Proms

[Pabmusic]

...Pabs, will you be heading back to Blighty to hear your work performed? Could be a good excuse for a Forum meet-up, I'd have thought.

I don't think it will be possible, unhappily, because the renovation of our house, followed by the unexpected typhoon have fairly drained our extensive coffers. If this changes I'll let people know, because your idea is a first-class one (and no doubt it will occur in due course).

I shall be represented by a crowd of rowdy old friends (plus my daughter and her partner, who will do little to keep them in check).

[vinteuil]

Yes, I share aeolium's view. The Proms is a bloated London thing, ill-suited to many kinds of music making. It takes place when many other interesting and diverse musical things are happening all over the country, which merit far higher profile and promoting. It tends to major in big loud symphony things - because that is what the Albert Hall enjoys - but is usually less than comfortable with more recherché stuff. However, the Proms I have most enjoyed have been of rarer repertoire - those all-night Indian Classical events, a Ligeti organ work, and so on. I'm little interested in yet-another rolling-out of the Big Symphonies of Beethoven/ Brahms/Bruckner, which we hear all the year round in other - better? - venues.

[Thropplenoggin]

Back on my hobbyhorse - rather than reduce the Proms, spread it around the country a bit. It may look like tokenism, having a weekly BBC Proms concert around the country: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham, Newton-le-Willows (just to save argument ), Leeds, Gateshead and Bournemouth, but it would be a step in the right direction

Nice idea.

just as long as they don't have pop-up studios in all these venues.

Lordy lord, no! I can still hear that fustilugs Petroc purring about the best view to host the Breakfast show from...at our expense...before he was dispatched to India.

[MrGongGong]

. However, the Proms I have most enjoyed have been of rarer repertoire - those all-night Indian Classical events, a Ligeti organ work, and so on. I'm little interested in yet-another rolling-out of the Big Symphonies of Beethoven/ Brahms/Bruckner, which we hear all the year round in other - better? - venues.

Me too

Cage & Cunningham
Gruppen
Tan Dun's Water percussion concerto
All night Indian music and so on

the best Proms i've been to .............

[teamsaint]

Back on my hobbyhorse - rather than reduce the Proms, spread it around the country a bit. It may look like tokenism, having a weekly BBC Proms concert around the country: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham, Newton-le-Willows (just to save argument ), Leeds, Gateshead and Bournemouth, but it would be a step in the right direction, just as long as they don't have pop-up studios in all these venues.

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more, and said so in previous years.

It ought to fit nicely with modern managements too. the Proms is a great brand, (if you care to look at it that way), and it would fit so well with the ethos of the festival.

[amateur51]

Isn't musical life in the summer sparse precisely because of the Proms?

Habitual moans and groans aside, shouldn't there be a place for honest criticism of a programme that we do actually pay for?
I don't honestly see why there is a place for stuff like Paloma Faith, wh has plenty of other opportunities to reach the public, when so much Classical repertoire is unable to find a place in the schedules.

There used to be a South Bank Summer Festival aeons ago teams - run by Marriner for a while and then Rattle I think. It was good

[amateur51]

Back on my hobbyhorse - rather than reduce the Proms, spread it around the country a bit. It may look like tokenism, having a weekly BBC Proms concert around the country: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham, Newton-le-Willows (just to save argument ), Leeds, Gateshead and Bournemouth, but it would be a step in the right direction, just as long as they don't have pop-up studios in all these venues.

Bound to be a HUGE artistic success, look at Last Night of the Proms from parks in Glasgow, Belfast, Abermorddu ...

[Honoured Guest]

Someone correct me if I've missed something, but it seems a gaping and peculiar omission that there's no world music at all, neither global/fusion nor traditional/classical. Surely there should be something in the BBC Proms every year because world music is part of Radio 3's core output and the Proms include a wide range of music and are a good opportunity to introduce different music to people, and several posters above have given the all-night Indian classical recitals of yore a special mention.

[amateur51]

Yes, I share aeolium's view. The Proms is a bloated London thing, ill-suited to many kinds of music making. It takes place when many other interesting and diverse musical things are happening all over the country, which merit far higher profile and promoting. It tends to major in big loud symphony things - because that is what the Albert Hall enjoys - but is usually less than comfortable with more recherché stuff. However, the Proms I have most enjoyed have been of rarer repertoire - those all-night Indian Classical events, a Ligeti organ work, and so on. I'm little interested in yet-another rolling-out of the Big Symphonies of Beethoven/ Brahms/Bruckner, which we hear all the year round in other - better? - venues.

Oddly enough each years millions of tourists come to London and thousands of them go to the Proms at the RAH.

Perhaps you're not the target 'live' audience vints

[teamsaint]

Someone correct me if I've missed something, but it seems a gaping and peculiar omission that there's no world music at all, neither global/fusion nor traditional/classical. Surely there should be something in the BBC Proms every year because world music is part of Radio 3's core output and the Proms include a wide range of music and are a good opportunity to introduce different music to people, and several posters above have given the all-night Indian classical recitals of yore a special mention.

And jazz also?

Last years world routes prom was brilliant.

[vinteuil]

There used to be a South Bank Summer Festival aeons ago teams - run by Marriner for a while and then Rattle I think. It was good

... I was bestest mates with the Head of PR at the South Bank at that time (and the future Mme V was his assistant... ) - and at a supper party he was trawling for potential names for this event. I have always regretted that he never took up my brill idea - " the Estival Festival".

Ah well....

[Honoured Guest]

And jazz also?

Last years world routes prom was brilliant.

True, there's no contemporary jazz, but there is the recreated Battle of the Bands, and Paloma Faith headlines leading jazz festivals.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Bound to be a HUGE artistic success, look at Last Night of the Proms from parks in Glasgow, Belfast, Abermorddu ...

That argument makes little sense. Proms in the Park include one from Hyde Park to, almost glued to the RAH. I would expect real concerts, and the venture would help to make the Proms a truly national institution, not just more London music.

[Honoured Guest]

So, the proposal is one single BBC Proms-branded concert in each of eight locations dotted around the UK? What repertoire and artists would you recommend?

I think a better way of spreading the BBC Proms nationwide would be to replace one or more of the many live tv broadcasts with a live digital cinema relay.

Or why not broadcast them all live on national radio?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

So, the proposal is one single BBC Proms-branded concert in each of eight locations dotted around the UK? What repertoire and artists would you recommend?

Classical music played by quality artists, just like the London concerts, apart from the gimmicky ones.

I think a better way of spreading the BBC Proms nationwide would be to replace one or more of the many live tv broadcasts with a live digital cinema relay.

I think not. If we want to hear music through loudspeakers, we can listen on the radio.



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