In message <199505241933.AA28004@mail1.access.digex.net> H-Net British and Irish
History List writes:
> Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 00:47:37 +1000 (EST)
> From: Ann Verna Beedell <A.Beedell@hum.gu.edu.au>
>
> Birmingham and Manchester had always been part of the 'circuit' for
> continental and metropolitan performers, no doubt by the end of
> the century they were ceasing to be merely provincial. I suppose the period I
> am thinking of would end about 1880. Would Birmingham and Manchester by
> then have rivalled London as musical market do you think?
Not as a market, but this is due mainly to demographics. Not only did London
have a larger population, being the capital, it also had a far larger population
of international visitors who were often frequent visitors to the opera and
concert hall.
This said, the quality of native artists, performing organisations, and music
schools in Manchester and Birmingham certainly rivalled those of London by the
end of the 19th Century.
Karen Mercedes
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| If we had no faults, we would not take so |
| much pleasure in noticing them in others. |
| - Francois, Duc de la Rouchefoucauld |
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