Booking 2020

[Anastasius]

I really can't see this going ahead. Covid-19 isn't going to simply disappear like that. It will be out there for a very long time to come. As far as I can see the only sure way to avoid catching it is to treat everyone that you meet as asymptomatic. So you either wear a mask or apply social-distancing. I could see them taking a massive financial hit and only allowing every third seat to be occupied but the elephant in the room are the Prommers. So...everyone wearing a mask inside the RAH ? How would an orchestra work ? Masks in the string section but woodwind ? Brass ?

I'm with Petrushka on this. Cancel and go for 2021 IMO

[Norrette]

The proms twitter account seems to be revving up.

https://twitter.com/bbcproms

I've been sorting out the metadata on my ripped music and setting up a mini PC as a music server. Perhaps ready to curate my own proms in-house.

[Norrette]

I really can't see this going ahead. Covid-19 isn't going to simply disappear like that. It will be out there for a very long time to come. As far as I can see the only sure way to avoid catching it is to treat everyone that you meet as asymptomatic. So you either wear a mask or apply social-distancing. I could see them taking a massive financial hit and only allowing every third seat to be occupied but the elephant in the room are the Prommers. So...everyone wearing a mask inside the RAH ? How would an orchestra work ? Masks in the string section but woodwind ? Brass ?

I'm with Petrushka on this. Cancel and go for 2021 IMO

Perhaps they have an external location in mind. Can't see the RAH as a healthy place to be. I wouldn't go this year.

[DracoM]

Cancelling and advertised we are going for 2021 is what we've done with the Music Festival I help to run up here.
Players seem relieved that we are reassuring them that this is the case, and have been keen to sign up for it.

[kernelbogey]

Among the huge issues involved for the BBC is how the RAH would respond to the season being cancelled. It would leave a huge hole in the schedule and their finances and I'd expect they'd want a massive cancellation fee. Given the threatening atmosphere there has been politically towards the Corporation, this must be an agonising call. I have a hunch that Proms regulars - and others - would look kindly on any 'charitable' fund set up in support.....

[DracoM]

Agreed - what of the Proms AT ALL???

[Old Grumpy]

Cancelling and advertised we are going for 2021 is what we've done with the Music Festival I help to run up here.
Players seem relieved that we are reassuring them that this is the case, and have been keen to sign up for it.

Would that be this one, perchance, DM? We went last year and had tickets for some events this year.

OG

[seabright]

I think that for the upcoming summer TV schedules, the Proms organisers ought to wade through all the great tele-recordings of the past in their archives and show them again, regardless of the seasons in which they originally occurred. In other words, dig out some of the great conductors and soloists whose Proms were televised and recorded. The precedent is being set by the people in charge of the sports schedules, witness today's Radio Times: on BBC1 under the heading "World Cup Rewind" they are showing Northern Ireland vs Spain from 1982; Brazil vs. Denmark from 1998; and South Korea vs Italy from 2002. I'd particularly like to see some Rozhdestvensky Proms from his time as the BBCSO Chief Conductor. I believe he barely bothered with rehearsals and left everything to the concert itself under the heading "it will be alright on the night"!

[Petrushka]

I think that for the upcoming summer TV schedules, the Proms organisers ought to wade through all the great tele-recordings of the past in their archives and show them again, regardless of the seasons in which they originally occurred. In other words, dig out some of the great conductors and soloists whose Proms were televised and recorded. The precedent is being set by the people in charge of the sports schedules, witness today's Radio Times: on BBC1 under the heading "World Cup Rewind" they are showing Northern Ireland vs Spain from 1982; Brazil vs. Denmark from 1998; and South Korea vs Italy from 2002. I'd particularly like to see some Rozhdestvensky Proms from his time as the BBCSO Chief Conductor. I believe he barely bothered with rehearsals and left everything to the concert itself under the heading "it will be alright on the night"!

I once attended a Rozhdestvensky Prom rehearsal and, yes, it was more of a general run through than anything more meaningful. However, he got electrifying results in the evening concert itself. Some of his Proms are commercially available on DVD.

I'd certainly be up for a season of TV repeats along the lines suggested. As I said above, those schedules are going to need filling!

[LMcD]

The 2020 Latitude Festival has been cancelled. It was due to start the day before the Proms .....

[ucanseetheend]

Surely the Complete Proms could be televised without an audience or a limited number. Orchestras are performing now, Berlin Phil are playing in a studio concert on May 4th and Czech phil are also performing.Even if season is reduced in number of concerts . Mustnt give up yet.

[pastoralguy]

I once attended a Rozhdestvensky Prom rehearsal and, yes, it was more of a general run through than anything more meaningful. However, he got electrifying results in the evening concert itself. Some of his Proms are commercially available on DVD.

I'd certainly be up for a season of TV repeats along the lines suggested. As I said above, those schedules are going to need filling!

One of my favourite music dvds is Noddy conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra with Itzhak Perlman in Prokofiev's First violin concerto. There's a lovely moment where a wind player makes a false entry and The Maestro corrects it beautifully without fuss.

[seabright]

^^^ That took me to YouTube and Noddy conducting the beginning of the Overture to "Ruslan and Lyudmila" and the startling revelation that the men in the orchestra were not wearing jackets. Was everyone suffering a heatwave at the time? ... Incidentally, someone at ICA Classics needs to correct the typo in his name under the video ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnnAF7j-2yk

[Petrushka]

^^^ That took me to YouTube and Noddy conducting the beginning of the Overture to "Ruslan and Lyudmila" and the startling revelation that the men in the orchestra were not wearing jackets. Was everyone suffering a heatwave at the time? ... Incidentally, someone at ICA Classics needs to correct the typo in his name under the video ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnnAF7j-2yk

Assume you never went to a Prom prior to the air conditioning being installed? During a heatwave and under the television lights the Albert Hall was like a sauna. Happy memories of many a sweat-soaked evening at the Proms!

I wasn't present at the Ruslan performance but I was there at the Nutcracker Act 2 which is on the same DVD. It's an absolutely wonderful performance, magically directed by Rozhdestvensky. Just thinking of it now induces an aching nostalgia for so many glorious Proms and wondering if I will ever see the like again .

[Bryn]

Assume you never went to a Prom prior to the air conditioning being installed? During a heatwave and under the television lights the Albert Hall was like a sauna. Happy memories of many a sweat-soaked evening at the Proms!

I wasn't present at the Ruslan performance but I was there at the Nutcracker Act 2 which is on the same DVD. It's an absolutely wonderful performance, magically directed by Rozhdestvensky. Just thinking of it now induces an aching nostalgia for so many glorious Proms and wondering if I will ever see the like again .

Oh let us all hope and strive so.