Money, Montrose and music for middlebrows

The plight of RTÉ’s two orchestras, outlined in the Boaden report, reflects the conflicting pressures on the national broadcaster both to champion art and to reach the broadest audience possible

The RTÉ orchestras – which are our national orchestras – lack funding, musicians, leadership, vision and morale. They are underperforming in terms of recording, broadcasting, touring and educational work. Their culture is mistrustful, there is “self-defeating” competition between them, and they are inhibited by restrictive work practices and union agreements. Even Lyric, the national classical music station, fails to take full advantage of them.

This is the situation described in the independent report ...