Proms 2023 - what is in your diary ?

[Master Jacques]

I heard (and saw) the Halle play Bax 3 in 1968 under Maurice Handford. It was a memorable evening for me because , although I had gone to hear the Bax, which I'd never heard as there was no available recording then, I was overwhelmed by another work on the programme, Erwartung. That was the evening I fell in love with the music of Arnold Schoenberg, which has never let me go.

Oh, to see such programming today ... did you know that there were friendly links between Bax and Schoenberg? AB gave the first UK performance of AS's Drei Klavierstücke, in an all-Schoenberg programme at Conway Hall, and the composer felt he'd never heard the set so well done.

[smittims]

Thanks for that. No, I didn't know of any connection between the two composers, though I did know that Bax was famous for his sight-reading capability even of difficult modern scores. It's curious, therefore to find he was shy of playing in public and made not even a handful of recordings (I can think of two).

Incidentally, the third work in that 1968 Halle concert was Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra, maybe its British premiere, though I can't be sure.

[Master Jacques]

Thanks for that. No, I didn't know of any connection between the two composers, though I did know that Bax was famous for his sight-reading capability even of difficult modern scores. It's curious, therefore to find he was shy of playing in public and made not even a handful of recordings (I can think of two).

In fact there are eight, six of his own music (mainly songs and - famously - the Viola Sonata with Tertis) and two of Delius (violin sonatas No.1 and No.3, both with May Harrison - but they are rare).

[LeWoiDeWeigate]

Something similar seems to have happened with Delius. When was one of his major works last put on? Even the miniatures seem to have largely disappeared without trace.

The Britten Sinfonia under Jamie Phillips put on Delius' Hassan a few months ago under conductor Jamie Phillips at Milton Court in a concert that included the superb oud player Joseph Tawadros and narrator Zeb Soames. Packed house and it went down very well.

Review here https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...west-encounter

[Master Jacques]

The Britten Sinfonia under Jamie Phillips put on Delius' Hassan a few months ago under conductor Jamie Phillips at Milton Court in a concert that included the superb oud player Joseph Tawadros and narrator Zeb Soames. Packed house and it went down very well.

Review here https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...west-encounter

The last major Delius work I can remember going on at the Proms, was an unforgettably pristine Song of the High Hills under Mackerras, which dates it somewhat!

Once again, would the Prague Spring Festival be allowed to go ahead without programming Dvorak, Smetana or Martinu? Excluding Delius from the Proms is equally shameful, at a national level. The programming nowadays is an indigestible mixture of snobbish, stylish and simple-minded, with the hard cash going to glitzy foreign orchestras rather than British composers. Sad to say, the Proms - taken as a whole - are no longer fit for purpose.

[smittims]

I seem to have missed that Mackerras Song of the High Hills , which must have sounded terrific in the Albert Hall, though his Decca CD is of course superb.

I remember Malcolm Sargent conducting A Mass of Life at the Proms in 1964 and Paris at the Last Night in, I think, 1965. That that could be done quite naturally in the second half of the Last Night shows how much the Proms have changed.

[Norrette]

Glad I checked everything is okay with my proms plan just now. Windows had decided it wanted to complete an update. Imagine the torment if I only discovered this tomorrow morning at 9am!

[kindofblue]

Just got tickets for the Kurtag 'Endgame'. It'll be a barrel of laughs.

[Petrushka]

The booking experience is much, much better now. I was in at 08.56 at position number 532 and was all done and dusted in under 10 minutes. So different from the highly stressful experiences of a few years ago!

[Master Jacques]

I seem to have missed that Mackerras Song of the High Hills , which must have sounded terrific in the Albert Hall, though his Decca CD is of course superb.

It did indeed sound terrific in the RAH: I was unusually high up in the house for it, too, which enhanced the feeling. The second half of the programme featured an equally memorable Planets, with Neptune taking us back full circle to the feeling of those High Hills. A very memorable night.

[Master Jacques]

Just got tickets for the Kurtag 'Endgame'. It'll be a barrel of laughs.

Well, Beckett's play certain is! I'll see be there, too, with my reviewer's hat on.

[jonfan]

The Proms has been, and still is, excellent value for money and there are many excellent concerts I would like to experience live. It’s the cost of staying in London which is prohibitive now. When I came on my own I stayed at Holland Park YH, but sharing concert-going with my partner we found the Queens Gate Hotel ideal and affordable; a five minute stroll to the RAH. Now I need to remortgage the house to think of staying there. But something has happened that I never thought I’d see: the Proms comes to Dewsbury! That's where I’m off to experience a live Prom and less than 10 miles away.

[Keraulophone]

The Proms has been, and still is, excellent value for money and there are many excellent concerts I would like to experience live. It’s the cost of staying in London which is prohibitive now… But something has happened that I never thought I’d see: the Proms comes to Dewsbury!

I usually try to book Beit Hall (Imperial College) next to the RAH. This year it’s fully booked for my dates, particularly the long Weekend (Arena) Pass including the Boston SO and Rattle’s farewell to the LSO. My substitute LSE student accommodation is less convenient but still relatively cheap.

I couldn’t quite believe it when I read last year that the Proms were coming to Truro! It was a piano recital in the newly refurbished Hall for Cornwall (not a good moniker). Same again this year. Chamber music might work well in there too, but the two symphony orchestras I’ve heard in this theatre, one recorded for broadcast on R3 and introduced by Petroc of course, have had to be on top-top form in the dry thespian acoustic in which all is revealed. It’s a bit like hearing an x-ray of the score.
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