Who is this woman?

[cloughie]

Regardless of who she is, g, what's she doing in the picture?

Try Prom 65

http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2014/september-05/15108

[Don Petter]

Now we seem to have answered the original question at some length, who or what is the even stranger six-legged creature which appears in the background?

[cloughie]

Now we seem to have answered the original question at some length, who or what is the even stranger six-legged creature which appears in the background?

I guess it's just a representation of all the warhorses played at the proms which have found new legs since their HIPP origins.

[kernelbogey]

I think people understand the concept of 'publicity' very well. But the the image seems (to some, not to others, granted) alien to the idea of promoting the Proms.[...]

But it's branding - isn't it? The repetition of this IMV bizarre photo on every Proms web page seems to be someone's idea of extending the brand image from just the RAH (as in previous seasons IIRC): so the four people plus warhorse are intended to convey what the Proms (now) stand for, I suggest.

BTW, and I stand open to correction, I think the shot is taken on the south side of the RAH showing where the Area queue runs, with artificial turf laid over the paving. Must have cost £000s....

[Petrushka]

There have been plenty of young people at the Proms I've attended and even a sprinkling of people from ethnic minorities yet still the myth persists that classical music is for the elderly, middle class, white, well-heeled elite. It's an image that is frankly out of keeping with the glorious times in which we live but is still a complete myth.

Trying to attract young people to the Proms by having the likes of Paloma Faith, Pet Shop Boys, Laura Mvula and Jules Buckley (none of whom I'd previously heard of let alone encountered) is totally the wrong way to go about it, as if the Proms have no confidence in the 'product' they are trying to sell.

The BBC has kept faith (no pun intended) with the Proms for the best part of a century but nothing lasts forever and I can already see a marked decline. If care isn't taken that decline will accelerate.

[salymap]

Well said Pet,old friend.

I haven't heard of her either but the Proms lists were not to my taste.

At 17 years old I found my way to the RAH and didn't need anything but the music, which this year I can't even hear.

Bestio to my old friends, saly

[Don Petter]

I guess it's just a representation of all the warhorses played at the proms which have found new legs since their HIPP origins.

A poorly rendered warhorse would seem to be the last thing they would want to represent the Proms. Did they think this through?

[french frank]

At 17 years old I found my way to the RAH and didn't need anything but the music

Nevertheless ... we have to accept that times have changed, particularly in the amount of music that's available to teenagers now and the position which classical music holds in their awareness and listening experience.

Put a 6 Music programme on Radio 3, for example: you will get some 6 Music listeners (not all!) coming over to listen to it. Of those, a few might venture to find out more, or hear the usual Radio 3 output by accident. Of those a few might be captivated and stay for more ... So 2 hours of Saturday Classics (and a special Prom last year) becomes a test case: how many of the 'mights' come to appreciate classical music? Anyone with an answer?

Late Junction was a similar experiment: it was to hook in a non-classical audience - not to widen the experience of Radio 3 listeners. Did it succeed? Look at Radio 3's listening figures since the programme was introduced over ten years ago.

Me, I've learned that the Pet Shop Boys aren't a boy band but a late-middleaged duo, and that Paloma Faith is a pretty mean (as in good, btw) song-and-dance hoofer. Both slightly unexpected hits with the younger audiences. But was that what the programmes were designed to achieve?

[Nick Armstrong]

A poorly rendered warhorse would seem to be the last thing they would want to represent the Proms. Did they think this through?

[french frank]

Ditto!

[Bax-of-Delights]

Isn't the more meaningful question concerning this promo picture being: What is Katie Derham doing on it? Not a performer, not a musician, not a singer - just an occasional presenter.

Why not Martin Handley, Christopher Cooke, Tom Service - people, one might argue, that have a much longer connection with classical music and a deeper understanding. But the devil in my ear says "B-o-d, old chap, its because she's pretty and the others aren't."

[Blotto]

Paloma Faith is very talented IMO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDeB5sDealI

This is an unfortunate thread ... horribly snobbish thread

I give up .

