It is the pits

The pitfalls in a conductor’s occupation are increasing more and more literal. At the WhatsOnStage awards ceremony this week, Tom Deering place down his baton to hand some Battenberg cake helpfully to a girl in the front row when he missed his footing and plunged into the orchestra pit. Gamely he kept the demonstrate going before queuing up at A&ampE. He escaped lightly, for final yr, in the course of a rehearsal of Peer Gynt, the director of Perm Opera fell into the pit with fatal outcomes. The exact same befell a violinist at the Bolshoi. Not so long prior to, at Glyndebourne, a soprano fell into the pit, on to a cellist, with happier outcomes for faller and fallee. So, will the Culture Secretary take into account the security implications of these treacherous pits? Should the orchestra be made to put on cushioned helmets and the sharp finish of conductors’ batons be fitted with a cork? Of program not – but we wouldn’t be amazed.

It is the pits