Televised Proms

[french frank]

I've been looking at the details and it seems as if some of few which look as if they're 'LIVE' (i.e. televised the same day as the concert) may not be. Prom 4, this Sunday, begins at 7.30pm with a first half (Woolrich & Beethoven overture) only lasting 20 minutes; the televised Choral Symphony after the interval is timed to begin at 8.15pm (on R3), but the BBC Four broadcast is 9pm-10.30pm. My guess is there will be some waffle from Mark Elder until the technicians can produce the recording.

This looks like the season's pattern: recorded broadcasts, edited to fit BBC Four shorter slots (so some pieces dropped - and not just the contemporary ones: Prom 7 doesn't advertise the Delius or Ravel); Prom 57 doesn't advertise Maria João Pires, hence the Mozart concerto).

Of the 27 concerts listed among the televised broadcasts, these are 10 (37%) of them (the 'watch online ones all appear to be live):

Ten Pieces Prom, recorded for future broadcast
Prom 8: Late Night With ... BBC Asian Network, watch online at bbc.co.uk/proms, 22 July
Prom 16: Late Night With ... BBC Radio 1, watch online at bbc.co.uk/proms, 29 July
Prom 27: Late Night With ... BBC Radio 6 Music, watch online at bbc.co.uk/proms, 5 August
Prom 30: Late Night Sinatra, BBC Two, 7 August
Prom 37: Late Night With ... BBC Radio 1Xtra, watch online at bbc.co.uk/proms, 12 August
Prom 32: Eric Whitacre and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Four, 14 August
Prom 35: Story of Swing, BBC Four, 28 August
Prom 67: Bernstein – Stage and Screen, BBC Four, 11 September
Prom 76: Last Night of the Proms, First half BBC Two, second half BBC One, 12 September

Suzy Klein's timely article fits very well with a policy to boost the non-classical Proms - and thus lower the profile of the classical ones.

[Richard Tarleton]

The Radio Times Proms Guide tells me that "Radio 4 is the destination for a curated series of Proms three nights a week". How do you curate a Prom? The following are here to show us. "British conductor Mark Elder joins Katie Derham to introduce a different symphony each week.....Thursdays will focus on soloists in both concerto and recital repertoire, presented by Samira Ahmed, Tom Service and Kirsty Wark; Fridays will feature highlight concerts of the season, with presenters Angel Blue, Clemency Burton-Hill, Razia Iqbal, Suzy Klein and Petroc Trelawny".



Actually if I can grit my teeth during the "curating" process I am looking forward to seeing as well as hearing [not on their live dates] Bach Sonatas and Partitas with Alina Ibragimova, Bach Cello Suites with Yo-Yo Ma, Bach Goldberg with Andras Schiff....and Mahler 5 (Runnicles), Mozart/Schubert (Haitink)....

The Radio Times Proms Guide has as its cover illustration Frank Sinatra, captioned "Simply Sinatra......and Sibelius, Bernstein, Rattle, Shostakovich and Elgar" and as its sole article a piece by John Wilson on, er, Frank Sinatra. Unlike the others Frank Sinatra will neither be performing, for obvious reasons, nor did he compose anything. It appears someone called Seth MacFarlane will be singing songs that Frank Sinatra used to sing.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The Radio Times Proms Guide has as its cover illustration Frank Sinatra, captioned "Simply Sinatra......and Sibelius, Bernstein, Rattle, Shostakovich and Elgar" and as its sole article a piece by John Wilson on, er, Frank Sinatra. Unlike the others Frank Sinatra will neither be performing, for obvious reasons, nor did he compose anything. It appears someone called Seth MacFarlane will be singing songs that Frank Sinatra used to sing.

Put like that, it shows just how ridiculous the hype has become.

[teamsaint]

Re the OP .......I can't believe for a moment that Mark Elder will " waffle".

oh, and I got told off by some hierarchical type on here for not using the correct title for knights, dames, and other assorted great and good.

Just saying.

the effort that the BBC go to, in order to rearrange and schedule televised proms into something less satisfactory than the complete original is quite amazing.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

the effort that the BBC go to, in order to rearrange and schedule televised proms into something less satisfactory than the complete original is quite amazing.

