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

[Prommer]

Smoke and mirrors.

[Prommer]

Now we get some communal singing! With pedal notes! And no masks!

[oddoneout]

Um, who in the Hall is singing? Is there a chorus? They keep cutting away… weird.

I thought I heard mention of some members of the BBC Symphony Chorus being involved.

[bluestateprommer]

I thought I heard mention of some members of the BBC Symphony Chorus being involved.

Petroc mentioned 25 members of the BBC SC, if I heard it correctly.

BTW, as Sakari Oramo kindly gave a shout-out in his speech to the Promenaders Musical Charities, doing their work online this year (and last), and their planned allocation of funds to Help Musicians UK:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/proms2021-helpmusicians

[Prommer]

Well, in the end, that was lovely. I cannot stand Auld Lang Syne (normally) but it was actually moving.

[jonfan]

Very moving indeed and an excellent speech. It still looks odd that all the performers are distanced but the audience is not.

[edashtav]

Or even better, the Seven Last Words..... incredible piece.

Seconded!

[edashtav]

Err, a shock to you but maybe the Celtic nations regard London as on the fringe of what’s regarded as the UK when confronted with such disdain.
Glad SS is in better voice this half.

Yes, SS produced one electrifying high note that no living Heldentenor could have surpassed!

[edashtav]

The first half proved to be a pretty good mix (mixtape?) of selections. In particular, the Malcolm Arnold work received a splendid reading from Sakari Oramo and the BBC SO, showing that their reading of MA's Symphony No. 5 earlier in the season was no fluke. For those inclined to get to London this upcoming 2 October (obviously not including me), Oramo and the BBC SO are performing Ruth Gipps' Horn Concerto in their Barbican season opener.
[…]

Yes, Arnold’s Variations, which I’d not encountered before, came across as fresh as a daisy. What a delightful, endearing work which recaptures in sound a lost youth and, maybe, a lost love. It’s full of in-jokes, symbolism and ‘joie de vivre’. It took me back to Arnold Bax’s ‘Farewell, My Youth’ . However, Bax’s Memoir is tinged with with deep regret for he describes the ‘land of lost content’, whereas, I sense that Arnold managed, perhaps for a final time, to forget his mental problems and reach his halcyon, the equivalent of Bax’s Moy Mell a.k.a. the happy plain. A great choice for the Last Night.

[As an afterthought, I hugely enjoyed Florence Price’s Juba and the Piazzolla Tango that followed. Full of exuberance, liberty and licence. Let’s Party.]

[mikealdren]

Now watching the accordion on tv ( with sound through my hifi ) having heard it before on R3 . The tv balance has a gigantic ‘hole in the middle ‘ - virtually no centre image at all . Completely balanced for the telly audience to create a stereo effect . There’s an article I read in which it’s revealed the tv balance is done on a Decca tree whereas radio uses co-incident pairs . I know which I prefer ….
Superb accordion playing ….

Yes, how I long for the days when radio and TV were live so you could watch on TV and listen on R3. Nowadays even DAB, analogue and internet radio vary by a huge time shift and TV is even less 'live'. Does analogue/digital conversion really take so long?

It's just as bad with the cricket and BBC TV doesn't even cover much of that, how can we watch on TV when we already know what's happened from the radio!

[DracoM]

Finnish station https://areena.yle.fi/audio/ohjelmat/yle-klassinen carried the Last Night too.
Sound profile wonderful.

[secondfiddle]

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

Regarding Barbirolli and the National Anthem, if memory serves me correctly JB only conducted the first half of the anthem facing the audience, and he would turn to the orchestra for the last half.

[cloughie]

Regarding Barbirolli and the National Anthem, if memory serves me correctly JB only conducted the first half of the anthem facing the audience, and he would turn to the orchestra for the last half.

Your memory is better than mine but that sounds right - in my mind I can still see him on the City Hall podium - hair flopping forwards as he extracts the best from the players!

[Nick Armstrong]

Well, in the end, that was lovely.

The end was the best part I thought - Jerusalem (perfectly paced) & the Britten version of the national anthem. And yes, very good speech.

[cloughie]

The end was the best part I thought - Jerusalem (perfectly paced) & the Britten version of the national anthem. And yes, very good speech.

Not impressed by his singing but Stuart Skelton’s stature in the cricket whites reminded me of the late Colin Milburn!