Scott Parker Leads Fulham Back
Scott Parker on his way back to the Premier League
I reactivated my DAZN subscription tonight to watch Fulham v Brentford in the EFL Championship Play-off Final. And it was worth the money.
The Cottagers, managed by ex-West Ham star Scott Parker (three time Hammer of the Year 2009-2011), beat Brentford 2-1 AET and made an immediate return to the Premier League due to two extra time goals from left- back Joe Bryan.
Bryan, an unlikely hero for Fulham, gained them promotion to the Premier League with the first brace of his career. His first goal came from a brilliantly taken 40-yard-free-kick which caught Brentford’s goalkeeper off guard, and the second from a one-two with Fulham’s top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic inside the box (below). Brentford could only pull one back in injury time before the final whistle sparked jubilant celebrations from Fulham!
Joe Bryan on his first goal: “Scott (Parker) told me to whip it near post, that was for my dad, he used to give me the eyes when he made me go in goal.”
Britons Flee UK By Thousands
Well, I am quite sad that it has been impossible to travel to the UK for months because of the virus. But it seems many of the people living there are happy to leave their country for Europe. The Guardian reports that the UK has seen an exodus of its citizens since Brexit.
Jonathan Coe‘s novel “Middle England” ends with the emigration of its main character to the South of France. But that’s not just fiction, it seems to be true.
The number of British nationals emigrating to other EU countries has risen by 30% since the Brexit referendum, to a level akin to a country experiencing “economic or political crisis”, experts have found.
Another Wembley Defeat For Frank
Frank Lampard führte Chelsea in seiner Debut-Saison als Manager der Blues direkt in die Champions League und ins FA Cup-Finale, verlor aber am Samstag sein zweites Wembley-Finale innerhalb von nur 14 Monaten! Aber vielleicht gilt für Chelsea und Frank Lampard doch noch der Satz: „Wer zuletzt lacht, lacht am besten.” Wobei ich als Hammers-Fan hoffe, dass das nicht der Fall sein wird – wobei ich mich diesbezüglich nicht auf das Champions League-Rückspiel der Blues gegen Bayern am 8. August beziehe (das Hinspiel hat der CFC 0:3 verloren)…
Die Enttäuschung stand Chelsea-Manager Frank Lampard bei der Pressekonferenz nach dem verlorenen Endspiel ins Gesicht geschrieben. Als Spieler hatte der bei West Ham United ausgebildete und bis 2001 für die Hammers spielende Sohn von West Ham-Verteidiger Frank Lampard sen nur eines seiner fünf FA-Cup-Finals mit den Blues verloren – im Mai 2002 gegen Arsenal (0:2). Auch diesmal waren es die Gunners, gegen die der von den West Ham-Fans stets massiv ausgepfiffene und wenig schmeichelhaft (und unzutreffend) “Fat Frank” Genannte als Manager den Kürzeren zog.
Obwohl Chelsea im Wembley Stadion schon in der 5. Minute durch Pulisic nach einer schönen Kombination über Mason Mount und Giroud in Führung gegangen war, gewann der FC Arsenal das diesjährige FA Cup-Finale, das für die Nord-Londoner gleichzeitig das „Spiel der letzten Europa League-Chance“ gewesen war, mit 2:1. Aubameyang mit einem Elfer und einem wunderschönen Heber war ebenso wie im Halbfinale gegen Manchester City mit zwei Toren der Matchwinner für Arsenal. Die Gunners qualifizierten sich damit – obwohl in der Liga nur Achter – als Cupsieger fix für die Europa League Gruppenphase. Neben den Blues-Anhängern sind daher ob des Resultats auch die Fans der Wolves traurig: sie sind als Siebenter der Premier League nun nicht in der UEFA EL dabei.
