Prom 64: Friday 2nd September at 10.00 p.m. 'Audience Choice'...? Hmm.

[Dave2002]

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/radio3/pr...011/prom64.pdf

(page 6 onwards)

Mercia

Are they all there? I don't think so. I tried changing 64 in the URL for some other numbers > -and < than 64 to no avail. Perhaps they only make some programmes available.

Thank goodness they didn't have a phone-in vote ...("voting will only cost 15p from UK landlines, charges from mobile operators may vary ...") though I suppose now I've mentioned it they'll add that to the list of improvements for future years!


Cavatina

Did your number come up, or did you simply support the voting for Mahler 5?

[mercia]

Are they all there?

not that I'm an expert on the subject, but the programme notes for last night's multiple choice concert (which I gave the link for) were in a different format from previous concerts because, I suppose, of the long list of works. The programme notes for previous concerts are all there I think. To find them I usually first go to the main proms page http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms then click on a specific date and the icon for the programme notes is usually down the bottom somewhere e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/...rogramme-notes
They don't seem to put the notes up for future concerts though (I think). I'm sure I'm telling you things you already know.
on second thoughts perhaps you're not after the programme notes but just a list of all the music being played throughout the season ??????

[barber olly]

Re the suggestion that only 4 bars of Bolero should be played.

Surely that's about 4 too many!

[Ferretfancy]

barber olly

One of my friends nearby caught the rabbit, which was thrown because nobody claimed the raffle number. He blurted out "Bolero!', because he was completely unprepared, and was rather embarrassed as we all groaned "Oh No!" His choice got about twenty half -hearted votes!

[Flosshilde]

All credit to them for letting their hair down ............I think

I don't think Ivan Fischer has much hair to let down.

http://www.huembwas.org/Z_News/Kepek/Kicsi/Ivan%20Fischer.jpg

[Flosshilde]

Just to provide some possible context, from looking at the BFO's website, once a year, around Christmas time, the BFO has some items on their calendar with the name of titok-koncert, which translates on the English version of the BFO's page as the "Bag of Surprises" concerts. Taking material from their page:

http://www.bfz.hu/vendegmuveszek/egy_vendegmuvesz_en.php?id=339

Obviously with the Proms concert, there's an element of audience participation not necessarily present at the Hungarian "bag of surprises" set-up. The response will be curious to see. FWIW, my vote goes to Kodaly's Peacock Variations.

Goodness - what a delectable selection. I certainly wouldn't mind being surprised by some of those at a concert.

[Serial_Apologist]

Does anyone know if this Prom is to be broadcast again? I see no sign of it in this week's Radio Times.

[cavatina]

Did your number come up, or did you simply support the voting for Mahler 5?

Oh no, my number didn't come up at all-- but when I got home, it did inspire me to listen to the 1973 Karajan/Berlin Phil version on Youtube, which is just as well.

Didn't it seem to go by quickly? After being put through the emotional wringer by Mahler and Liszt (in a good way!) I could scarcely imagine going to a light concert, but I bounced back soon enough and had a marvelous time...I could have stayed twice as long, really.

[Serial_Apologist]

Is it due for broadcast again, anyone know?

[Chris Newman]

You can hear it now on BBC iPlayer:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b013xt25

[Serial_Apologist]

Thanks, Chris

[bluestateprommer]

I wonder if they ever do get to play any of the pieces by Leroy Anderson which were on the list. Not often, I suspect. "Plink, plank plunk" was deftly elimininated.

That would have been one of my top choice had I been there and fortunate enough to nominate a selection. Otherwise, I'd have been sorely tempted to go for the Dinicu, Dohnanyi "Symphonic Minutes", the Enescu Suite No. 1 movement, and/or the Weiner "Serenade" movements, for the pure unfamiliarity of those options. From checking the Proms archive:
(a) The Anderson has never been done at the Proms,
(b) The Dinicu was last done in 2001,
(c) The Dohnanyi has been performed 7 times (last in 2006 with Fischer and the BFO),
(d) The Enescu was last done in 2001.
(e) The Weiner has never been done.

