Prom 46 (11.09.21) - Last Night of the Proms 2021

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Indeed so - or if seated on the platform behind the orchestra with his back to you!

Yes indeed, though that could never have happened in Manchester.

[cloughie]

Yes indeed, though that could never have happened in Manchester.

Wrong side of the Pennines!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Wrong side of the Pennines!

Not at all. There were no audience seats behind the orchestra at the Free Trade Hall.

[oddoneout]

This just served to remind me how many Last Nights I have seen over the years. Oddly enough I can't remember listening to them but whether that's because, for whatever reason, the radio wasn't put on or that it was past my bedtime and I wasn't allowed to stay up.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/10/a-jolly-revel-or-britains-answer-to-a-nuremberg-rally-how-the-guardian-has-reviewed-the-last-night-of-the-proms

[cloughie]

This just served to remind me how many Last Nights I have seen over the years. Oddly enough I can't remember listening to them but whether that's because, for whatever reason, the radio wasn't put on or that it was past my bedtime and I wasn't allowed to stay up.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...t-of-the-proms

I have to say I’ve enjoyed listening to Last Nights over the years - light-hearted fun to sing along and some years ago enjoyed with friends with a meal based on the season’s theme. If some people don’t like the frivolity, bombast, or inappropriateness for C20th - fine, the option of not tuning in or switching off is there. However I do agree that the first half should also retain the tradition of more serious works and this year’s ‘bleeding chunks’ are not a good idea. Proms in the park invading the broadcast from RAH has in recent years been a very poor idea.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I have to say I’ve enjoyed listening to Last Nights over the years - light-hearted fun to sing along and some years ago enjoyed with friends with a meal based on the season’s theme. If some people don’t like the frivolity, bombast, or inappropriateness for C20th - fine, the option of not tuning in or switching off is there. However I do agree that the first half should also retain the tradition of more serious works and this year’s ‘bleeding chunks’ are not a good idea. Proms in the park invading the broadcast from RAH has in recent years been a very poor idea.

A fellow fan . It marks the changing of the seasons along with garden cross spiders and a calculation on when to turn on the central heating…

[Petrushka]

A fellow fan . It marks the changing of the seasons along with garden cross spiders and a calculation on when to turn on the central heating…

I think I watched my first Last Night in 1967, possibly earlier (I can recall Sargent conducting) and it has ever since been one of those markers of the passing year with the lead up to Christmas. I've watched it ever since, and been to several, but I can't summon up much enthusiasm nowadays as I rather think it's become a parody of itself. I'll duly watch it again, even so, and it'll be another year almost gone.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I think I watched my first Last Night in 1967, possibly earlier (I can recall Sargent conducting) and it has ever since been one of those markers of the passing year with the lead up to Christmas. I've watched it ever since, and been to several, but I can't summon up much enthusiasm nowadays as I rather think it's become a parody of itself. I'll duly watch it again, even so, and it'll be another year almost gone.

Yes but I’ve become a parody of myself as well . That’s what the passing years also bring…

[cloughie]

A fellow fan . It marks the changing of the seasons along with garden cross spiders and a calculation on when to turn on the central heating…

Just remembered with your changing of the seasons reference the occasion when Normsn Del Mar returned at the end wearing hat and coat as Henry Wood had done many years ago.
Parodies rule maybe!

[Frances_iom]

I think I watched my first Last Night in 1967,....

I was in the arena for this - the one memory I hold is of course not the music but that last speech by Sir Malcolm Sargent - obviously to all there that he would not be back next year as he was promising.

[ardcarp]

I hate the Classic fm nature of the first half of the last night

I'm willing to give it a chance. Might be fun? MA's variation on a Theme of Ruth Gipps might turn out to be interesting. I'll duck for cover if not.....

[Prommer]

I'd like a bit more Stuart Skelton tbh, as the booked soloist! Bit of Grimes?

[Prommer]

I'd like a bit more Stuart Skelton tbh, as the booked soloist! Bit of Grimes?

Nice piece in the Times about his appearance tonight. No hand wringing about appearing at the Last Night. Robust!

I see the BBC's PR department is trying to reassure those who dislike the British elements that there will be tangos and everything too!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58513149

[oddoneout]

Nice piece in the Times about his appearance tonight. No hand wringing about appearing at the Last Night. Robust!

I see the BBC's PR department is trying to reassure those who dislike the British elements that there will be tangos and everything too!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58513149

That piece says

The BBC Proms will conclude on Saturday night with an Argentine tango,

which I thought sounded unlikely, and it isn't the case according to the published running order. As always the question "does anyone actually read before pressing print?"
This from Stuart Skelton sums up for me the way to approach the event

"Given the past 18 months, it's a chance to enjoy the event for what it is - a wrap party for the biggest music festival on the planet," he said.

Regardless of the content I shall be glad to have a Last Night without the clutter of the external proms in the Park, which have become more and more of a turn-off as the whole thing becomes so over-sized and unwieldy. Perhaps if I was more of a rave style party animal or a football fan I would find the inclusion of the mass gatherings more appealing. As it is I think, as I have said before, that it would be better to make those a separate programme.
I wonder how it feels for Braimah K-M to be omitted from the list of the of the family siblings on each side of him, presumably because he isn't considered to be a "rising star", he's just a talented musician making a career as a violinist...
I agree with Heldenleben about marking a change of season - summer sliding into autumn, children going back to school, choosing evening classes (no longer alas) and such like. It also brings back memories of the children being allowed to stay up to watch.

[Prommer]

A fellow fan . It marks the changing of the seasons along with garden cross spiders and a calculation on when to turn on the central heating…

Absolutely!