Prom 1 (30.07.21) - First Night of the Proms 2021

[Barbirollians]

I have watched it tonight on iPlayer and enjoyed the concert a great deal . Would it not be great if the Essentual Classics approach could also be reversed for the last night ?

I did not find the soprano ‘s wobble too troublesome in the Serenade and I enjoyed the Macmillan piece though I understand the derivative Britten criticism .

I thought the Sibelius 2 was fab but I like full fat Kletzki/Barbirolli type performances .

Finally, the Poulenc was fine but I felt the orchestral contributions had more fire than the organist . I find it difficult to get away from Simon Preston in this concerto.

[underthecountertenor]

Oh poor diddums! Feeling threatened?

Where are they in a minority? Why does it matter? Take a look at the composers for this concert...

Off to watch the proudly woke F1 Qualifying now..... not too many female drivers though are there?
But at least the Grid Girls have long gone....

Care to offer your personal definition of "woke"?

JLW WOKE LOUD AND PROUD

I can’t help feeling that you’re missing marvin’s clearly implicit point, JLW. It’s obvious that the men are just better players than the women. Women shouldn’t be allowed near a trombone. The sight of some of the string players running offstage because they’d all forgotten their bows was embarrassing. And that missed entry in the Sibelius because a wind player thought it necessary to re-apply her lipstick? It’s a disgrace.
We can just about trust them with a harp, but they’d have to get a man to move it for them.

[LMcD]

I can’t help feeling that you’re missing marvin’s clearly implicit point, JLW. It’s obvious that the men are just better players than the women. Women shouldn’t be allowed near a trombone. The sight of some of the string players running offstage because they’d all forgotten their bows was embarrassing. And that missed entry in the Sibelius because a wind player thought it necessary to re-apply her lipstick? It’s a disgrace.

Well ... I hadn't decided whether to watch the Sibelius, but you've really whetted my appetite!

[Ein Heldenleben]

Well ... I hadn't decided whether to watch the Sibelius, but you've really whetted my appetite!

I’ve only just sussed that this entire woke non -debate is about last night’s First night and the BBC Symphony Orchestra which is very confusing as this is the Golden Age Of Broadway thread and the music tonight is being performed by the very wonderful BBC Concert Orchestra . It appears that Bluestateprommer and me are (possibly) the only people singing along and tapping our feet to this wonderful (inclusive ) music. Can we be left in peace ?

[french frank]

I'm not sure whether the discussion about men and women in the orchestra enhances this thread at all, but at least it's now been moved to the thread it refers to.

Further comments on the First Night concert welcome!

[Ein Heldenleben]

I'm not sure whether the discussion about men and women in the orchestra enhances this thread at all, but at least it's now been moved to the thread it refers to.

Further comments on the First Night concert welcome!

You might as well delete my post #64 as now I’m on the wrong thread (having been on the right one ) .
No it doesn’t enhance it … you’re right. The BBC SO covered themselves in glory last night and that’s what matters !

[underthecountertenor]

I'm not sure whether the discussion about men and women in the orchestra enhances this thread at all, but at least it's now been moved to the thread it refers to.

Further comments on the First Night concert welcome!

Well no, but I do feel that views of the sort expressed by marvin shouldn’t go unchallenged, one way or another.

[gradus]

Looking at the staff list the BBC Concert Orchestra has more male players than female so don’t understand the debate ? . On the night the female singers are nailing it particularly the peerless Louise Dearman. Jamie Parker in Some Enchanted Evening is singing nicely but irritatingly behind the best . Thing is Enzo Pinza , being a proper opera singer , sang it bang on the beat . Does it matter ? Not much I guess…Wish he was doing This Nearly Was mine as it’s being ever so slightly messed up as I type.
Yep the women are doing better than the men ….

I love Pinza's recording of This Nearly Was Mine - Richard Rogers but sung like Verdi.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I love Pinza's recording of This Nearly Was Mine - Richard Rogers but sung like Verdi.

