I've just watched the Martin Brabbins/BBCSSO performance of the Elgar/Payne 3rd symphony. I noticed that there were quite a lot of empty seats in what I think might be the more expensive areas of the RAH. There were also quite a few empty seats, I seem to recall, for the Richard Hickox/BBCNOW performance of the original version of Vaughan Williams's 'London' Symphony, which I would have thought ranked as a pretty significant occasion. Does this indicate some kind of prejudice against 'regional' orchestras, or is it just a coincidence?
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Maybe Elgar/Payne and VW do not attract audiences as they once did? -
But the Elgar/Payne was from a Proms fourteen years ago, just six years after the work's premiere - and the Hickox London was thirteen years ago.Originally posted by Bergonzi View Post
Possibly "corporate seats"?[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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Those Proms date from 2004 (Brabbins) and 2005 (Hickox) and neither of the accompanying programmes could be said to include 'crowd pleasers' nor did they have any obvious star soloists to pull in the punters. Given these factors plus the obvious fact that neither the BBCSSO nor BBCNOW, good as they are, are the VPO then, not forgetting that the Albert Hall can hold around 6000 people, the 'bread and butter' nature of these two Proms still pulled in a pretty decent crowd.
It just so happened that I was present at the Hickox RVW 2 evening in the Arena for the first half but then took advantage of an empty stalls seat for the RVW."The sound is the handwriting of the conductor" - Bernard HaitinkComment
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Sir Mark Elder and the Halle/Sibelius 7th seems to have attracted what looks like a full, or virtually full, house.Comment
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It seems that audience attendance peaked at 94ish % in the early 2010s. before that - and now - it is at about 90 % or slightly below. The Hickox Prom was a weekday Prom from one of the BBC orchestras consisting of lesser known pieces of well known composers and new compositions, with no big name soloists. The Brabbin Prom had the Beethoven 4th piano concerto, but the soloist wouldn't draw an audience by his name alone, and Peter Maxwell Davies/John Taverner do not necessarily spell sell out crowd either. Also, it is only half an Elgar ;). So a below par attendance isn't surprising. In the Albert Hall, an attendance of about 80 % would result in more than a thousand empty seats; also, the attending crowd would likely be concentrated in the arena. If that is the case, 80 % attendance would correspond with about 3000 people in 4200 seats for the rest of the hall. About every third seat would be empty.Originally posted by LMcD View Post
The Halle Prom is from one of those high attendance seasons, it also has Andras Schiff as soloist.Last edited by Demetrius; 25-03-18, 21:17.Comment
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In 'You and Yours' R4.
About five minutes in.Comment
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I found this link more useful:Originally posted by DracoM View Post
... item starts at 14mins 57".
The "corporate tickets" I suggested in #3 feature prominently.[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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I had no idea so many seats were so privately owned. I always thought - naively perhaps - that the debenture holders (is that the right term?) just owned some of the boxes.
viagogo and their ilk are a menace!Comment
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In 1999, i attended a Prom by the BBC Philharmonic - can't recall the conductor but the programme featured the Symphonia Domestica. Attendance could only be described as pitiful - and this was a televised Prom!
The JEG Schumann Scenes From Faust in that same season was similarly badly attended.Comment
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I wouldn't want to see a performance of the Symphonia Domestica whoever was performing it!Comment
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On the 5th of September 1969 I watched a Prom from the comfort of a BBC box. This came about because a friend of mine who worked in the BBC's Music Department (she was Martin Dalby's secretary) called me at lunchtime and said that, as they'd only sold 200 tickets, there would certainly be no problem if I wished to attend. The hall was indeed sparely populated.
The programme comprised:
Bartok - Music For Strings, Percussion and Celesta
Boulez - Pli Selon Pli (still a 'work in progress' at that time I seem to remember)
Mahler - Symphony No. 5
BBC SO/Boulez
My favourite BBC Proms memory (I was down in the Arena this time, again in 1969) concerns the fountain. It was still tinkling merrily away as the conductor raised his baton for the main work of the evening. A number of us turned to the fountain and produced a collective 'Sssh' - whereupon the fountain immediately stopped.
The programme comprised:
Mozart - Clarinet Quintet
Bruckner - Symphony no. 8
Gervase de Peyer/Amadeus Quartet
BBC SO/Reginald Goodall
Unsurprisingly, given the line-up for the Mozart and the fact that the Bruckner Boom was well under way at the time, the hall was very full. I can't remember how much I paid to get into the Arena.Last edited by LMcD; 27-03-18, 05:55.Comment
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I don't know -if you could get a Tardis to collect Clemens Krauss and the early 1950s VPO ....Originally posted by LMcD View PostComment
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Having been able to buy a grand tier box seat for last Sunday evening (Mahler 8) three days previously, and assuming this to have been released by a private seat owner, I have read a bit online about the history of private seats.Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View PostI found this link more useful:
... item starts at 14mins 57".
The "corporate tickets" I suggested in #3 feature prominently.
The link to You and Yours on BBC Radio 4 above in Ferney's post is educative about this issue. About 1200 seats (out of 5200) are privately owned, and therefore tickets may be returned by their owners to the Box Office for resale; or, of course, to online resellers. The moral issues surrounding this are interestingly debated in the programme.Comment
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