Prom 10 (24.07.20) Hollywood Rhapsody Prom - 7.30 p.m.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This evening’s concert, from 2013, features Proms favourites John Wilson and his orchestra in a celebration of classic Hollywood film scores.

Connecticut-born child prodigy Alfred Newman’s ‘Street Scene’, from the 1953 classic How to Marry a Millionaire, contrasts with the music of Jewish émigrés Erich Korngold, Max Steiner and Franz Waxman, with suites from Korngold’s swashbuckling score for Robin Hood, Steiner’s nostalgic music for Casablanca and Waxman’s brooding score for A Place in the Sun – all of them Academy Award-winners – making for a red-carpet event.

Newman: Street Scene
Kaper: Confetti
Raskin: Laura - New Suite
Herrmann: Psycho Suite
Herrmann: Salammbo Aria (Citizen Kane)
Korngold: Robin Hood - Suite
Moross: The Big Country
Steiner: Casablanca - Suite
Various: Main Title - Song Medley
Waxman: A Place in the Sun
Rózsa: Ben-Hur - Suite

Venera Gimadieva (soprano)
Matthew Ford (vocalist)
Jane Monheit (vocalist)
John Wilson Orchestra
John Wilson (conductor)

(From BBC Proms 2013, 26 August)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The Third Man would be an ideal Covid-19 contribution to a Prom of film music.

[bluestateprommer]

The Third Man would be an ideal Covid-19 contribution to a Prom of film music.

Because of just one solo zither, then? (Lame guess at trying to explain someone else's joke, to be sure.) Not sure how well a solo zither would fill the RAH without amplification, but perhaps that experiment will be tried later.

Somehow, AFAICT, I managed to miss this Prom the 1st time around 7 years back. It actually made very appropriate Friday afternoon "happy hour" listening now, albeit well early for happy hour and in isolation, to be sure. Good clean fun, energetically delivered. Plus, to address Petrushka's point about presenters in the other thread, plenty of Suzy Klein from the time in this instance, including a few moments where she was caught out talking over the start of 1 or 2 selections. Nice touch for Georgia Mann to be able to chat with JW during the 'interval'.

It turns out that 4 years later, I saw Venera Gimadieva at the Santa Fe Opera production of Le Coq d'Or, where she sang the role of the Queen of Shemakha. She did a great job there, where the icing on the cake was one outfit that showed her off to extremely flattering effect, to put it one way.

On the Franz Waxman encore, the choice was also interesting because it rather showed up the Ben-Hur suite just before it. FWIW, for those who didn't see the 2019 Silvester / New Year's Eve concert of the Berlin Philharmonic and KP on the Digital Concert Hall, KP and the BPO offered the same 'Ride of the Cossacks' encore.

[seabright]

Another missed opportunity. Why not show the entire Prom on the telly, just as it was originally transmitted ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSDTV3jSpBY

[Nick Armstrong]

Another missed opportunity. Why not show the entire Prom on the telly, just as it was originally transmitted ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSDTV3jSpBY

Well it was also originally transmitted live on R3 too... and I’m enjoying it more on the radio than first time round on tv....

[johnn10]

The concert (Prom 59)took place on 27 August 2012 and not in "early September" as stated by Katie Derham in her introduction.

[seabright]

Well it was also originally transmitted live on R3 too... and I’m enjoying it more on the radio than first time round on tv....

Naturally if you prefer a radio performance to a televised one, that's perfectly fine of course. Personally speaking, I'd much rather see Venera Gimadieva bringing the roof down with the Herrmann "Citizen Kane" aria than just hear her doing so over the air! ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwFtHTZnbF0

[gradus]

Is the sound feed the same to radio and tv? By the way what is the secret of that saturated Hollywood string sound that I love so much; A Place in the Sun positively smoulders after that introductory Alto solo and perhaps oddly puts me in mind of La plus que lente.