Proms row conductor ‘heartbroken’ as pals claim she did not decide to axe Rule, Britannia!
THE conductor at the centre of the Proms anthems row has been left "heartbroken" as pals claim it wasn't her call to axe Rule, Britannia!
Dalia Staseveska has been hit with personal attacks after it was reported she wanted the songs dropped owing to their links to colonialism and slavery.
One said: "From Dalia’s point of view there has been a lot of unpleasantness and some of the stuff that has been written is heartbreaking.
“It is frightening, unpleasant, scary stuff and she can’t say anything as she can’t be a part of any of that.”
They added conductors do not “have the power to say I want to do this I want to do that”.
The Finnish conductor - said to be a supporter of Black Lives Matter - was pulled into the row after sources suggested she had voiced worries about the lyrics.
It comes after the BBC announced it wouldn't show the singing of Last Night of the Proms over fears over its links to the British Empire.
Beeb bosses instead announced they would feature — but only as orchestral versions amid fears of a backlash due to lyrical connotations about the British Empire.
The annual Royal Albert Hall concert, beamed around the world, traditionally ends with the flag-waving anthems.
But organisers were said to be concerned about their links to the British Empire, and lyrics including: “Britons never will be slaves.”
A BBC spokesman said: “The programme of Last Night of the Proms was the BBC’s decision. As such Dalia Stasevska should not be held responsible.”
Joshua Weilerstein, the Artistic Director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, said: "Regardless of views on the issue of programming certain traditional works, which are of course subject of vigorous and necessary debate, the treatment that Dalia is getting is abhorrent and needs to be addressed."
This week we told how Ms Stasevska is wed to Lauri Porra, 42, the bass guitarist of Stratovarius, which has courted controversy with regular references to the Nazi dictator.
Their songs are also said to glorify death and suicide. In 2004, the band’s German record label ordered them to drop a track called Hitler.
Yesterday Boris Johnson blasted the "cringing embarrassment" over Britain's history and demanded the nation stop its "culture of wetness" after the BBC banned the words to Rule Britannia.