What is your verdict on this year's Proms?

[tsuji-giri]

I found them generally distinctly lack-lustre, apart from a light music evening and a hollywood evening, which went off after a very few minutes.

They do seem to be losing their way...

[Chris Newman]

Firstly, I refute the usual whinging about Jiri Belohlavec. He has built up the BBCSO in a relatively short while to a position where in Britain it rivals the Philharmonia as one of Europe's great orchestras. The strings now rival the Vienna Phil and on the basis of this season knocked spots off the Philadelphia. They do not sound half the orchestra when David Robertson muddles through. His conducting reminds me off the muddy sound that John Pritchard, Andrew Davis (sometimes, because he usually played everything too fast) and Leonard Slatkin inflicted upon us.

I hope that Edward Gardner stays at ENO where he has revived a flagging company and consolidates it. Moving people around will not help the two musical institutions. I hope that JB stays to continue making the BBCSO the best in Britain. It has not sounded so good since Pierre Boulez and Gennady Rozdhezvensky were Chief Conductors.

Secondly, it has been a very successful season. There have been good visiting orchestras: Pittsburg, French Radio, Budapest Festival, Gustav Mahler, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Academy of Santa Cecilia in particular. The Philharmonia Orchestra produced the best orchestral playing most of us can ever expect to hear. There has been the previously mentioned improvement in the BBCSO: superb in Janacek, Smetana, Verdi, Mahler 6 and Klagende Lied. The choral Sunday concerts have been very well excecuted, some memorably (Brian, Verdi, Mozart, Beethoven IMO). I have been to five Prom/World premieres this season (I often dread these): two were astonishing successes (Fitkin Cello and Birtwistle Violin), the Colin Matthews was close to being excellent (it need some revision) and the other two were bearable (Rhim and Volens). The Cadogan Hall concerts have been fascinating.

I am currently listening to a thrilling Der Freischutz though the SIS sound engineering is very iffy again. That is my grumble about this season: THE BLOODY AWFUL RADIO SOUND. That is what people should be moaning about. The radio transmission is usually not good enough for a festival like the Proms and a disgrace to a national flagship like the BBC.

[Tony Halstead]

I totally agree with everything that you say, Chris.

[Chris Newman]

After my grumble about the sound at the start of tonight's concert it has suddenly improved.

[Ariosto]

Pretty dreadful.

[Badger]

Badger

Morning VH, the proms seem to have lost their magic for me this year but this might be an age and health thing partly.
The far fewer concerts years ago managed to introduce the young and inexperienced concertgoer to far more of the basic repertoire, a smattering of new works, often conducted by the composer, and usually a knowledgeable introduction to the music, usually by someone in the RAH and not feeling the need for two other people to chat to. No one shouted over the applause and the few women involved did not stsnd outside the Albert Hall Mansions dressed for a party.

it's nice to see and hear so many visiting orchestras but perhaps it's all got out of hand.
Just my aged opinion of course.

By the present year 4 of RW's direction and the expanding of musical genres to an ever widening potential audience, one can only admire the educational value of good music, talks and experiences reaching a far wider audience than years ago when the Proms and even the televised Last
Night were generally enjoyed by purists and those with classical music influences. Despite this, I feel the turntable and orchestra prom was a soul-destroying attempt to impress teenage Corfu holidaymakers - and may have done so! The Comedy Prom, outstandingly clever, together withthe atmospheric Human Planet Prom and the brilliantly quick witted Spaghetti Prom - 'note to self not to sit in the back row of the upper circle
expecting to catch the humour caught by TV a week later' - lead one to compare the current overall development of the Proms to Edinburgh Festival Fringe! The 2008 Prom season dared to break tradition of the Last Night repertoire - and got away with it! Dr Who and the Family Folk Chorus and Family Orchestra events drew all age crowds. National or is it international TV broadcasting of the Last Night onto giant screens in many parks to thousands with added live 'entertainment' could be turning a more appropriate further change of name to 'The People's Proms' (sorry to quote Tony Blair's unfortunate invention of 'The People's . . . .'. With tomorrow's Last Night to include 'You'll Never Walk Alone' and 'Climb Every Mountain', are our much loved and admired traditionally patriotically dressed prommers to don Liverpool scarves and nuns' habits to resurrect somewhat outdated, albeit popular to man, 'singalong in costume' events? Mama Mia next year perhaps? At least in these challenging years, it is comforting to know the UK stages the two greatest music, arts and fringe festivals in the world. Alongside the Royal Wedding and the Olympics, this has to be good for tourism and the economy! OK - perhaps must accept a little 'dumbing down' of the old magic of the Proms - or do we all just have to adapt to change for the benefit of a wider audience?

[amac4165]

Overall I would say an average year - always going to be difficult because last year was exceptional. I think it got better as it went on - and the Pittsburgh aided and abetted by the Philadelphia ensured a reasonably good last week.

[jayne lee wilson]

Chris, Looking at the SIS website, it says they covered 28 events at the 2011 Proms, apparently all of them TV-related. Freischutz wasn't televised was it?
What about the others, the audio-only webcasts and broadcasts? Anyone?
Obviously SIS's reference to HD links has nothing to do with HDs 320, so...?