Besonders schmerzlich neben dem “FA Cup defeat” muss für Frank Lampard in seiner durchaus erfolgreichen ersten Saison als Chelsea-Manager wohl gewesen sein, dass er ausgerechnet gegen West Ham zweimal in der Liga verloren hat: Jener Klub, dessen Fans gegen Lampard einen “exaggerated grudge” hegen, schaffte zum ersten Mal seit 2002/03 das “Double over Chelsea” mit einem 1:0 an der Stamford Bridge und einem 3:2 im London Stadium!
Für Frank Lampard jun. war das verlorene Cufinale gegen Arsenal die zweite Final-Niederlage in Englands Nationalstadion innerhalb von 14 Monaten. Im Vorjahr schaffte es Lampard bei seiner ersten Station als Manager mit Derby County auf den dritten Platz der Championship und durch einen Sieg über Leeds Utd. in das Aufstiegs-Playoff im Wembley Stadion am 27. Mai 2019. Vor 86.000 Zuschauern verlor Derby dieses Finale aber gegen Aston Villa – mit dem selben Score wie diesmal Chelsea gegen Arsenal vor leeren Rängen: 1:2 endete das Spiel 2019 gegen das Team, dem FA-Präsident Prinz William die Daumen hält, und das heuer erst in der letzten Runde mit dem 1:1 gegen West Ham den Verbleib in der Premier League sicherstellen konnte.
Trotzdem könnte für Frank Lampard im Verhältnis zu Londons “Claret and Blue” doch noch der Satz „Wer zuletzt lacht, lacht am besten“ gelten: wenn nämlich Hammer of the Year Declan Rice (21) in diesem Sommer zu Chelsea wechseln sollte, wo sein schon erwähnter „Spezi“ Mason Mount spielt (ebenfalls 21, Bild oben rechts); zu jenem Klub, bei dem Declan Rice gemeinsam mit Mount vom 7. bis zum 15. Lebensjahr spielte, bevor er 2014 zu West Ham‘s Academy kam. Hartnäckig hält sich das Gerücht, dass Lampard Declan Rice zu den Blues holen könnte, wo er dann mit seinem gleichaltrigen Freund Mount, der letzte Saison als Leihspieler gemeinsam mit Lampard bei Derby tätig war und heuer bei Chelsea eingeschlagen hat, wieder vereint werden könnte. Wir bei West Ham meinen dagegen, dass Declan, unser “future captain”, unbedingt bei den Hammers bleiben sollte!
Übrigens: Derby County, bei denen eine Zeitlang der bei Aston Villa ausgebildete Österreicher Andreas Weimann spielte und für die in dieser Saison Wayne Rooney kickte, wurde heuer nur Zehnter der Football League Championship und hatte mit dem Aufstieg in die PL nichts zu tun. Den letzten Aufstiegsplatz neben Leeds Utd. und West Brom machen am kommenden Dienstag in Wembley zwei Londoner Klubs untereinander aus: Brentford und Fulham.
Bild: Die blauen Streifen auf den Ligastühlen haben nichts zu bedeuten: Prinz William, der in Sandringham House zu einem “outdoor screening” des Finales eingeladen hatte, ist kein Fan der Blues, sondern von Claret & Blue (Aston Villa).
The Final Curtain
The extraordinary 2019/20 Premier League season has come to its end on Sunday. Liverpool have won the PL for the first time since their last First Division title in 1990 with 99 points. That means that the Reds have got one point more than last year’s champions Manchester City (98), but remained one point short of the 100 points City amassed two years ago.
The three other Champions League spots go to runners-up Manchester City and to Chelsea and Manchester Utd.
The 39 points West Ham have won are nothing to be proud of, but the Hammers finished the season very well, losing only one in seven games within the last weeks. Hence they have avoided to be part of the bunch of three that had to fight relegation until the last day of the season. The Irons’ final result was a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa. For the for latter this result was enough to stay in the Premier League. Bournemouth (despite winning at Everton), whereas Watford and Norwich are relegated.
