Another report emerged last week that the Olympics budget will vastly exceed initial estimates. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recently came out with a report which claimed that the Olympics will cost over £11billion. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), of course, claims that costs will remain under the current budget of £9.3billion. This estimate, however, does not include many additional costs - the cost of land is £766million alone!
There have been hiccups in the plan for months now. Just before Christmas, it was revealed that the cost of security has soared. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) originally estimated that it would need 10,000 staff members, but now finds that it will need 20,000. This puts the price tag for security at well over £1billion, over twice the original budget.
The £9.3billion budget also does not include “legacy costs,” which are estimated to be an additional £826million. This additional cost includes the many cultural events that will be happening under the Olympics banner up and down the UK, including an opera being staged in Birmingham.
Birmingham Opera Company announced that it will be putting on an opera in August as part of the Cultural Olympiad. This is no “Don Giovanni,” however – the Daily Mail reports that Stockhausen’s “Mittwoch Aust Licht” will last for five hours, require 150 performers and will include four helicopters. The opera will be performed four times for a total of 2,400 guests. It will cost £1million, and it will largely be funded by taxpayers.
It will be the first time that this opera has ever been performed in its entirety, and it’s not too difficult to see why, considering the huge expense. The four helicopters will be used for a string quartet, with one member of the quartet in each helicopter. They will play in sync for 40 minutes, with the sound of the whirring helicopters as a backdrop for the piece.
Emma Boon, our Campaign Director gave her reaction to the piece:
There have been hiccups in the plan for months now. Just before Christmas, it was revealed that the cost of security has soared. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) originally estimated that it would need 10,000 staff members, but now finds that it will need 20,000. This puts the price tag for security at well over £1billion, over twice the original budget.
The £9.3billion budget also does not include “legacy costs,” which are estimated to be an additional £826million. This additional cost includes the many cultural events that will be happening under the Olympics banner up and down the UK, including an opera being staged in Birmingham.
Birmingham Opera Company announced that it will be putting on an opera in August as part of the Cultural Olympiad. This is no “Don Giovanni,” however – the Daily Mail reports that Stockhausen’s “Mittwoch Aust Licht” will last for five hours, require 150 performers and will include four helicopters. The opera will be performed four times for a total of 2,400 guests. It will cost £1million, and it will largely be funded by taxpayers.
It will be the first time that this opera has ever been performed in its entirety, and it’s not too difficult to see why, considering the huge expense. The four helicopters will be used for a string quartet, with one member of the quartet in each helicopter. They will play in sync for 40 minutes, with the sound of the whirring helicopters as a backdrop for the piece.
Emma Boon, our Campaign Director gave her reaction to the piece:
There have been hiccups in the plan for months now. Just before Christmas, it was revealed that the cost of security has soared. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) originally estimated that it would need 10,000 staff members, but now finds that it will need 20,000. This puts the price tag for security at well over £1billion, over twice the original budget.
The £9.3billion budget also does not include “legacy costs,” which are estimated to be an additional £826million. This additional cost includes the many cultural events that will be happening under the Olympics banner up and down the UK, including an opera being staged in Birmingham.
Birmingham Opera Company announced that it will be putting on an opera in August as part of the Cultural Olympiad. This is no “Don Giovanni,” however – the Daily Mail reports that Stockhausen’s “Mittwoch Aust Licht” will last for five hours, require 150 performers and will include four helicopters. The opera will be performed four times for a total of 2,400 guests. It will cost £1million, and it will largely be funded by taxpayers.
It will be the first time that this opera has ever been performed in its entirety, and it’s not too difficult to see why, considering the huge expense. The four helicopters will be used for a string quartet, with one member of the quartet in each helicopter. They will play in sync for 40 minutes, with the sound of the whirring helicopters as a backdrop for the piece.
Emma Boon, our Campaign Director gave her reaction to the piece:
“It is incredible that huge sums of taxpayers’ money are being spent on this absurd opera at a time when the public finances are in such a mess. Details like the four helicopters will all make for a hugely expensive and over-the-top spectacle that many hard-pressed taxpayers will view as a self-indulgent and grotesque use of their money. If opera fans want this and it is going to be such a success then the creators should have no problem finding financial backers for it. Looking at the details it’s no surprise that the only mugs who’d pay to put on something like this are those who are spending taxpayers’ money, not their own.”Another report emerged last week that the Olympics budget will vastly exceed initial estimates. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recently came out with a report which claimed that the Olympics will cost over £11billion. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), of course, claims that costs will remain under the current budget of £9.3billion. This estimate, however, does not include many additional costs - the cost of land is £766million alone!
There have been hiccups in the plan for months now. Just before Christmas, it was revealed that the cost of security has soared. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) originally estimated that it would need 10,000 staff members, but now finds that it will need 20,000. This puts the price tag for security at well over £1billion, over twice the original budget.
The £9.3billion budget also does not include “legacy costs,” which are estimated to be an additional £826million. This additional cost includes the many cultural events that will be happening under the Olympics banner up and down the UK, including an opera being staged in Birmingham.
Birmingham Opera Company announced that it will be putting on an opera in August as part of the Cultural Olympiad. This is no “Don Giovanni,” however – the Daily Mail reports that Stockhausen’s “Mittwoch Aust Licht” will last for five hours, require 150 performers and will include four helicopters. The opera will be performed four times for a total of 2,400 guests. It will cost £1million, and it will largely be funded by taxpayers.
It will be the first time that this opera has ever been performed in its entirety, and it’s not too difficult to see why, considering the huge expense. The four helicopters will be used for a string quartet, with one member of the quartet in each helicopter. They will play in sync for 40 minutes, with the sound of the whirring helicopters as a backdrop for the piece.
Emma Boon, our Campaign Director gave her reaction to the piece:
“It is incredible that huge sums of taxpayers’ money are being spent on this absurd opera at a time when the public finances are in such a mess. Details like the four helicopters will all make for a hugely expensive and over-the-top spectacle that many hard-pressed taxpayers will view as a self-indulgent and grotesque use of their money. If opera fans want this and it is going to be such a success then the creators should have no problem finding financial backers for it. Looking at the details it’s no surprise that the only mugs who’d pay to put on something like this are those who are spending taxpayers’ money, not their own.”