One query. what was the film music, played by the brass section?

It was music by Nino Rota from 8 1/2.

In keeping with the general tenor of the comments here, I enjoyed this very much, and the BFO did extremely well, basically sight-reading pieces that they probably have done scads of times before and could almost do in their sleep. While it was definitely a no-brainer to call for Kodaly and Bartok, at least that was a smart no-brainer, as opposed to calling for "Ride of the Valkyries". In fact, the review from The Arts Desk, in taking shots at a lot of targets, got in this zinger:

http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=4461:bbc-proms-lazi%C4%87-budapest-festival-orchestra-fischer&Itemid=27

"The way [the Prommers] overwhelmed the Classic FM tendencies of the audience and steered the night towards the adventurous was terrific. Cruelly, I revelled in the stony faces that descended on the suburban couples in the stalls as yet another chart topper was rejected."

While I'm not a fan of neoclassical Stravinsky, I heartily disagree with the earlier comment about the Stravinsky 'Tango' as boring. I thought that it was the perfect palate-cleanser during the proceedings, along with Sphärenklänge (last Proms appearance in 1994, BTW). In fact, if my reading of the Proms archive is correct, the audience managed to achieve a Proms premiere by voice vote, as I don't see the Stravinsky 'Tango' among the roster of works done at the Proms.

tempted to ask - if certain items were never likely to be played, why bother putting them on the list (and lugging all the orchestral parts to the hall)

Actually, I wonder myself, but here's my alternative "conspiracy theory": the orchestra didn't lug all the orchestra parts to the RAH on tour. The Proms organizers must have known the ballot in advance, and thus would have had the chance to scour London libraries for scores to have them on hand, just in case. It might have felt odd to read parts from a library not one's own, but the notes are the same, after all .

Oh, and since no one else here seems actually to have compiled the final concert list, here it is, without the interludes:

Kodály: Dances of Galanta
Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances
Josef Strauss: Sphärenklänge
Glinka: Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila
Stravinsky: Tango
Berlioz: La damnation de Faust, "Hungarian March"

[Prommer]

Sorry, bluestateprommer, I was one of those cheering for a piece of Wagner, but not the RotW... I voted for the Strauss, the Glinka and the Berlioz. The tango was deeply dull, really sorry...

[bluestateprommer]

I was one of those cheering for a piece of Wagner, but not the RotW...

I heard the Meistersinger overture shouted out as one of the 'ballot' choices, so I presume this is what you meant. We obviously agree to disagree on the Stravinsky, which is OK.

One thing I forgot to comment on before was that I noticed that many of the nominations were works that had already been heard earlier in this Proms season. This implies either that (a) the nominators were mostly non-regulars to the Proms, or (b) people had short memories. For example, the Meistersinger overture had been done just 12 days before by the BBC SO. Brahms 4 had just been done the previous week with the COE and Haitink, of course.

[RobertLeDiable]

Actually, I wonder myself, but here's my alternative "conspiracy theory": the orchestra didn't lug all the orchestra parts to the RAH on tour. The Proms organizers must have known the ballot in advance, and thus would have had the chance to scour London libraries for scores to have them on hand, just in case. It might have felt odd to read parts from a library not one's own, but the notes are the same, after all .

Just been 'listening again' to the concert and catching up with this thread. I must say I find it depressing that there's quite a lot of this kneejerk cynicism about what was a brilliantly executed and extremely enjoyable late night event. Anyone who knows anything about Fischer and the BFO knows that it's a highly imaginative and innovative organisation, and these 'request concerts' are only one of the ideas they have introduced to their concert giving at home. The idea that they would have any motive whatever for staging an audience choice concert and then rigging it is utterly ridiculous. The choice of pieces was conservative, yes (I believe the list had things like The Rite of Spring on it), but that's more a reflection of the taste (and maybe lack of knowledge of a lot of the repertoire) of the average concert goer than anything else. If somebody had suggested anything a bit off-the-wall, you can be fairly sure the audience wouldn't have voted for it.