Jamie Vardy claimed the Golden Boot for the first time with a total of 23 goals and Kevin De Bruyne won the 2019/20 Playmaker award matching Thierry Henry’s total of 20 assists for Arsenal, which he set in 2002/03.
“Losing only one game in seven is not bad considering we lost a couple of games when we came back from lockdown,” manager David Moyes reflected at the end of this season. “You have to say we’ve been in really good form since then and I can’t praise the players enough for how well they’ve done, because their attitude has been great and every day they’ve been at it, and even the boys who’ve not been in the team have been excellent.”
Declan Rice has been crowned 2019/20 Hammer of the Year.
West Ham United’s ever-present England international midfielder received nearly 50% of all votes cast by the Claret and Blue Army, winning the prestigious award after finishing as runner-up in each of the previous two seasons.
The 21-year-old held off the challenge of runner-up Angelo Ogbonna, who enjoyed a strong season at centre-back, with ten-goal forward Michail Antonio in third place.
Manager David Moyes was full of praise for Declan and for his other players as well:
“Everybody talks about Declan and he’s played all the games, all the minutes and he’s done incredibly well. He’s improving, he really is, he’s getting better as a young player and we want to make sure we keep making him better because I want us to have a good young team.
“The likes of Declan have been so good, Tomas Soucek has joined him, Issa Diop at the back, Jarrod Bowen and young Ben Johnson has come back into it the last few weeks – I’ve got to say the signs are there are five or six good young boys and we can use that as a framework to build on, coupled with two or three good experienced players we’ve got, hopefully we can start to see a side for the future!”
The 2020/21 Premier League campaign will kick-off in just seven weeks’ time. Let’s hope Declan Rice will stay and West Ham United can take the momentum of a strong finish to the 2019/20 season into the rapidly approaching new season.
Come on you Irons!
100 Jahre Salzburger Festspiele und 100 Jahre Bundes-Verfassung
Dass die Salzburger Festspiele trotz des Coronavirus heuer stattfinden, ist mutig und richtig.
Ihre Präsidentin Helga Rabl-Stadler (Bild) hat es mit der ihr eigenen Beharrlichkeit geschafft, dass die Festspiele im Jahr ihres 100-Jahr-Jubiläums – mit all den Corona-bedingten Einschränkungen – stattfinden können.
Diese Jubiläum fällt mit 100 Jahren österreichisches Bundesverfassungs-Gesetz zusammen: Am 22. August 1920 wurde der erste “Jedermann” in der Fassung von Hugo von Hofmannsthal unter der Regie von Max Reinhardt auf dem Domplatz aufgeführt, am 1. Oktober 1920 beschloss das österreichische Parlament das bis heute gültige B-VG, mit dem von Hans Kelsen die moderne Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit begründet wurde.
Bei einem spannenden Symposium am 24. Juli 2020 wurde in Salzburg unter dem Titel “Verfassung der Kultur, Kultur der Verfassung” an beide Gründungsakte erinnert.
“Die Kunst ist eine Schwester der Demokratie”, sagte Maja Haderlap in ihrer Ansprache. Auch in Ausnahmezuständen müssen Kunst und Kultur stattfinden!
Dass es die Salzburger Festspiele im heurigen Jahr gibt, ist ein wichtiges Statement. Ich hoffe, dieses Beispiel wirkt weit über sie selbst hinaus und hat positive Auswirkungen auf die Ausübungsmöglichkeiten für Kunst und Kultur in ihren verschiedensten Formen. Auch Kunst hat “Systemrelevanz”!
Link: https://www.vfgh.gv.at/medien/Grabenwarter-Der_moderne_Verfassungsstaat_als_Garant_.de.php
When Will Playing in “Splendid Isolation” End?
