Can you get to the Proms?

[pilamenon]

I object strongly to the implication that people should "make an effort" in order to earn some sort of right to comment on things like the sound quality of Proms broadcasts.

Exactly. This is surely the nub of the matter - we can all give different answers as to affordability, practicality, other commitments - but even if we could make it (and I have been to several Proms this year), that doesn't invalidate one jot any comments on any aspect of the radio broadcast, which is the way the vast majority are going to access most concerts.

Perhaps the original comment was just a wind-up (in which case it certainly worked!).

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Perhaps the original comment was just a wind-up (in which case it certainly worked!).

Maybe we should take the original comment seriously and pile into the arena and then elbow our way to the front row.

[salymap]

It's not nice to be over 80 and unable to get to the Proms any more but I went to hundreds when I worked in London. As we had free passes, working in music, the cost was a salad or cheese on toast at Lyon's Corner House and maybe a cup of coffee afterwards. I often also went to the rehearsals to hear the music taken to pieces and hopefully put together again. I really didn't realise how lucky I'd been until now.

To me the empty RAH at 9.30 in the morning is/was magic.

[Serial_Apologist]

One way to avoid at least some of the costs that has so far not been considered is sleeping in the open. There are Prommers who have been alleged on these very boards to "do the rounds" of the homeless of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea after the concerts are over, bearing gifts of past sell by date buns, cheese and other victuals; if you're very lucky they might even recognise you!

[doversoul1]

It's not nice to be over 80 and unable to get to the Proms any more but I went to hundreds when I worked in London. As we had free passes, working in music, the cost was a salad or cheese on toast at Lyon's Corner House and maybe a cup of coffee afterwards. I often also went to the rehearsals to hear the music taken to pieces and hopefully put together again. I really didn't realise how lucky I'd been until now.

To me the empty RAH at 9.30 in the morning is/was magic.

You are magic, saly. Members only need to mention a work or a performer or an event, you come up with all those little episodes that no historians can ever write about but that which makes music feel extra special to us (to me). I feel infinitely lucky to be able to hear (read) these tales you tell us.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

I've only been to two Proms this season; the Verdi Requiem, which I was reviewing, and William Tell. Why not more? Well, cost is just one reason. A travelcard card costs me just over £20, plus £10+ taxi on returning (I don't fancy a two mile walk home at midnight); add this to the ticket price and the price of a snack/ meal and it's not a cheap night out. Another reason would be work. I'm not always able to attend the concerts I'd like due to not finishing early enough to get up to London. Indeed, I had to turn down reviewing the Freischütz prom as my line manager is away that week and I'm in charge, so dashing off at 4pm isn't going to be possible. (Most review jobs are either planned for days off or have a day's holiday booked.) In reality, I can only get to London a few times a month, both practically and financially.

However, the main reason I don't attend more Proms is that I really dislike the RAH. It's a pain in the arse to get to, compared to the RFH, the ROH, the Coli (or even the Barbican) and once there, the acoustics are frequently poor unless you've managed to book a stalls seat somewhere towards the sides and in front of where the fountain used to be. My colleague, reviewing William Tell, had a ticket at the back of the stalls and could hear very few of the soloists properly. Another friend, a singer, had a loggia seat (in the director's box) for the same prom and told me that she could barely hear Pertusi at all. If you're in a decent seat (and at a concert with the right sort of programme), the sound can be fine - the Verdi certainly was such a case.

I may be at odds with some members here, but I find the sound on Radio 3 a good deal better than listening in the RAH. I've not been able to hear many concerts on the radio at the time of broadcast (due to other listening/ writing commitments during the evening) but have downloaded several for future listening (from Radio Downloader at 320kbps) which sound excellent.

[amateur51]

You are magic, saly. Members only need to mention a work or a performer or an event, you come up with all those little episodes that no historians can ever write about but that which makes music feel extra special to us (to me). I feel infinitely lucky to be able to hear (read) these tales you tell us.

Hear! Hear!

[Simon]

"... it's just possible the area around the RAH has rather better air quality than obtains round your parts."

I suppose it is technically possible to believe that Kensington Gore is less polluted than a small village near Bakewell. It's also possible to believe in a flat earth.

[pilamenon]

a small village near Bakewell

Simon, I had a tremendously enjoyable and healthy week in Derbyshire this spring, staying in Youlgreave - perhaps you know it?

[Simon]

I know it well, pilamenon, and am delighted that you had an enjoyable time there. No doubt you walked through Lathkill Dale, visited Arbor Low and sampled the delights of The Farmyard. And you must surely have visited Haddon Hall.

Did they tell you that some of us from other villages call the place Pommy and the inhabitants "Sawyeds"? And why?

[Serial_Apologist]

I always savour the delights of any farm yard - especially the country pancakes

[PhilipT]

I object strongly to the implication that people should "make an effort" in order to earn some sort of right to comment on things like the sound quality of Proms broadcasts.

No such implication was intended - at least, not by me.

[Chris Newman]

I'm getting a bit fed up with reading all these comments about how bad the radio sound is. If you don't like the sound on the radio, come in person to the concerts. And don't say that Yorkshire is too far away; we have regular Prommers from Germany, Sweden, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, to name but a few countries. If they can do it, so can you.

This sounds just like Marie-Antoinette speaking about the shortage of clear sound quality to me .

I have been to twelve concerts so far this season. Living in the West Country getting to the Albert Hall normally entails a six hour round journey plus queuing. Four of my concerts were over a weekend and involved staying up here so the journey time was lessened but the expense went up from £50 a day to £80. If I could afford to move to London for the duration of the Proms I would. However I have other expenses, activities and duties during the year and cannot just up myself as I please.

In the meantime I expect the BBC whom I pay for with my licence fee to provide music transmissions that are as good as they were thirty years ago. The consistency of transmission quality between one concert is not what it was and then the "boiling mud syndrome" has been far too frequent this year. I believe that by occasionally telling the Proms organisers and Radio 3 staff by email when their service is not up to the usual standard I am helping them in serving my fellow radio listeners. They are professionals and need to be kept informed. I do have the courtesy to thank the broadcasting people for all their hard work even though I my be pointing out a problem.

If you are reading that the radio sound is bad you are are just being inadvertantly made aware of a problem that effects the great majority of people who pay for the Proms.

[Bryn]

The audio engineering for the Proms has, since the 2008 season, been the work of SIS, a company with it origins in horse racing. The BBC's outside broadcast wing was sold to the bookies owned company on April 1st 2008. Perhaps that's why the engineering is thought by some to be a bit of gamble.

[BudgieJane]

Incidentally, I like Jane's avatar, it's very pretty and feminine.

It looks like a male to me.

My avatar consists of two budgies, one male and one female.