There's one aspect of the "complete original" I'd be happy to see cut, and that's those interval chats with "special guests" with dubiously qualified interviewers.

[Richard Tarleton]

oh, and I got told off by some hierarchical type on here for not using the correct title for knights, dames, and other assorted great and good.

Just saying.

Mine an exact quote from the RT

the effort that the BBC go to, in order to rearrange and schedule televised proms into something less satisfactory than the complete original is quite amazing.

Quite. But if they just played the concert (cf Sky Arts) there would be nothing for the curators to do.

[LHC]

When the Proms guide was published, I noticed that just over half of the televised proms were being broadcast complete, with the rest having whole works excised before broadcast.

The list of televised proms is also misleading, as four of those listed are only available on line. If its not available on television, I don't see how the BBC can claim it is being 'televised'.

By my reckoning, the works that will be cut from the TV broadcasts are:

Prom 4: Woolwrich
Prom 5: Haydn
Prom 7: Delius, Ravel
Prom 13: Francesconi
Proms 17: Debussy, Vaughan Williams
Prom 22: Mozart, Meredith
Prom 24: Mahler
Prom 31: Davies
Proms 46: Brahms

All the pieces in Prom 34 are being shown, but the Prokofiev is being shown separately from the rest of the concert, so that this single concert accounts for two of the televised proms.

[zola]

Medici TV offering free live streaming of 25 concerts from the Verbier Festival.

http://www.medici.tv/#!/verbier-festival-on-medicitv

Just saying.

[VodkaDilc]

the effort that the BBC go to, in order to rearrange and schedule televised proms into something less satisfactory than the complete original is quite amazing.

It's not even so that the gaps between works can be edited out - just filled with patronising garbage.

Did I notice that even the First Night is scheduled to begin on BBC4 at 8pm? Have 'they' no idea of the work which goes into programme building - and to the impact which a full concert experience can have.

As for drawing attention to Sinatra (1915-1998), they clearly think they are appealing to young listeners. Perhaps the Tories have got the right idea about the BBC.

[Serial_Apologist]

It's not even so that the gaps between works can be edited out - just filled with patronising garbage.

Did I notice that even the First Night is scheduled to begin on BBC4 at 8pm? Have 'they' no idea of the work which goes into programme building - and to the impact which a full concert experience can have.

As for drawing attention to Sinatra (1915-1998), they clearly think they are appealing to young listeners. Perhaps the Tories have got the right idea about the BBC.

But how many "younger listeners" will have heard of Old Blue Eyes? Even Jamie Cullum's knocking on now.

[Richard Tarleton]

As for drawing attention to Sinatra (1915-1998), they clearly think they are appealing to young listeners.

Yes I'm thoroughly mystified by this. Sinatra appealed to my mother's generation (she's 95). Wilson himself says he only likes the stuff Sinatra did in the mid-to-late 1950s. How has he suddenly become fashionable again?

I vote for a Bob Dylan Prom.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

How has he suddenly become fashionable again?

Not that "suddenly" - the Brat Pack has interested younger "popular" performers for over ten years. The work of the "crooners" - and the "Great American Songbook" in general - have been trendy for quite a while - which is probably why the BBC has just cottoned on!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I vote for a Bob Dylan Prom.

That'll happen. 2017 is my bet.

[seabright]

The St. Petersburg Philharmonic Prom 71 isn't being televised but if you want a visual "preview" of the 'Enigma Variations' here's one, presumably from St. Petersburg itself. The audience seemed to have enjoyed the work though the orchestral layout, particularly of the strings, looked somewhat unconventional ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvA6FtN8-n0

[french frank]

Gosh! I thought no one was going to comment and I thought it was hugely important that in fact the BBC is televising FAR FEWER PROMS than usual. It may be showing more concerts …

Anyway, lots more information - thanks.

team - no. ME won't 'waffle' in the sense of talking nonsense. I just meant the 90 minute TV Prom seems to consist of the Beethoven symphony. Mark Elder is famous for being Mark Elder. That's his professional name.

Re Frank Sinatra: a quick wiki-peek suggests that it's Seth MacFarlane who will be the popular draw, since he's been (in some way - didn't read how) connected with those two great youth hits from BBC Three, American Dad and Family Guy. So it's magically become another 'youth Prom'.