It’s “splendid isolation week 16.” I thought Iain Dale would write this in his weekly “Letter from Tunbridge Wells”, because he has been counting the weeks since he went into lockdown in March in his emails which arrive every Sunday. But no, nothing remained the same last week. There has been “a wee spot of light away in the distance,” as David Moyes put it before the crucial game against Watford on Friday, “and we are aiming to get it”.
This post has also been published with West Ham Till I Die
Instead of reporting “week 16” of splendid isolation, Iain told us that he had ventured into London last Thursday for the first time in four months, and on the Friday Boris Johnson set out a road map for ending lockdown that could see theatres reopen from August and crowds return to sport stadiums in October if “pilot events” go well (the first of them being a cricket friendly in The Oval on 26-27 July). Premier League Clubs are even more ambitious. They are hoping that games could be played with supporters present as early as September, with around 50 percent of capacity, due to social distancing and obeying of healthcare rules. But of course that will all depend on avoiding a massive “second wave”.
So there’s at least some hope that I’ll be able to spend the credit I have with West Ham United on match tickets in autumn. However, the only West Ham game I could attend this season, flying over from Austria, will remain the defeat to Newcastle back in November. Our following weekend trip to London had been planned to take place by mid-March, together with three friends and their wives, with an afternoon being reserved for football in the London Stadium of course! Well, you will have guessed it: It was the Wolves match on March 15th we had intended to watch. And this fixture happened to be in the round which was the first to be postponed entirely because of the coronavirus. We had already decided to cancel the trip beforehand, with figures rising and discussions about a lockdown already much more intense in Austria than in the UK at that time. The lockdown in Austria was announced exactly on the weekend we had planned to stay in London!
”Promise less, deliver more”
Four months later, we still do not know when we will be safe from the virus, but at least West Ham is safe now: On Friday night the Hammers virtually secured their place in the Premier League with their 3-1 victory over Watford and now they are even mathematically safe after their 1-1 draw on Wednesday night against Manchester Utd. That brought back some happiness to the Irons’ supporters who have suffered a lot this season. I’m sure plenty of us have celebrated on Friday as if we had won a cup final, and rightly so! Premier League survival was achieved that night by a team starting with purpose and determination, ready to vindicate what manager David Moyes hat asked his players the day before: “Promise less and deliver more,“ he had demanded ahead of the Watford game.
And they did deliver: Within ten minutes the Hammers were 2-0 up courtesy to goals of in-form attacking duo Michail Antonio and Tomas Soucek. And when Declan Rice made it 3-0 with a brilliantly timed long range shot from Mark Noble’s assist, it was all but clear that “the winner stays up game” belonged to West Ham. I celebrated the victory in “splendid isolation” because I had watched the game all by myself on my notebook, sitting in the parlour of an old mansion house in Reichenau an der Rax, one hour south of Vienna, being the only guest of this newly renovated guesthouse this weekend – due to bad weather (and Covid-19 of course).
”He wears Claret and Blue, he’s West Ham through and through”
Friday was also a very special day for skipper Mark Noble who became one of only ten players who have played 500 games for the Club within the last 125 years. In his 500th appearance on Friday evening, he once again led his teammates into a crucial battle and marked this appearance with another typically committed and influential performance from the centre of midfield, also giving the assist to the decisive 3-0 by passing the ball to Declan Rice who scored that beautiful goal (that I will tell you more about below). In the matches since the restart after lockdown, “Mr. West Ham” has played in a more advanced link-up role in midfield which seems to have suited him better than a mere defensive role which he often had to play in previous games. Also in the match against Manchester Utd Mark could not be criticized for playing sidewards and backwards, making the game slow. He linked up with Rice, Soucek and Bowen in some neat attacks, the latters being January signigs who have contributed very much to West Ham’s revival and helping Antonio to become the most prolific goalscorer of post-lockdown.