If it cannot be seen how snobbish and head in the clouds this thread appears

Sincerely, B, I'm surprised by your reaction and I'm equally sincerely sorry to have upset you. The picture didn't explain itself in any way, shape or form and has looked bizarre to me every time I've seen it - many, many times now on the 3 website. It made me smile whenever I saw a strange vamp stood in front of the Albert Hall giving the old "Come hither" at half past ten in the morning. It's comic. It finally occurred to me last night to ask. I really thought that the post was funny and might amuse the reader while achieving enlightenment for myself.

There really isn't any snobbery in asking what she's doing, or at least there was none intended. The cause of peace is now perhaps more important but I would still be interested to have the answer. The question wasn't, if you look, about the status or significance of the woman but her actions and, by extension, those of the publicists. I think it must be an intention to put someone on the cover who might attract the attention of younger and other people; the programme is sold far and wide and a glance from the right person will intrigue them. It may be, given the size of the images and the restrictions on text for the cover, that the posture is intended to help the glancing viewer to recognise the singer's identity.

I do wonder why the handsome Vasily Petrenko isn't on the cover in a tight suit along with the three, slim handsome women in their evening dresses and black lace. Or an older woman or a non-white performer. Marin Alsop and Roderick Williams? If the aspiration to include is the object of the images, where is the equivalent commitment to representation in them?

Again, I would stress that my intention was to pose a question light-heartedly. However, as you have taken it more seriously, I hope this response may appease and relieve some of your disquiet. It's not an issue of talent or suitability of the person, solely about the image and the collective thinking behind it.

With good wishes, b.

[Quarky]

Sincerely, B, I'm surprised by your reaction and I'm equally sincerely sorry to have upset you. The picture didn't explain itself in any way, shape or form and has looked bizarre to me every time I've seen it on the 3 website. It made me smile whenever I saw a strange vamp stood in front of the Albert Hall giving the old "Come hither" at half past ten in the morning. It's comic. It finally occurred to me last night to ask. I really thought that the post was funny and might amuse the reader and achieve enlightenment for myself.

There really isn't any snobbery in asking what she's doing, or at least there was none intended. The cause of peace is now perhaps more important but I would still be interested to have the answer. The question wasn't, if you look, about the status or significance of the woman but her actions and, by extension, those of the publicists. I think it must be an intention to put someone on the cover who might attract the attention of younger and other people; the programme is sold far and wide and a glance from the right person will intrigue them. It may be, given the size of the images and the restrictions on text for the cover, that the posture is intended to help the glancing viewer to recognise the singer's identity.

I do wonder why the handsome Vasily Petrenko isn't on the cover in a tight suit along with the three handsome women in their evening dresses and black lace. Or an older woman or a non-white performer. Marin Alsop and Roderick Williams? If the aspiration to include is the object of the images, where is the equivalent commitment to representation in them?

Again, I would stress that my intention was to pose a question light-heartedly. However, as you have taken it more seriously, I hope this response may appease and relieve some of your disquiet. It's not an issue of talent or suitability of the person, solely about the image and the collective thinking behind it.

With good wishes, b.

I believe Caliban is on the right track in referring to the old war horse.

Although light hearted in nature, and the conductor certainly does not seem to mind being surrounded by beautiful women (there is hope for us yet!), I think this pic may have a deeper significance, in that it is a visual statement of the aims of the Proms, as formulated for 2014 by the Proms management. That is exquisite soloists, concertos etc, wonderful symphonic works, a "pop" element (Kiss me Kate, Laura Mvula), which inevitably introduces sex into the equation, and the presenter element as typified by Katie, of whom there has been the occasional comment previously on these boards.

[kernelbogey]

"B-o-d, old chap, its because she's pretty and the others aren't."

... and she's on t'tele!

[Petrushka]

The photo itself looks to me more like five or six photos stuck together to make a whole. I'm sure Sakari Oramo wasn't surrounded by three beautiful women and a warhorse in reality and I'm sure none of them were anywhere near the Albert Hall at the time. Perhaps our more expert photographers might like to have a look at what computerised jiggery-pokery has gone on here.

The camera, in this digital age, does lie.