Prom 8: 21.07.16 - Strictly Prom

[pastoralguy]

Just watching the broadcast. By Thor's might hammer, this woman is annoying.

Mrs. PG and I are watching and are loving everything about it except Ms. Derham. I think 'arch' is the word I'm looking for. (And I don't dislike her but this is toe curling).

Something has occurred to me. John Barry, who wrote the music to the last dance, also wrote the music to the film 'Chaplin'. There's a scene where Chaplin, played by Robert Downie Jr, defends his decision to continue to make silent films. "If the tramp speaks then the magic has gone. Imagine if Nijinsky came down to the footlights and said "tonight I'm going to jump up and down like you've never seen before", then the illusion is shattered".

My feelings about the dancers being gushed over by K.D. Mind you, she's probably only following orders.

[pastoralguy]

What a wonderful concert/show!

[Bryn]

What a wonderful concert/show!

Duly saved to hard disc. Will transfer to writable Blu-ray once I have enough other Proms to fill up a disc. Watched the second half and found it a very enjoyable audio-visual experience.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

My feelings about the dancers being gushed over by K.D. Mind you, she's probably only following orders.

I'm sure that's true, at least in part. But she does look more than a little self-conscious.

But I enjoyed the music, and on the radio the antics are less obtrusive.

[Anastasius]

What a wonderful concert/show!

Mmmmm....on the other hand, this member can't ever remember a barrel's bottom being so deeply scraped.

[Hornspieler]

Well, I've reached the bit where I came in and I STILL think it's terrific!
............

In 1972, I played with the BBC Concert Orchestra at a Prom Concert under the baton of that detestable bully Arthur Fiedler (That incompetant Honorary "Fire Chief from Boston)

I was very impressed by the degree of tolerance and professionalism by the orchestra which is really only known to the listening public as "... that lot who play for Friday Night is Music Night..."

Well, last night (Friday) they demonstrated just what a fine and adaptable orchestra they are. For my choice, if one of the BBC's London orchestras had to be sacrificed I would suggest that to lose the BBC Concert Orchestra would be a great mistake.

Founded originally as The BBC Theatre Orchestra, they were re-assembled postwar as "The BBC Opera Orchestra" under Stanford Robinson and then became The BBC Concert Orchestra" under a variety of conductors including Gilbert Vinter.

So "Friday Night is Music Night" was established.

Yes, appealing to a different audience playing a lighter brand of music but that is not all that they do:

Playing background music to enhance the atmosphere of David Attenborough's Nature programmes is one of the tasks that require much rehearsal is an example of the orchestra's talents and flexibility.

The BBC Symphony Orchestras (I call them that because there are so many Principal positions shared by more that one player )
is no better than the BBC Scottish, BBC Philharmonic or BBC Welsh National orchestras but is probably twice as expensive to run as those other symphony orchestras who give a lot more of the population a chance to attend live performances of classical music)

"Who's leading the orchestra this week?"

"Which day did you have in mind?"

The standard of playing by all sections of the Concert orchestra was more than impressive - it was astounding.

The audience in the RAH obviously loved it and it was not only "Desert Island Disks" music - it was also an invitation to many who would not bother with all that classical stuff" to experience that not all music is highbrow and if the presence of a few dancers lured them into the trap of hearing something worth listening to in its own right, it was worth doing.

So why not have a listen only on the iPlayer, if you have not heard the music yet.

HS

BTW Katie is a profession TV presenter. She is paid to do a job, as required by the programme's Producer.

[pastoralguy]

Well said, HS.

[ahinton]

Katie is a profession TV presenter. She is paid to do a job, as required by the programme's Producer.

In presuming that the producer of what she presents of R3 is probably not the same one as produced that Prom, would you say that KD's employed brief is supposed to include so much drawing of attention to herself and whether that's supposed to be an inherent part of what it is that she's presenting? If so and if that's correct, the producer's brief might reasonably be questioned.