Mark Noble made his debut in the senior team at the age of just 17 in a League Cup match against Southend in August 2004. That was around the time I renewed and intensified my support for West Ham. The Hammers, in addition to my lifelong support of Rapid Vienna, had first caught my attention back in grammar school when we had developed an interest in English football. They had been on the list of foreign clubs to follow since, but because of their promotion within the season of 2004/05 my interest in them increased significantly and hasn’t stopped to this day. Within these almost sixteen years West Ham have been promoted twice from the Championship via the play-offs (in 2005 and 2012), have reached one FA Cup final (in 2006) and managed a “great escape” in the unforgettable spring of 2007 when I travelled to our first game at Upton Park with my friend Alfred! This game was a defeat (of course…), but with a beautiful goal scored by Carlos Tevez and with Mark Noble playing in midfield.
West Ham in a nutshell
Tevez took the goal from quite a similar position to the one from which Declan Rice hit the back of the net on Friday evening against Watford. It even was almost the same minute of the game, although the circumstances of the matches being very different: Whereas Rice scored the 3-0 in the 36th minute facing a completely empty Sir Trevor Brooking Stand at Stratford, Tevez’ 1:1 came in the 35th minute in front of an erupting Bobby Moore Stand at Upton Park. When I watch the video of this goal I still get goose bumps!
However, that joy didn’t last long back in 2007. With Chelsea’s next attack, just a minute later, they were in front again, and eventually they won 4-1. These two minutes between the 35th and the 36th minute of that game could be seen as “West Ham in a nutshell“: Absolute joy erupting in the ground after Tevez’s brilliantly taken goal, immediately followed by the bursting of the bubble when Shaun Wright-Phillips scored at the other end of the pitch within a minute after the equaliser.
How to change a habit?
David Moyes adressed this “trademark” of the Club in his press conference before the Watford game. It’s this habit of “bursting bubbles” shortly after they have started to fly, which the Scot wants to change when he’s given more time in his second spell than two years back in 2018 when he was replaced after “having done his duty“ of keeping West Ham up. The end of this story (replacing Moyes by a manager of – supposedly – “higher calibers” when the Board decided to turn to former Manchester City and Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini) can also be seen as a typical “fade and die” situation after having “nearly” played the “West Ham way” from autumn of 2018 to the day Fabianski got injured and was replaced by a poorly selected subitute goal keeper. Well, this time round it is all but secure that David Moyes will remain in his managerial position after having guarded West Ham to safety.
When Moyes came back to London in December he said that he refused to consider surviving Premier League relegation a “success” and insisted that in the long term his ambitions sat far higher than that. The manager wants a cultural reset – away from the view he had of West Ham when he was at Everton, namely of a “flaky, inconsistent” side.
That was a view, he said, that was reinforced by one of his earliest memories from the first time he was appointed manager in November 2017, when Watford were his first opponents. “My biggest memory from that night was Marko [Arnautovic] coming off with a sore finger,” said the Scot. “I thought ‘my goodness, what is this I have got here?’. It was my perception [that West Ham were soft] and a lot of managers would still see it that way. It is something we need to change. We have to alter that culture.”
He pointed to a word he heard during lockdown: “One of the things I heard in lockdown came from the Archbishop of York. He said ‘promise less, deliver more’. That has to be a bit of West Ham,” Moyes said ahead of the game against Watford.
Now with the boys having delivered and secured another 4 points and Premier League football next season, it remains to be seen if Moyes‘s intention to change this mentality will reap fruits and West Ham will stop being the team everybody wants to play if a losing streak shall finally come to an end. Far too often, West Ham have not delivered, and famous wins were followed by silly defeats and lacklustre displays. Therefore within the sixteen seasons since Mark Noble’s debut the Hammers have only once qualified for Europe via their league position. And since supporters who have witnessed the Irons winning silverware have to be 40+ of age, two medals for winning the play-off-finals are the only trophies Mark Noble (33) has won with our beloved club. “Let others wage wars for European qualification or Cup silverware, ‘tu Felix West Ham’ celebrate surviving another relegation battle,” that could be our ironic motto in variation of the famous saying about how the (long-gone) Austrian empire had been built by the House of Habsburg (“Let others wage wars, thou, o happy Austria, marry”).
