Proms: Which Seats?

[Thropplenoggin]

Thanks, Caliban.

As you mention in the thread you link to, although one can select 'side stalls', it still remains a lottery as to which you are assigned when the ticket scramble begins. The only flexibility one has via the Proms Planner is to tick the little box to the top right of the options, where it states 'If my selected section is unavailable when booking opens please allocate me best available seats. These may be more expensive but I will have the option to change this request once booking opens', which would probably mean boxes. Hardly an ideal system. The postal method of yore seems to have been fairer.

[Nick Armstrong]

I managed to get exactly what I wanted last year for the Ravel G major concerto concert by hanging fire and then picking up a pair of returns in the precise spot required - returns being sold by specific seat number. Not ideal for the concerts most in demand, but an option for the sort of thing I'm usually after.

As regards Mahler 9, you could always ask your mate to hold the horses a little and then go and hear it in a proper concert hall http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/eve...l.asp?ID=15797

[Norrette]

As regards Mahler 9, you could always ask your mate to hold the horses a little and then go and hear it in a proper concert hall http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/eve...l.asp?ID=15797

Thanks for that info. I will have to miss the Runnicle as TfL have decided to cut off people on the Uxbridge branch from the rest of humanity for three weeks beginning late July. (and there 's no cameras that night )

[Oliver]

I'm not sure I've ever had an acceptable seat for a RAH concert that involves solo singers.
I recall the Siegfried of a few years ago; I was on the left side of the platform. For the third Act, I descended into the Promenade and stood, transforming the experience.

[Ferretfancy]

I'm not sure I've ever had an acceptable seat for a RAH concert that involves solo singers.
I recall the Siegfried of a few years ago; I was on the left side of the platform. For the third Act, I descended into the Promenade and stood, transforming the experience.

Before they removed the fountain some years ago, there was a small patch in the floor covering about a foot square just in front, which an acquaintance of mind thought the best spot in the hall. It was named Peter's Square. A few feet away there was another small patch about the diameter of a small saucer, and this could be prized open surreptitiously during the interval to provide a current of cool air around the feet, thus probably upsetting the system completely elsewhere in the hall. Sadly, the Arena has now been completely re-surfaced and these vital markers have been lost.

[Thropplenoggin]

Thanks for the link to the Barbican Mahler 9, Caliban. I don't see it as an either/or more as both. It'll be my French friend's first time at the Proms, so it's as much about the experience as the music. We're also going to try and get to the Shosta 4/Berio the next night. Neither my tasse de thé (I recall from threads past that DSCH 4 remains impenetrable to you) but perhaps heard live I'll become a convert to one or the other (or both!)

[Nick Armstrong]

Thanks for the link to the Barbican Mahler 9, Caliban. I don't see it as an either/or more as both. It'll be my French friend's first time at the Proms, so it's as much about the experience as the music. We're also going to try and get to the Shosta 4/Berio the next night. Neither my tasse de thé (I recall from threads past that DSCH 4 remains impenetrable to you) but perhaps heard live I'll become a convert to one or the other (or both!)

Quite right on all fronts... and the only time I heard DSCH4 live was at the Proms, and its impenetrability remained complete... .

[Nick Armstrong]

The gentleman said young giants, Caliban

Only just seen this...

[Blotto]

Best seats for sound?

I appreciate that it may vary from concert to concert but, in general, are there areas of the Hall that are better and worse for sound?

I ask partly because I notice that more of the stall seats nearer the orchestra tend to be sold than those opposite (which latter I'd expect to have better balanced sound though it's an assumption which I can't validate). Perhaps the size of the hall means that close proximity gives the best sound in a generally poor acoustic.

I'm strapped for cash so it's slightly academic but last week I bought a £5 gallery ticket and after the interval then crept into an empty seat in the back of the circle opposite the stage. I sat somewhere similar for Midsummer Marriage last year and the sound was excellent; I had the impression that having the wall directly behind me helped to deaden the sound a bit - it sort of landed near my ear. However, the Shostakovich on Tuesday last didn't seem to benefit. Perhaps more reverberation would have added something because it sounded terrific on the radio when I listened.

I'm hoping to hear the Sibelius/Bridge this week. If there are spare seats, where would you recommend I try?

[Nick Armstrong]

Have a look at this thread, Blotto http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...ms-Which-Seats

Not least my contribution at #15 which may answer your question about the more distant seats...

[Blotto]

I've posted this link from The Guardian before on this topic, but it's worth trotting out, from someone who knows better than me generally, namely Michael Berkeley:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/200...era.proms20042

Thanks for the link to the Barbican Mahler 9, Caliban. I don't see it as an either/or more as both. It'll be my French friend's first time at the Proms, so it's as much about the experience as the music. We're also going to try and get to the Shosta 4/Berio the next night. Neither my tasse de thé (I recall from threads past that DSCH 4 remains impenetrable to you) but perhaps heard live I'll become a convert to one or the other (or both!)

Quite right on all fronts... and the only time I heard DSCH4 live was at the Proms, and its impenetrability remained complete... .

I spotted this thread too late having started another on the subject. It's fascinating to read Berkeley's warning about sitting opposite the stage in the circle for the Shostakovich 4 because that was just where I sat and it felt underpowered to me on the night. Now I see why, perhaps? I didn't know it at all but was disposed to like it. The power and persuasion seemed all there on the radio when I caught up with it at the weekend, though I suppose it's possible a little familiarity helped.

[Blotto]

Thanks. In fact, I've just finished reading it through having overlooked the thread before starting my own. See you there?

[Nick Armstrong]

Okay I'll join the two threads then.

[Richard J.]

I generally choose side stalls, but for a change sit in the choir a couple of times every season. Tonight I discovered a serious drawback to sitting in the choir. It was the first time that the seats lottery had given me a row 1 choir seat since they introduced the LED screen at the back of the platform. As the structure of this screen projects a foot or so in front of the choir parapet, level with its top, it cuts off the whole of the upper orchestra from the row 1 seats. I'm 5'10" and I could only see the strings in the Mahler, plus the harp and percussion to my right. My wife is shorter and had an even worse view. Row 1 Choir is now RESTRICTED VIEW.

I shall complain to the BBC, as the screen is only there for the Proms (and what on earth is it there for anyway?).

[pureimagination]

If it's televised, avoid the side stalls. They use a boom camera which is so distracting - and the 9th needs much concentration I think.

I always prefer side stalls row 3 seats 1,2,3!!