It could perhaps be argued that, if there had to be a Strictly Prom, that particular issue might have been avoided had it been presented instead by one of that programme's judges (Darcey Bussell, for example); KD was, after all, only a competitor on it and I didn't think that the Prom was meant to be competitive...

[french frank]

In presuming that the producer of what she presents of R3 is probably not the same one as produced that Prom, would you say that KD's employed brief is supposed to include so much drawing of attention to herself and whether that's supposed to be an inherent part of what it is that she's presenting? If so and if that's correct, the producer's brief might reasonably be questioned.

It's what presenters ARE paid to do - sell the programmes they front e.g. Chris Evans, Jeremy Clarkson - they become permanently fused to the programme itself (I was thinking of Chris Evans on the R2 Breakfast show, but his failure to convince on Top Gear emphasises the point: new Top Gear 'a flop').

But the BBCCO seems to have carried this Prom pretty triumphantly(?). That said, I looked back at the music programme and would never choose to attend such a concert: but that would apply to many 'serious' concerts too: no like the music? don't go. Problem solved.

[ahinton]

It's what presenters ARE paid to do - sell the programmes they front

Yes, the programmes - not themselves!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

In presuming that the producer of what she presents of R3 is probably not the same one as produced that Prom, would you say that KD's employed brief is supposed to include so much drawing of attention to herself and whether that's supposed to be an inherent part of what it is that she's presenting? If so and if that's correct, the producer's brief might reasonably be questioned.

It could perhaps be argued that, if there had to be a Strictly Prom, that particular issue might have been avoided had it been presented instead by one of that programme's judges (Darcey Bussell, for example); KD was, after all, only a competitor on it and I didn't think that the Prom was meant to be competitive...

A concert with a dance theme is fine, and both conductor and orchestra carried it off well. For me, what sticks in the throat is a remark made by another Radio 3 Presenter at the time of the SCD competition, referring to KD having "nice legs". Is that how naff we have become?

[french frank]

Yes, the programmes - not themselves!

I wouldn't want to be misunderstood: I think it's hideous. But many listeners and viewers feel very strongly that it is the presenters, their 'warmth' and personality (= 'being themselves') that makes the programme. My answer to that is that the programmes can't be up to much if that's the case, but my view isn't typical. I couldn't say whether this concert would have been spoilt for me by an over exuberant self-promoting presenter because nothing could have made it attractive to me in the first place.

That's not a criticism of the concert: it's not aimed at me any more than Classic FM's Hall of Fame programme is; or Top Gear (old or new) for that matter, or Late Junction. It could be that the overlap between the audience for this concert and for a standard classical Prom is not very big. If so (and enthusiasm here is not greatly in evidence), it might tell us something, though I'm not sure what

[ahinton]

A concert with a dance theme is fine, and both conductor and orchestra carried it off well. For me, what sticks in the throat is a remark made by another Radio 3 Presenter at the time of the SCD competition, referring to KD having "nice legs". Is that how naff we have become?

Some people, perhaps; all that I know about KD's legs is that she has two of them and that just about sums up my interest therein. "A concert with a dance theme", yes, although as it wasn't even televised and Strictly itself was of obvious necessity a TV programme, the inclusion of actual dance in it struck me as rather self-defeating.

[ahinton]

I wouldn't want to be misunderstood: I think it's hideous. But many listeners and viewers feel very strongly that it is the presenters, their 'warmth' and personality (= 'being themselves') that makes the programme. My answer to that is that the programmes can't be up to much if that's the case, but my view isn't typical. I couldn't say whether this concert would have been spoilt for me by an over exuberant self-promoting presenter because nothing could have made it attractive to me in the first place.

Sure, but were that believed to be the case, we might as well have every Prom presented in the manner of KD!

[pastoralguy]

Some people, perhaps; all that I know about KD's legs is that she has two of them and that just about sums up my interest therein. "A concert with a dance theme", yes, although as it wasn't even televised and Strictly itself was of obvious necessity a TV programme, the inclusion of actual dance in it struck me as rather self-defeating.

Actually, it was on BBC 4 last night and blooming good it was too.