Well, I’m sure no one of us would mind if David Moyes adds some steel to the “soft Irons” when he puts together the squad for next season, as long as he doesn’t forget the attacking flair and creative flow that always has surrounded West Ham! The latest signings of Jarred Bowen and Tomas Soucek have been a success, let’s hope the gaffer will find more “hungry players” he can motivate to give “blood, sweat and tears” when they put on the shirt, like “Mr. West Ham“ Mark Noble has done for 16 years now. Moyes has really earned the chance to show us what he can do for an entire season or more.
The “new normal” sound of football
Next season will start without supporters present in the ground – an isolation of the game which is not “splendid” at all. Without the noise of the crowd, the sound of the game feels like grassroots football on a playing field somewhere in a small village, as one can hear almost every single word which is spoken on the pitch and the sidelines.
The German newspaper “Die Zeit” even had the idea to publish every word that the players had spoken on the pitch during an entire game, filling sixteen pages of the latest issue of “Zeit Magazin” with the words that were exchanged from the first until the last minute of the “Geisterspiel” between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Reading the repetitive language of the players you may think of rap in terms of rhythm, and some things written down sound like a Dadaist play. It was not a surprise that the conversation was dominated by a trio of David Alaba – Joshua Kimmich – Thomas Müller who warned and encouraged the other players for 90 minutes. If the referee made a decision to the disadvantage of Bayern, they often immediately questioned it and tried to put the ref under pressure.
Let’s hope that not only these “ghost games” will become a thing of the past some time this season (maybe as soon as September or October), but let’s also look forward to the prospect of changing the brand of “soft and inconsistent West Ham” within David Moyes’s second spell. But don’t worry, I’m not dreaming of a Bayern-like transformation of West Ham United. It would be boring to win the league seven times in a row like Bayern or Red Bull Salzburg – that would obviously contradict the motto of all the years I’ve been a member of the Claret and Blue Army: “Never a dull day with West Ham United!”
Though no promises will be made anymore, according to David Moyes’s call to “promise less and deliver more“, with the positive end to the season – not just avoiding relegation, but doing it in style in recent games, including the first double over Chelsea since the 2002/03 season – we dare to dream that the Irons will perform better in their fifth season in the London Stadium than the four years before. And I dare to hope to witness a game of the next campaign in London, as soon as travelling will feel more safe and crowds are going to be allowed to cheer on their team inside the ground again.
If things are going well, we will meet again in autumn!
Come on you Irons!
Barnsley manager Struber lost for words
Liverpool’s first top flight triumph for 30 years surely was something to celebrate, but one tier lower, on the other end of the Championship table, there also was an incredible wave of emotions when Barnsley FC scored an injury-time winner at Brentford to survive relegation.
An emotional Gerhard Struber, the Austrian coach who took over at Barnsley in November (leaving Carinthian club WAC) was close to tears when he reflected on Barnsley’s survival after their last-gasp victory away to Brentford in the last round of the Championship. Due to Clarke Oduor’s goal from Patrick Schmidt’s low cross in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, Barnsley avoided relegation with their 2-1 away win by a one point margin over Charlton (losing to already promoted Leeds). Three Austrian players, Michael Sollbauer, Marcel Ritzmaier and Patrick Schmidt were in the middle of jubilant celebrations, together with their Austrian manager, after the final whistle.
Struber’s interview is really moving. That’s football!
Link: https://as www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/12034262/emotional-struber-lost-for-words
Wigan and Hull also have to play in League One next season along with Charlton, though Wigan‘s relegation because of a 12-points-deduction due to entering administration is subject to an appeal. Barnsley’s survival has vindicated the club’s decision to bring in Gerhard Struber, from Austrian side Wolfsberger AC, as their manager in November.
