Anna Patalong wore a yellow ball gown with a blue waistband and a necklace covered in gold stars as she performed in Classical Spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Sunday
An opera singer was forced to change the pro-EU dress she wore during her Royal Albert Hall concert after people complained it was ‘too provocative’.
Anna Patalong wore a yellow ball gown with a blue waistband and a necklace covered in gold stars as she performed in Classical Spectacular at the prestigious London venue on Sunday.
But her husband, baritone singer Benedict Nelson, claims she was made to take it off after complaints from the audience.
One concert-goer tweeted him to say, although she is also a Remainer, a classical music concert should not risk bordering on a ‘political rally’.
The day before the incident the soprano singer posted a picture of herself at the Put It To The People March in London with pro-EU MPs Chuka Umunna and Anna Soubry.
In a series of tweets, Ms Patalong’s husband hit out at those criticising his wife.
He wrote: ‘Yesterday a man was ejected from the ROH for wearing a pro EU T-shirt.
‘Today my wife was asked to change her dress from yellow and blue at the RAH as the colours were too provocative.
‘Two artistic venues people. Anyone who knows their history knows what that sounds like.’
Ms Patalong is pictured wearing a necklace with gold stars and a dress with a blue waistband covered in yellow stars
The day before the incident the soprano singer (pictured centre with her daughter) posted a picture of herself at the Put It To The People March in London with pro-EU MPs Chuka Umunna (left) and Anna Soubry (right)
Mr Nelson, who posted two pictures of the dress Anna wore during the performance, continued: ‘If you can’t enjoy a three hour concert because a performer wears some visible gold stars for 3 minutes of it, you need to have a word with yourself.’
But Angela Whelan, who went to the concert, was not impressed and claimed yellow stars appeared on the blue waistband to look like the EU flag as the performance went on.
She commented: ‘As a remainer who was at the RAH concert, I feel you have omitted a small but not so minor detail in your original post.
‘Your wife looked as beautiful as she sounded in her yellow dress with blue sash.
‘However, as the concert progressed some yellow stars appeared on the sash.
‘…. a very bold statement indeed. In my opinion the public paid to come to a classical music concert and not a political rally.
‘As much as I applaud your wife for having the guts to quite literally nail her colours to the mast, I feel it was inappropriate to do it at a concert.’
In a series of tweets, Ms Patalong’s husband Benedict Nelson hit out at those criticising his wife
Mr Nelson replied: ‘Well, forgive me Angela, but who cares what you think of what my wife wears?’
Ms Whelan accused him of ‘whipping up a twitter storm without posting the full facts of how the dress looked’.
This prompted Mr Nelson to ask: ‘Again Angela, I have to ask you: what is the problem with her wearing a dress suggestive of the EU flag?’
He added: ‘We know who complained Angela, and we were told the reasons.
‘We don’t understand why their views have come above the desires of all the support Anna has been shown from the orchestra, choir and many many members of the audience on here and in person.’
He also pointed out to Ms Whelan that the Union Jack is waved as part of the concert.
MailOnline has contacted the Royal Albert Hall for comment.
Mr Nelson became embroiled in a Twitter row with one of the people who attended his wife’s concert
In an post relating to an earlier performance, Mr Nelson tweeted: ‘So proud of my wonderful wonderful wife who, faced with a sea of Union Jack wavers at the Albert Hall, reconfigured Rule Britannia to the tune of Ode to Joy. She’s my hero. #PeopleVoteMarch #Brexit’
Sunday’s concert was part of a series celebrating 30 years of Classical Spectacular, branded the ‘UK’s most popular classical show’.
It featured the ‘very best classical music’ from various composers and ‘state of the art technology and electrifying multicoloured laser displays’.
Ms Patalong has received numerous awards, including the Maggie Teyte and Miriam Licette Prizes and was a finalist at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards.
She has appeared in various productions including: Anne Trulove (The Rake’s Progress) for the St Endellion Festival, Adina (L’elisir d’amore) for Northern Ireland Opera, Cendrillon for Blackheath Halls Opera, Zerlina (Don Giovanni) for Mid Wales Opera and Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi) for Opera Holland Park.
She is also prolific recitalist, performing at venues including the Wigmore Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican, and has appeared on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’.
A picture of Trafalgar Square in London on Saturday shows crowds of people supporting the Put It To The People march