Ruth Elleson
@ruthelleson.bsky.social
Church/choral musician (alto), massive opera nerd, surtitle operator, and project planner working in public transport. Idiots not tolerated. She/her.
If there’s one kind of season announcement I genuinely appreciate more than one full of interesting things I want to see, it’s the kind that immediately tells me there’s nothing I’m interested in, so won’t occupy any time or money in next year’s plans! No offence intended to Glyndebourne…
November 25, 2025 at 12:39 PM
If there’s one kind of season announcement I genuinely appreciate more than one full of interesting things I want to see, it’s the kind that immediately tells me there’s nothing I’m interested in, so won’t occupy any time or money in next year’s plans! No offence intended to Glyndebourne…
I’ve got a double helping of lovely @narduswilliams.bsky.social this week, with this concert tonight and ENO’s Partenope on Wednesday. Lucky me!
Soprano Nardus Williams and lute-player Elizabeth Kenny present their Four Humours programme this evening, encompassing monodies by Settimia Caccini and Barbara Strozzi ✨
🕰️ 7.30pm
🎟️ https://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/202511241930
📺 Live stream available on our website from 8.00pm
🕰️ 7.30pm
🎟️ https://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/202511241930
📺 Live stream available on our website from 8.00pm
November 24, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I’ve got a double helping of lovely @narduswilliams.bsky.social this week, with this concert tonight and ENO’s Partenope on Wednesday. Lucky me!
Reposted by Ruth Elleson
When Michael O'Leary's time comes, my dancing shoes will need repolishing for their Rupert Murdoch outing. Or vice versa.
Make sure Ryanair get more than £100 worth of bad publicity over this. www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
Ryanair expects me to take the financial hit for helping others
As a doctor I stepped in to tend to an elderly passenger … but it won’t waive £100 transfer fee to rebook
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:21 AM
When Michael O'Leary's time comes, my dancing shoes will need repolishing for their Rupert Murdoch outing. Or vice versa.
Another day, another dickhead that doesn’t care where they leave the dockless bike they just used. Anyone with a wheelchair or pram would have to take a big detour.
Local councils need to penalise the bike companies heavily for letting this kind of thing happen (this location was City of London).
Local councils need to penalise the bike companies heavily for letting this kind of thing happen (this location was City of London).
November 23, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Another day, another dickhead that doesn’t care where they leave the dockless bike they just used. Anyone with a wheelchair or pram would have to take a big detour.
Local councils need to penalise the bike companies heavily for letting this kind of thing happen (this location was City of London).
Local councils need to penalise the bike companies heavily for letting this kind of thing happen (this location was City of London).
Reposted by Ruth Elleson
"Reform would be worse" is both entirely correct and entirely irrelevant until polling day 2029. What matters right now is that Labour's approach is morally repugnant on its own terms, *and is empowering Reform*. As things stand today, its not Labour or Reform. Its Labour *then* Reform.
While it feels like I'm repeatedly slamming my head against a brick wall repeating this massively simple concept. Saying "Reform would be worse" doesn't make what Labour is doing better. Labour is now the most anti-immigration, anti-any marginalised group, government we have seen in decades. 1/
Very long thread: As with many of Labour's anti-immigration policies, this isn't new. British police have been stationed in other countries for this purpose for a long time
It does however show how Labour is pushing more on anti-immigration than previous governments. 1/
www.lbc.co.uk/article/shab...
It does however show how Labour is pushing more on anti-immigration than previous governments. 1/
www.lbc.co.uk/article/shab...
November 22, 2025 at 10:03 AM
"Reform would be worse" is both entirely correct and entirely irrelevant until polling day 2029. What matters right now is that Labour's approach is morally repugnant on its own terms, *and is empowering Reform*. As things stand today, its not Labour or Reform. Its Labour *then* Reform.
I have spent the last 2 days trying to work out why a pleasant piece of music I heard in the loo at my local cinema was *so* familiar. It felt like something I knew from a ballet, but I couldn’t place it for the life of me… until… I realised I had heard it in a ballet ONLY THE PREVIOUS DAY 🤦🏻♀️
November 21, 2025 at 8:34 PM
I have spent the last 2 days trying to work out why a pleasant piece of music I heard in the loo at my local cinema was *so* familiar. It felt like something I knew from a ballet, but I couldn’t place it for the life of me… until… I realised I had heard it in a ballet ONLY THE PREVIOUS DAY 🤦🏻♀️
Reposted by Ruth Elleson
Compare and contrast the Government language.
£3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’.
Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’.
And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.
£3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’.
Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’.
And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.