[austin]

Someone must have enjoyed them.......

http://tinyurl.com/3vuc93j

[Alison]

1. Roger Wright is much to be preferred to his rigid and predictable predecessor.

2. The 'Lyrita' composers now much more readily accomodated - Bax, Brian etc.

3. I'd like more of the 'NMC' composers - what are (eg) Vic Hoyland, Hugh Wood, David Bedford, Richard Barrett up to these days ?

4. I found the website and Proms Guide a difficult read - in terms of layout. Could do with greater simplicity and clarity.

5. I refer to my earlier point re a chief conductor of the house band around whom we could all unite.

[DracoM]

I fear dull.

I listened to a few, and as the season went on, it got fewer. I'm afraid the whole non-stop air-head chatter, patter and packaging just did my head in.

And coming on The Forum I found myself so out of kilter with a number of enthusiasts that in the end I realised it must be me, and I just didn't write in.

eg could not understand the applause for the Missa Solemnis which I thought flaccid with not terribly good soloists. For me there seemed to be quite a lot of of 'looks a great concert in prospect' first and then 'THEREFORE there were great performances'.

[Ariosto]

I fear dull.

I listened to a few, and as the season went on, it got fewer. I'm afraid the whole non-stop air-head chatter, patter and packaging just did my head in.

And coming on The Forum I found myself so out of kilter with a number of enthusiasts that in the end I realised it must be me, and I just didn't write in.

You and me too then, DracoM!! I'm totally out of kilter with many on these here boards. Quite frankly, the Proms just bores me to tears, and with just a few notable exceptions I can't even be bothered to listen. I'll have to have a whole day of listening to Monica H and that will do me in for good.

[EdgeleyRob]

I only listened to about half the concerts due to work,holidays etc.I think someone has already said they were a mixed bag which is about right IMHO.
Best bits for me were -

Brian / Gothic Symphony
Janacek / Glagolitic Mass
Elgar / Violin Concerto
Shostakovich/ Vioiln Concerto 1
Rachmaninov / Paganini Rhapsody
Bach / D Minor Partita
Britten and Bridge / chamber music prom

Worst bit - nothing by my favourite composer RVW

[Ventilhorn]

What constitutes a Henry Wood Promenade Concert?

Well, to be included in my considerations, it had to meet with the following criteria:

1) It must take place in the Royal Albert Hall
2) It must be an orchestral concert, with or without soloists and choir
3) It must be of more than 1½ hours duration

In addition, I have excluded some others, such as the” Comedy Prom”,” Hooray for Hollywood” and “additional” proms from my consideration.
I love opera, whether it be Grand Opera, Comic Opera or Light Opera, but I believe that it was written to be performed on a stage – not a platform; with lighting, scenery, costumes and acting as well as singing and proper stage production

Working on that basis, the number of Proms in 2011 is reduced from 74 to 48, so I have excluded the following “Proms” from consideration.

They are Prom numbers: 2,3,4,5,7,8,11,12,17,20,22,25,28,31,36,38,39,40,46 ,48,54,55,59,64,66,73.

26 concerts out of a listed 74 which, for me, are not within my realm of interest; which leaves 48 “Henry Wood Promenade concerts” as I understand them.

That is not to decry those other concerts. I simply chose not to listen to them, because they were outside of my field of interest and mostly broadcast too early or late in the day.
So I make no comment on them but I’m sure that others will do so.

So, of what I did hear (and sometimes watch on TV) I would name the following as my highlights:

The two concerts by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
The Hallé Orchestra’s Sibelius Concert
Haitinck’s Brahms symphonies with the COE (but not the piano concertos).
David Zinman’s Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra.
The Philharmonia Orchestra
The London Philharmonic’s Kodaly, Bartok Pc and Faust Symphony
Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester /Sir Colin Davis (conductor)
National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Jac van Steen*

* I have been considerably impressed by the improvement over the last year of the BBCNOW. I would now rate them alongside the BBCPhilharmonic and the BBCScottish as orchestras of excellence.
I wish I could say the same about the BBC Symphony Orchestra, but I fear that until they stop chopping and changing their Leader and Section Principals, they are heading in the opposite direction.


The lowest end of the scale includes the horrendous Mahler 9th symphony by Norrington
The equally horrendous Beethoven 9th symphony by the BBC Symphony orchestra.
The lacklustre performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Charles Duthoit. This once great orchestra sounded totally exhausted and lacking in any degree of musical ideas.

In summary, I found the level of programming disappointing compared with previous years. Far too much Liszt - anniversary or not. A dirth of established classical composers (Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Schumann) and an almost total nerglect of British composers, with the exception of Elgar and Frank Bridge.

Ventilhorn

By the way, I did watch "Hooray for Hollywood" and I thought it was great entertainment, but I still felt that it belonged elsewhere in its own right.

[Badger]

PS...after the Last Night tonight . . . this wasn't dumbing down other than the usually brilliant Wendy Cope's Young Person's Guide poetic accompaniment which didn't seem to relate very much at all but good to see Jenny Agutter involved. The UK can be proud to be British tonight as Susan Bullock and Lang Lang with a super chorus and orchestra gave of their best - and across the world to millions.