Seconded - what a voice he had . Opera voices don’t usually work on Broadway shows unless the singer turns it down a bit ( Bluestateprommer has an interesting excerpt from a Diana Damrau interview on this point on the Broadway prom thread ) But I think Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote the song ( and indeed Some Enchanted Evening) with Pinza in mind i.e. for his big back -of -the -Gods Spinto voice . I bet he didn’t need amplification.

[Nick Armstrong]

Seconded - what a voice he had . Opera voices don’t usually work on Broadway shows unless the singer turns it down a bit ( Bluestateprommer has an interesting excerpt from a Diana Damrau interview on this point on the Broadway prom thread ) But I think Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote the song ( and indeed Some Enchanted Evening) with Pinza in mind i.e. for his big back -of -the -Gods Spinto voice . I bet he didn’t need amplification.

(Consults First Night programme…) I’m very confused

Some posts here need shifting to the right thread but I find I have no mod rights in the Hallow’d Precincts of the Proms so cannot assist on this occasion

[jayne lee wilson]

Well no, but I do feel that views of the sort expressed by marvin shouldn’t go unchallenged, one way or another.

you bloody bet

Decorate the RAH with rainbows!

[PhilipT]

Decorate the RAH with rainbows!

Please don't say that, JLW. I've had countless arguments with people who want to hijack the Proms to further their own political views, and I'd rather not have to add you to the list. Really, really not.

To keep this on-thread, I'd just like record how good it was to go to a proper concert for the first time in ages, and meet up with, or at least see and recognize, a few other regular Prom-goers. Reminders of Covid were everywhere, most notably the way the socially-distanced camera operators took up vast swathes of the Stalls and the Arena. There's a long way to go still. The stewarding was better than average in difficult circumstances - thank you to the redcoat who shifted someone mistakenly occupying my seat; and the music was well worth the trip. And I might even listen to the MacMillan again at home, at a more realistic volume.

[LMcD]

Please don't say that, JLW. I've had countless arguments with people who want to hijack the Proms to further their own political views, and I'd rather not have to add you to the list. Really, really not.

To keep this on-thread, I'd just like record how good it was to go to a proper concert for the first time in ages, and meet up with, or at least see and recognize, a few other regular Prom-goers. Reminders of Covid were everywhere, most notably the way the socially-distanced camera operators took up vast swathes of the Stalls and the Arena. There's a long way to go still. The stewarding was better than average in difficult circumstances - thank you to the redcoat who shifted someone mistakenly occupying my seat; and the music was well worth the trip. And I might even listen to the MacMillan again at home, at a more realistic volume.

I can only apologize if I contributed to the 'highjacking' of this thread. Perhaps I misunderstood the intention and spirit of #42 - one deploys irony at one's peril around here!

[Ein Heldenleben]

(Consults First Night programme…) I’m very confused

Some posts here need shifting to the right thread but I find I have no mod rights in the Hallow’d Precincts of the Proms so cannot assist on this occasion

Hi Nick .The post that is confusing you was originally on the Golden Age of Broadway thread . It was written in slightly exasperated Response to a provocative comment on the gender split of the BBC SO that for some reason was posted on a thread for a concert performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra ( which employs more men than women in fact) . Back on thread and on a trumpet note : Both orchestras have excellent 1st trumpets who employ a sweet vibrato . The 1st of the BBC Concert Orchestra has perhaps a slightly fatter “Broadway “ sound on occasion as is appropriate. The 1st of the SO is a man , the first of the BBC CO a is a woman . Please can we get on with music and acknowledge the contribution that all make to this wonderful art form ?

[Just to pop in here without derailing the thread again: your post is still there at #20. I copied it here but it referred to both topics which made editing a bit tricky! ff]

[gradus]

Yes, the days of Angela Morley having to call herself Wally Stott to get work have, thankfully, long gone.

Just noticed this, I had no idea that Wally Stott - such a familiar name to people of my generation - became Angela Morley. There's an interesting Wiki article about her.