November 21, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Compare and contrast the Government language.
£3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’.
Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’.
And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.
£3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’.
Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’.
And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.
Does anywhere in central Camberwell sell basic haberdashery items? 🤔 I need a reel of royal blue thread to repair an item of clothing and I won’t be anywhere near a John Lewis or similar until the middle of next week…
November 20, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Does anywhere in central Camberwell sell basic haberdashery items? 🤔 I need a reel of royal blue thread to repair an item of clothing and I won’t be anywhere near a John Lewis or similar until the middle of next week…
Thought for a while that I was going to be all on my own in Screen 3 at Peckhamplex watching The Choral. Ended up with 5 other people in the audience which, sadly, meant no singing along… (actually, the thing I found most difficult to resist was the Stand cue just before “Praise to the Holiest…”)
November 19, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Thought for a while that I was going to be all on my own in Screen 3 at Peckhamplex watching The Choral. Ended up with 5 other people in the audience which, sadly, meant no singing along… (actually, the thing I found most difficult to resist was the Stand cue just before “Praise to the Holiest…”)
Browsing the operatic corners of the internet last night (as I do when nobody’s given me a juicy season announcement for a while) I discovered that University College Opera will be performing Jake Heggie’s “If I Were You” as their next production, on 27 and 28 March 2026 at the Bloomsbury Theatre.
November 19, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Browsing the operatic corners of the internet last night (as I do when nobody’s given me a juicy season announcement for a while) I discovered that University College Opera will be performing Jake Heggie’s “If I Were You” as their next production, on 27 and 28 March 2026 at the Bloomsbury Theatre.
Reposted by Ruth Elleson
Shall we take a look at this again? Especially No. 6: 'an immigration system based on compassion and dignity'. So how did you become such a monster, Starmer? Mere weakness?
'
'
November 18, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Shall we take a look at this again? Especially No. 6: 'an immigration system based on compassion and dignity'. So how did you become such a monster, Starmer? Mere weakness?
'
'
Reposted by Ruth Elleson
Never funny to joke about people in the "cheap seats." They are normally the ones who find it hardest to afford tickets and make the most effort to get to a special show. Tom Price, Magic Radio, that wasn't kind yesterday.
November 17, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Never funny to joke about people in the "cheap seats." They are normally the ones who find it hardest to afford tickets and make the most effort to get to a special show. Tom Price, Magic Radio, that wasn't kind yesterday.
Reposted by Ruth Elleson
Instead of Secret Santa, we're doing something similar but for colleagues' kids this year. I've been paired with a chap who always speaks over me. I'm getting his kids glitter and glue. I hope they love it.
November 17, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Instead of Secret Santa, we're doing something similar but for colleagues' kids this year. I've been paired with a chap who always speaks over me. I'm getting his kids glitter and glue. I hope they love it.
It’s today! Christmas starts here, apparently 🤣
I’ve just been booked for a carol singing gig on 17th November. Is this, recording sessions aside, a record?
November 17, 2025 at 1:48 PM
It’s today! Christmas starts here, apparently 🤣
It’s all very well that the Odeon is offering a discount to choral singers on tickets for The Choral (CHOIR25, valid until 20/11) but not so good that the only screenings of it seem to be in the middle of the working day. Happily it looks like I can catch it at PeckhamPlex which is ALWAYS cheap.
November 17, 2025 at 1:33 PM
It’s all very well that the Odeon is offering a discount to choral singers on tickets for The Choral (CHOIR25, valid until 20/11) but not so good that the only screenings of it seem to be in the middle of the working day. Happily it looks like I can catch it at PeckhamPlex which is ALWAYS cheap.
Reposted by Ruth Elleson
Sultana might be a better fit with Polanski's new-vibe Greens than this group, tbh. The YP project is so dead now it has little chance of meaningful impact other than splitting the left vote.
I also sense we might see the first Labour-to-Greens MP defection over these disgusting asylum proposals.
I also sense we might see the first Labour-to-Greens MP defection over these disgusting asylum proposals.
What on earth is going on here? It looks like he fell out with Sultana and then fell out with Corbyn a few hours later?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
MP quits Corbyn's new left-wing party amid infighting
Independent MP Adnan Hussain claims there is a
www.bbc.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Sultana might be a better fit with Polanski's new-vibe Greens than this group, tbh. The YP project is so dead now it has little chance of meaningful impact other than splitting the left vote.
I also sense we might see the first Labour-to-Greens MP defection over these disgusting asylum proposals.
I also sense we might see the first Labour-to-Greens MP defection over these disgusting asylum proposals.
