The actual Proms programme 12 July - 7 September

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

So, Proms Planners submitted and ready for the 9am scrum tomorrow? Good luck!

[PhilipT]

If there is air cooling, and now that you say it it does ring a bell, I have never felt it in the auditorium at the top levels. Hot, hot, hot. Poor things, they thought it would make some difference...? But thanks for the reply.

It was made clear, by the then Chief Executive of the Hall at the time of the refurbishment, that there would be "forced air cooling", but not "air conditioning". I remember that one night after the Prom towards the end of the season there was an experiment done with all the doors open, to measure how quickly the Hall cooled naturally, or something like that. The system certainly operates, but it has to be turned off or down during the performance because of the noise. The cool air is most noticeable at the edges of the Arena.

The modern style of air-conditioning for concert halls and opera houses, as at Glyndebourne and Cadogan Hall, is to have individual outlets under each seat. This puts the cool air just where it's needed, and gives a massive outlet area, so that it's possible to have a low air velocity at the outlet, which gives quiet operation. This only works where there is fixed seating and is best designed in from the outset.

Hot air rises, and the Gallery is still hot. There are doors at the top of the Hall that can be opened to let the hot air out, but they have to be closed during the performance because they let in the street noise, and sometimes earlier, because the people in the posh seats moan if they get the sun straight in their eyes.

The best hope for the future is that incandescent stage lighting is gradually being replaced by more efficient systems that generate less heat. Progress in this area has been slower than it has for domestic lighting. Televised concerts are going to be hot in the promming areas for a few years yet.

[Norrette]

So, Proms Planners submitted and ready for the 9am scrum tomorrow? Good luck!

Good luck to all!

[duncan]

click....click...click...click...

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Televised concerts are going to be hot in the promming areas for a few years yet.

And if you think they are hot there, you should try being on stage!

[Richard J.]

The modern style of air-conditioning for concert halls and opera houses, as at Glyndebourne and Cadogan Hall, is to have individual outlets under each seat. This puts the cool air just where it's needed, and gives a massive outlet area, so that it's possible to have a low air velocity at the outlet, which gives quiet operation.

That is precisely what is done in the RAH in the stalls. The vertical steps between rows are full of small holes through which the cool air flows.

Televised concerts are going to be hot in the promming areas for a few years yet.

I'm more often in the stalls than in the arena these days, but there seems to be very little extra lighting for TV now, apart from lighting the audience between works. The early colour TV concerts in the late 60s and 70s had horrendous amounts of additional lighting and one could certainly feel the heat from it. In some seasons I actively avoided televised concerts because they were so uncomfortable to attend, but that's not a problem now.

[Colonel Danby]

We did get Bax's Second Symphony last year together with Brian's wonderful Gothic so all is not lost on the British front.

No Moeran or Bax.

Bantock does get his Sappho Poem for cello aired and George Lloyd has the Requiem but most of the other British composers get shovelled into the "Light Music" or " Light Organ" prom.

As Thropplenogin posted: What NO Berg, Schoenberg or Webern?