Prom 11: Fiddler on the Roof (25.07.15)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Well, were they?

Someone who was in the RAH will be able to tell us.

[PhilipT]

Someone who was in the RAH will be able to tell us.

No, they weren't. It was amplified - in the opinion of some in the front row, over-amplified. To be fair, I think it was reasonable to mike the soloists, and the Fiddler's fiddle, but not every last member of the chorus. Other minor annoyances on the night were the lack of a libretto in the programme - for copyright reasons, I presume - and that getting out of the Arena afterwards took ages because so many exits were closed. Presumably The Lord Chamberlain's Regulations, as sung by Flanders and Swann ("The audience may leave at the end of each performance / By all the exit doors / And all such doors must at that time be o-open") don't apply anymore.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

- and that getting out of the Arena afterwards took ages because so many exits were closed. Presumably The Lord Chamberlain's Regulations, as sung by Flanders and Swann ("The audience may leave at the end of each performance / By all the exit doors / And all such doors must at that time be o-open") don't apply anymore.

Fire regulations too?

[VodkaDilc]

I think we must be living in different parts of the country! Our central heating has just kicked in - again.

Bookmaker Coral said it had cut the odds on July being the wettest on record to 2-1 (from 6-1) following reports that more rain is forecast for the rest of the month.

From today's Guardian (page 38):

In contrast to the wet and windy start to the summer in the northern half of Britain, the south-east of England is looking rather parched right now, even after the weekend's rain. The south-east has been on the margin of a brutal heatwave which has taken grip in central and southern Europe..........

My lawns are brown - and a stroll across the road before the Proms reveals that Hyde Park is anything but green.

[jean]

No, they weren't. It was amplified - in the opinion of some in the front row, over-amplified. To be fair, I think it was reasonable to mike the soloists, and the Fiddler's fiddle, but not every last member of the chorus. Other minor annoyances on the night were the lack of a libretto in the programme - for copyright reasons, I presume - and that getting out of the Arena afterwards took ages because so many exits were closed. Presumably The Lord Chamberlain's Regulations, as sung by Flanders and Swann ("The audience may leave at the end of each performance / By all the exit doors / And all such doors must at that time be o-open") don't apply anymore.

Thanks, that's interesting.

(Perhaps if other posters merely want to say that in their opinion this Prom should not have happened at all, they could do it somewhere else?)

[David Underdown]

Once the company had left the stage (some of whom did so via steps into the arena and then the front arena steps), then all the arena exits were available to prommers. It was only those who tried to leave via the front steps while the curtain call was still in progress who were told to leave via other exits.

[PhilipT]

Once the company had left the stage (some of whom did so via steps into the arena and then the front arena steps), then all the arena exits were available to prommers. It was only those who tried to leave via the front steps while the curtain call was still in progress who were told to leave via other exits.

That wasn't my experience. As I recall, there were redcoats preventing exit at Doors A, B, E and F. Only Doors C/D and the two sets of steps to the Stalls amphi-corridor were in use. I left by those up to Door 9 (to get something out of the cloakroom), and they were packed solid. I must've been among the last to leave the Arena.

[David Underdown]

We went out of Door A, though others had previously been turned back.

[Prommer]

Is all the talk of amplification, the weather, means of egress etc... so much fiddling while Bryn gurns?

[Anastasius]

Thanks, that's interesting.

(Perhaps if other posters merely want to say that in their opinion this Prom should not have happened at all, they could do it somewhere else?)

Why? Is our opinion not relevant? I thought forums were for an exchange of views?

[jean]

Why? Is our opinion not relevant? I thought forums were for an exchange of views?

There are plenty of threads offering an opportunity for discussion about what should or shouldn't be performed at the Proms.

Threads on individual concerts are for discussion of that concert.

If you'd been at the performance or heard the broadcast, your opinion would be relevant however much you'd hated it. However, your purpose in posting seems to have been solely to tell us that you'd rather die than listen, and that is really of no interest to anyone at all.

[Anastasius]

There are plenty of threads offering an opportunity for discussion about what should or shouldn't be performed at the Proms.

Threads on individual concerts are for discussion of that concert.

If you'd been at the performance or heard the broadcast, your opinion would be relevant however much you'd hated it. However, your purpose in posting seems to have been solely to tell us that you'd rather die than listen, and that is really of no interest to anyone at all.

May I be the first to congratulate you on your role of Forum Monitor - albeit self-appointed - and for your patronising reply.

[jean]

It's no trouble, I assure you.

[Stanfordian]

I don't really like musicals being presented at the Proms mainly because they are only given concert/semi-staged performances. I can see that the BBC Proms is hellbent on broadening the appeal and resultantly the audience. But an awful lot of a musical's potential is lost by not having a fully staged production like those given at West End theatres; which is their natural home.

[David-G]

If you were going to do a full day's Promming and also catch the Saturday afternoon Prom @ Cadogan Hall, you could get to the RAH very early, maybe 1:30 PM or so, and get a ticket from one of the ushers. You can then go to Cadogan Hall, and after being done there, after you make your way back to the RAH, you can spend a spell in your spot in the queue, to let the ushers know that you really are back. You can then get to the RCM for the pre-Prom talk.

But that would indeed be a very packed day's itinerary, if you already had other plans for the afternoon. If you just want to get the evening Prom under your belt, it's a hard call as to when to queue. Making a total stab in the dark, I would say to get to the queue by 3:30 PM at the latest. Bringing a book/e-book and provisions would be a given for surviving the afternoon. The pre-Prom talk also would be interesting, which you can catch w/o losing your spot in the queue.

Thanks bluestateprommer for your helpful advice and also about the Cadogan Hall. I didn't in the end go to the Cadogan, it was too much, but I did get to the queue for the Albert Hall at 3.00, and found myself number 120 which got me pretty near to the front.

Although I went weighed down with newspapers to read, I found as usual that the queueing time was largely filled by talking to my neighbours in the queue, going to buy a programme in the hall, going off for some refreshment, and going to the talk, so that I did not read a word.

Although I am largely in accord with the general views expressed here about dumbing down of the Proms, I did not feel that this was such an occasion, and enjoyed Fiddler very much. It was after all put on by Grange Park Opera, and I would contend that as opera includes many forms, a musical of this type might be classed as one of them. At Grange Park there had been no amplification, but we were told in the talk that for the vast expanse of the Albert Hall amplification was necessary. I am not sure about that, and certainly standing about ten feet from the stage the amplification was certainly not necessary and detracted considerably from the overall effect.

From this near vantage point I was saddened to note how the amplification made it hard to understand the dialogue. But after about half an hour this improved and everything became clearer; my neighbour suggested in the interval that they had tweaked the amplification, and I think he was right. But the effect in the hall would have been more direct if amplification had not been used.

Interestingly, from the little that I have so far heard of it on the iplayer, everything seems much clearer on the R3 broadcast than it was in the hall, which is a very curious situation. I had been wondering how the amplification would interact with the R3 microphones.

I would not agree with Stanfordian's dislike of semistaged or concert performances of musicals - such performances of opera can be marvellous. In presenting the Jewish experience in Europe Fiddler can be powerful as well as entertaining. But while this Prom was certainly entertaining, I felt it lacked somewhat in emotional power; and this perhaps stemmed from the lack of the "earth", so evident in the film, which we were told in the talk (in answer to a question) was essential.

I can't finish without commenting on Bryn! He was completely marvellous. Even without all the rest it would have been worth going to hear him.