Prom 75: Last Night of the Proms – 8.09.18

[Beef Oven!]

.. and the first time I ever watched it without my own, late, war-veteran mother, for whom those big songs - Glory, Jerusalem - meant so much...
with the inevitable result....I never saw it coming.....

Farewell to a wonderful, wonderful season!

[Prommer]

Having been out, from just after the Hindemith and Berlioz (great), and only back to see the speech through to the end, will now get down to the music...

[Simon B]

.. and the first time I ever watched it without my own, late, war-veteran mother, for whom those big songs - Glory, Jerusalem - meant so much...
with the inevitable result....I never saw it coming.....

Farewell to a wonderful, wonderful season!

JLW - my experience tonight may have been rather similar to your own. My dad (born 1926), after several years of struggling on against the ravages of big C and other accumulating illness, could finally resist no more and left us a few days after the LNOP 2017. Tonight I sat in his chair, in front of his TV and watched this with the hi-fi cranked, remembering that probably the first time I ever saw or heard an orchestra would have been watching the LNOP on TV with him (from whom I probably got about 70% of my love of music) at about the age of 4... It would be fair to say it was an emotional experience.

It's good to see many others echoing the other aspects of my reaction to this particular LNOP, as it suggests it wasn't just down to association and personal circumstance.

Quite the best LNOP for many a year IMO. Both musically (especially the first half) and as an event. AD has his detractors (me, for starters, in some repertoire, though he has certainly delivered some outstanding concerts on occasion in the past) but is so obviously the man for this job.

The star of the show in my view though was Gerald Finley - as ever, really. Such a beautiful voice, and such an intelligent and versatile communicator. Yes, ok, he was technically under a bit of strain when deliberately going for belting out a few high notes that must be virtually out of his range, but given the nature of the event, who wouldn't give it the beans? The two more reflective Stanford songs had me literally on the edge of my seat drawn in towards the TV...

Overall a pretty compelling concert simply on its own terms, with even the somewhat wearing silliness in some numbers towards the end more muted than it can be.

A fitting end to a distinguished season then.

[Simon B]

I think the wonderful cello soloist in the Sea Songs should get a mention. Quite the most beautiful Ive ever heard it played.

This was Susan Monks - who must have played this solo on perhaps 15-20 occasions before. It may be a false memory but I seem to recall her playing it in '95, also and AD LNOP.

She deserves an award for persistence over the years against popping balloons, squealing streamers etc at this most inappropriate of moments but was fortunately largely spared that tonight so the sincerity of her rendition could actually be heard properly!

[Alison]

The LTNOP can drag on a bit but not last night. AD brought new life to Pomp and Circumstance.

Moving post Simon, thank you.

[cloughie]

This was Susan Monks - who must have played this solo on perhaps 15-20 occasions before. It may be a false memory but I seem to recall her playing it in '95, also and AD LNOP.

She deserves an award for persistence over the years against popping balloons, squealing streamers etc at this most inappropriate of moments but was fortunately largely spared that tonight so the sincerity of her rendition could actually be heard properly!

I am currently learning to play TB on the piano so to hear the tune so beautifully played was good!

[edashtav]

Pretty enjoyable first half, where admittedly with the Stanford and Parry selections, unlike the Panufnik, I had the words with which to follow along (c/o various albums via the Chandos website). Amusing to hear Gerald Finley recall that the first concert that he attended as a fresh London student was this concert.

Gosh, I did miss all the words in the Panufnik, and straining to hear them strangled the music. Thus, I can’t rate it beyond questioning the Beeb’s habit of commissioning short Choral works for massive forces. Such pieces are unlikely to find a niche in the repertoire.

[edashtav]

.. and the first time I ever watched it without my own, late, war-veteran mother, for whom those big songs - Glory, Jerusalem - meant so much...
with the inevitable result....I never saw it coming.....

Farewell to a wonderful, wonderful season!

Oh dear, Jayne. My situation is somewhat parallel to yours as my old mother died after I’d been caring for her over four years, at the end of August, 2017. She was passive towards most music but loved LNOP
... Songs of Farewell...

And, yes, it’s been a good Season.

[LMcD]

I cannot abide Andrew Davis's bumptious speeches and I find most of his conducting pretty boring . A Last Night to miss for me .

I also hate the new itty bitty Essential Classics style first halves of the Last Night . Until a few years back one often at least had a concerto with a very good soloist in the first half.

As it happens, this morning, Martin Handley played an extract from the 1969 Last Night - a movement from the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Cyril Scott.
I'm afraid I don't share your view of AD's conducting and speeches, and am assuming that #18 is some sort of joke or wind-up intended to keep the thread going.

[Beef Oven!]

Well we all have different views, I suppose. edashtav told us he fell asleep during the adagio of Nezet's Bruckner 4 and was sniffy about the performance of the Liszt piano concerto - but many of us thought it was a wonderful concert. Barbirollians rubbished Andrew Davis both as a musician and as an MC/raconteur, but many people think that he was excellent and contributed to the excellence of last night's concert.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion - it's part of the reason why this forum is so interesting.

[Petrushka]

... the 1969 Last Night...

I can just about remember watching that on TV. Philips issued an LP of the usual suspects featured in the second half of the 1969 LNOP which I had for Christmas 1970 and it was amusing for me to see that very LP on show in the RAH a year or so ago as part of an archive exhibition. Colin Davis was the conductor and was every bit as adept at dealing with that generation of Prommers as his namesake was at controlling this generation last night.

[Constantbee]

Yes, Ulverston is in the south Lake District, and Jess Gillam's accent is... a mild North-Lancashire....

Jayne's right, of course. Big regional differences in accents in the north of England, although there's a tendency, especially among southerners like myself, to lump them all together - until you get to know them better.

Do you remember Daphne from the US sitcom Frasier? Daphne and latterly her brother Simon, were from Manchester but their accents definitely weren't. If anything they sounded more South Yorks than Lancashire. Real Manchester sounds like the Gallagher brothers from Oasis. It used to annoy me a bit, but it didn't matter that much.

[Bert Coules]

Was it the 1969 last night when Davis actually held an afternoon rehearsal for the Prommers? If so, I was there. "I think that will be quite enough of that," he said, after taking everyone though one (brief) encore of (I think) Rule, Britannia...

[ardcarp]

I am currently learning to play TB on the piano so to hear the tune so beautifully played was good!

Just a thought about another great tune, Arethusa. A lovely tune for the Tuba player, and easy enough to play on a valved instrument. However, when the massed trombones take it up it's bloody difficult....throwing their slides all over the place. I've never heard it done so well and unanimously as last night!

PS Why are valved trombones never used???? https://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_ventilposaune.htm

[LMcD]

Jane Leeves, who plays Daphne, was born in Ilford. Anthony LaPaglia, who plays Simon, was born in Adelaide. On the other hand, John Mahoney, who plays Martin Crane, was born in Blackpool.
Much as I admire 'Frasier', the English accents are in most cases pretty dire.
I remember watching Andrew Davis once deal with a particularly boisterous Prommer who kept interrupting his speech by turning round and saying 'I do wish you'd go home!'