West Ham last night also made sure that they are also mathematically safe with a 1-1 away at Manchester United.
The relegation battle in the Premier League will be decided on Sunday afternoon with Aston Villa (v West Ham), Watford (v Arsenal) and Bournemouth (v Everton) still fighting. Two out of these three clubs will be relegated, Norwich‘s relegation is already inevitable.
UPDATE: Erfolgstrainer Struber: “Ich war ein bisschen der Papa” (Interview, Der Standard, 5.8.2020)
https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000119191881/gerhard-struberich-war-ein-bisschen-der-papa?ref=article
Gunners games key to PL survival
There could still be three teams in Claret and Blue in the Premier League next season, as Aston Villa moved out of the relegation zone with a win over Arsenal last night. Now Watford, equal on points with the Villans, but behind them now with a worse goal difference, will play the Gunners in the final round next weekend.
A 10th league defeat means Arsenal, playing in their first match since reaching the FA Cup final, will finish outside the top six for the first time in 25 years.
They can come no higher than eighth after a disappointing performance by Mikel Arteta’s side against relegation battling Aston Villa, Eddie Nketiah going closest to equalising with a header which hit the post.
However, the Gunners will still have a big say in the relegation battle when they host Villa’s rivals Watford on Sunday. Villa play West Ham at the London Stadium.
Villa‘s magnificent comeback in recent games
After Watford’s 2-1 win over Newcastle on 11 July, Villa looked down and out – seven points from safety with four games to go.
But Smith’s side have reacted magnificently in the closing stages of the season, beating Crystal Palace, drawing at Everton before overcoming Arsenal with a gritty display oozing in character to give themselves a fighting chance of staying up.
They will be safe if they win (presuming Watford do not win by two more goals than they do), or draw providing the Hornets do not win. But defeat would send Villa down if Watford avoid defeat or if Bournemouth win at Everton.
West Ham still need one point out of their remaining games against Manchester Utd (tonight) and Aston Villa to be mathematically safe, though their mich superior goal difference should already have secured Premier League survival.
When theatres reopen, what will have changed?
“Our audiences are tired of watching things on screen, and desperate for live performance that’s presented safely,” says Polly Graham, the young artistic director of Longborough Festival Opera, and she speaks for nearly everyone running a performing organisation.
The Times had a long article on the current situation of performing arts and theatre venues in the UK. The situation is difficult and the outlook not good. After 16 weeks of lockdown some outdoor events may take place, but theatres will (maybe) open some time in autumn with reduced crowds if Britain can avoid “a second wave”.
Streaming has been the only possibility to watch operas and plays in the months that are lying behind us, and might well be part of “the solution” for the performing arts also within the next months, but without performances in front of a real audience it’s like trying to put a very expensive icing on a non-existent cake.
Timna Brauer and Elias Meiri: “Songs from Jerusalem” in the Südbahnhotel
I have been lucky to watch my first live performance after lockdown last weekend in the “Südbahnhotel”, an old hotel on the Semmering, one hour south of Vienna. They are having a small summer festival there, and Timna Brauer and her husband Elias Meiri sang “Songs from Jerusalem”. I was extremely grateful for this evening. Live music with improvising and communicating with the crowd generates an atmosphere you will never experience in your living room in front of a screen.
I very much hope the measures in place at such events, like smaller crowds (from 1 July, up to 250 are allowed indoors in Austria), distance between the spectators, wearing a protective mask etc, help to avoid the spread of the virus there, and the festival will go on during summer, followed by the reopening of opera and theatres in Vienna in autumn when events with up to 5,000 people in closed rooms (and up to 10,000 outdoors) should be possible under Austrian COVID-19-regulations.
We need the performing arts more than ever, they touch our hearts, nourish the soul and can give hope in these difficult times!
Let’s hope the regulations which make these events possible will not have to be tightened again and the spread of the virus remains under Control.
EXTRA TIME 
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