently opened a second front by trying to scrap BBC Singers, the corporation’s chamber choir.
Now, having surrendered to both Lineker and the Singers with his U-turns, Davie is grovelling. In a leaked letter to all past winners of the BBC Young Musicians Award, who were up in arms about the attempt to get rid of BBC Singers, Davie promises “alternative proposals” and says the Beeb “will always be a massive champion and supporter of orchestral and choral music in this country”. That will be music to their ears.
Scientists believe Monet’s ‘hazy’ art of London is inspired by air pollution
Claude Monet’s hazy paintings of London in the 19th century are being rechristened as the first climate change-conscious art by scientists. Two American researchers, Anna Lea Albright and Peter Huybers, claim that Monet’s scenes of Parliament, pictured, and Waterloo Bridge are the first major instances of air pollution influencing art. The pair say they discovered a “surprisingly good match” between pollution estimates and the blurriness of objects in Monet’s paintings. “Polluted realism”, they tease, might be a stand-in term for impressionism. Monet is back in the news lately; Ai Weiwei has just reconstructed his Water Lilies with LEGO blocks at the Design Museum.
How Zendaya spent her Monday-a
After Kim Kardashian was caught ordering a Guinness in Soho, Londoners are on high alert. On Monday, Hollywood couple Zendaya and Tom Holland, right, dropped into Jamavar, an Indian restaurant in Mayfair. With a pan-Indian fine dining menu, head chef Surender Mohan offers something posher than a Brick Lane curry house. The restaurant retained its Michelin star this week.
Labour staffers strike a deal with their new local pub
Labour is already in party mood, 18 months out from an election it looks set to win. After moving its HQ back to Southwark from Victoria — for years Labour was based in Walworth Road — party bigwigs have struck a deal with The Crown, the new local. Located over the road, the pub will offer 10 per cent discounts to staffers who pop in. Should keep them sweet, no matter how bad the commute is.
Streetcar set are revving up
At last night’s launch of of their West End run, A Streetcar Named Desire leads Paul Mescal and Anjana Vasan posed with director Rebecca Frecknall. Over in east London, Tracey Emin was at the VIP preview of the Gilbert & George Centre, a permanent exhibition from the duo which opens on Saturday. Actor Luke Evans and partner Fran Tomas also attended, getting a snap with the pair. At a performance of Gone Too Far at Stratford’s Theatre Royal, Mr Malcolm’s List co-stars Zawe Ashton and Sope Dirisu reunited.