I like Farmer J food, but I don’t think people are going to interpret this email subject line quite as they’ve intended it 😆
November 17, 2025 at 12:09 PM
I like Farmer J food, but I don’t think people are going to interpret this email subject line quite as they’ve intended it 😆
Just noticed: the Barbican has, after many years of high prices and unsold seats, moved the Met Live in HD relays from Cinema 1 into the much smaller Cinema 3 and halved the price of the tickets. Same price as Vue, but with a good returns policy, and no need to go to a Vue on a Saturday afternoon 👍
November 17, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Just noticed: the Barbican has, after many years of high prices and unsold seats, moved the Met Live in HD relays from Cinema 1 into the much smaller Cinema 3 and halved the price of the tickets. Same price as Vue, but with a good returns policy, and no need to go to a Vue on a Saturday afternoon 👍
I imagine this qualifies as a “first world problem”… but why is it always when I’m halfway through a complicated evening commute home, hungry, having specifically chosen my route to pass a known and reliable M&S Food, that I discover that that M&S is the latest to have closed down for a refurb? 😭
November 16, 2025 at 9:42 PM
I imagine this qualifies as a “first world problem”… but why is it always when I’m halfway through a complicated evening commute home, hungry, having specifically chosen my route to pass a known and reliable M&S Food, that I discover that that M&S is the latest to have closed down for a refurb? 😭
Reposted by Ruth Elleson
Inconvenient facts for malign (often foreign) influencers who try to portray my home city as a lethal no go zone.
After more than half a century living here, I’ve never felt safer
And kudos to Fraser Nelson for his work on this
After more than half a century living here, I’ve never felt safer
And kudos to Fraser Nelson for his work on this
November 16, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Inconvenient facts for malign (often foreign) influencers who try to portray my home city as a lethal no go zone.
After more than half a century living here, I’ve never felt safer
And kudos to Fraser Nelson for his work on this
After more than half a century living here, I’ve never felt safer
And kudos to Fraser Nelson for his work on this
Reposted by Ruth Elleson
Every time Covid and learning loss hits the news, people act like the only factor is folk staying home and learning online, rather than… Living through a global mass death event.
November 14, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Every time Covid and learning loss hits the news, people act like the only factor is folk staying home and learning online, rather than… Living through a global mass death event.
Reposted by Ruth Elleson
November 13, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Reposted by Ruth Elleson
"But we must compete with the oth-"
That's just it. You don't. You are THE public broadcaster. No other body shares your mission. Why add to the noise?
The BBC has an opportunity to say "you've heard all the breathless gossip - tune in at 6pm for the facts". To bring light rather than heat.
That's just it. You don't. You are THE public broadcaster. No other body shares your mission. Why add to the noise?
The BBC has an opportunity to say "you've heard all the breathless gossip - tune in at 6pm for the facts". To bring light rather than heat.
November 13, 2025 at 12:19 PM
"But we must compete with the oth-"
That's just it. You don't. You are THE public broadcaster. No other body shares your mission. Why add to the noise?
The BBC has an opportunity to say "you've heard all the breathless gossip - tune in at 6pm for the facts". To bring light rather than heat.
That's just it. You don't. You are THE public broadcaster. No other body shares your mission. Why add to the noise?
The BBC has an opportunity to say "you've heard all the breathless gossip - tune in at 6pm for the facts". To bring light rather than heat.
Deeply confused by tonight’s Stalls seating layout in the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre, where my seat in row H is immediately behind row F and in front of row K (and has no easily-visible label to tell you it’s H…)
Here for the Royal Ballet In Rehearsal insight event, on The Nutcracker.
Here for the Royal Ballet In Rehearsal insight event, on The Nutcracker.
November 12, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Deeply confused by tonight’s Stalls seating layout in the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre, where my seat in row H is immediately behind row F and in front of row K (and has no easily-visible label to tell you it’s H…)
Here for the Royal Ballet In Rehearsal insight event, on The Nutcracker.
Here for the Royal Ballet In Rehearsal insight event, on The Nutcracker.
I’ve lurked a lot on Instagram in the last few months, because some of my favourite people ended up mostly there when Twitter went downhill. But why does it think I want to see such an overwhelming volume of a) pregnancy and birth content, and (b) tours of aspirational NYC apartments? 🤔🤷🏻♀️
November 12, 2025 at 11:23 AM
I’ve lurked a lot on Instagram in the last few months, because some of my favourite people ended up mostly there when Twitter went downhill. But why does it think I want to see such an overwhelming volume of a) pregnancy and birth content, and (b) tours of aspirational NYC apartments? 🤔🤷🏻♀️