Proms 2022

[mahlerfan]

I think this is a dud season as a whole and very few concerts made me want to rush out and buy a ticket

Do remember that this is the first proper season following all the upheaval of the pandemic. Maybe we shouldn't be swift to judge, especially given that we don't rush out to buy tickets at the best of times (judging by how few forum members actually attend, going by the archived threads on previous years).

[Master Jacques]

but I asked about your comments about your claim about the comments on this forum....

You said - "The decline in the Proms is directly mirrored by the decline in the volume (and quality?) of comments here......"

Here's what I said.....

The decline in the volume (number?) of comments is probably due to there being fewer active forum members now compared to previous years. As for the quality, I'm not sure there's an issue, perhaps you could say more about this.....

It was Prommer who made the remarks you've quoted, not I. As a very irregular contributor to the Forum, I don't feel qualified to comment on the general levels of activity, or the quality of postings - only the Prom programming itself.

[Hilaryjane]

Do remember that this is the first proper season following all the upheaval of the pandemic. Maybe we shouldn't be swift to judge, especially given that we don't rush out to buy tickets at the best of times (judging by how few forum members actually attend, going by the archived threads on previous years).

I must be one if the few board members that do attend then! I have been an arena season ticket holder for over 40 years and am absolutely delighted that after 3 years I can attend a full season with visiting orchestras, choirs and choruses.

I have ticked off about 40 Proms to attend and am looking forward to all of them. So far I have been to the first two nights which were both packed out. For me, the Proms isn't just about the music, it's also about the camaraderie amongst fellow music loving Prommers and the atmosphere of being in the Hall with everyone. That is what makes the Proms so special.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I must be one if the few board members that do attend then! I have been an arena season ticket holder for over 40 years and am absolutely delighted that after 3 years I can attend a full season with visiting orchestras, choirs and choruses.

I have ticked off about 40 Proms to attend and am looking forward to all of them. So far I have been to the first two nights which were both packed out. For me, the Proms isn't just about the music, it's also about the camaraderie amongst fellow music loving Prommers and the atmosphere of being in the Hall with everyone. That is what makes the Proms so special.

Good for you. I wish I could go to more but it’s a £150 train ride plus the same on a hotel plus meals. (and the tickets )
I don’t agree with the criticism of this season - I’ve enjoyed the three I’ve heard so far and am looking forward to the rest .
As in previous years I will listen to virtually all the classical proms.
One thing - there’s actually more exchange of views on the performance this forum than there is in the hall.

[gurnemanz]

I must be one if the few board members that do attend then! I have been an arena season ticket holder for over 40 years and am absolutely delighted that after 3 years I can attend a full season with visiting orchestras, choirs and choruses.

I have ticked off about 40 Proms to attend and am looking forward to all of them. So far I have been to the first two nights which were both packed out. For me, the Proms isn't just about the music, it's also about the camaraderie amongst fellow music loving Prommers and the atmosphere of being in the Hall with everyone. That is what makes the Proms so special.

How pleasant to read something positive on here. I first attended a Prom in 1968, aged 19 - my first live classical concert. Despite living some distance from RAH since 1978 we have tried to attend at least one concert each year. In my innocence I also remain generally enthusiastic and am not inclined to harp on about a perceived decline in standards.

We still enjoy the Prom experience - still mostly standing in the Arena, except for Wagner operas. We try to meet up with a friend from Germany who is Head of Music in a German Gymnasium and whose wife is a professional mezzo. They come over most years.

We like to go to the Queen's Arms afterwards and have sometimes chatted there to members of visiting orchestras, eg three string players from the Dresden Staatskapelle. Especially interesting for my wife who was born in Saxony.

[mahlerfan]

I must be one if the few board members that do attend then! I have been an arena season ticket holder for over 40 years and am absolutely delighted that after 3 years I can attend a full season with visiting orchestras, choirs and choruses.

I have ticked off about 40 Proms to attend and am looking forward to all of them. So far I have been to the first two nights which were both packed out. For me, the Proms isn't just about the music, it's also about the camaraderie amongst fellow music loving Prommers and the atmosphere of being in the Hall with everyone. That is what makes the Proms so special.

I attend anything between 8-15 promos average, although I managed only 2 or 3 last year. I tend to be abroad a lot during the season and can't get to as many as I would like.

I agree with you that it's not just about the music, it's the atmosphere that's so special. Bruckner 6 tonight

[duncan]

Arena season ticket holder from 1990 to about 2010. Those years constituted a major part of my musical education. I made many friends in the process, one of whom will be attending with me this evening! Attendance has been more patchy recently due to family and work commitments and less stamina for standing and late nights but this applies to all concert going (down to about 30 a year from over 100 in the 90s).

The standard has fluctuated over the years but the season has nearly always turned out to be much better than I had anticipated when first announced.

[PhilipT]

I must be one if the few board members that do attend then! I have been an arena season ticket holder for over 40 years and am absolutely delighted that after 3 years I can attend a full season with visiting orchestras, choirs and choruses.

I have ticked off about 40 Proms to attend and am looking forward to all of them. So far I have been to the first two nights which were both packed out. For me, the Proms isn't just about the music, it's also about the camaraderie amongst fellow music loving Prommers and the atmosphere of being in the Hall with everyone. That is what makes the Proms so special.

I am very much with you. I attend, but I don't live in London and I still have a job. I managed 55 in 2000, but that won't happen again. The camaraderie has suffered from the revised queuing arrangements; the multiple venues are devaluing the Season Ticket; and the attempt to attract a more diverse audience (read "We hate regular Prommers") is raising the number of concerts I don't want to go to.

[Cockney Sparrow]

I am very much with you. I attend, but I don't live in London and I still have a job. I managed 55 in 2000, but that won't happen again. The camaraderie has suffered from the revised queuing arrangements; the multiple venues are devaluing the Season Ticket; and the attempt to attract a more diverse audience (read "We hate regular Prommers") is raising the number of concerts I don't want to go to.

The syndrome - "we need to compromise what we have (all that old hat elitist stuff) to attract a younger, more diverse audience, and marketing it like hell will build its audience......." is extending into the Proms, even more than previous years.

If it alienates the existing audience - "well they are old and getting more elderly, so we can't be ruled by their preferences". The useful outcome might be that it will be very apparent whether it works - attendance, ticket sales.

Other points - I'm sure I've read in Private Eye that (as ever) the cost of the BBC orchestras is seen as a particular problem for the BBC - more so than ever whilst they are making swathes of journalists, and other staff, redundant or pitched into premature retirement, and multiple other hard decisions. Also that those orchestras will be tasked with generating 20% of - I presume their budget cost -as opposed to the present 10%. (The article noted this would put them into competition with the income generation possibilities of the other (London and other based) orchestras).

I'm unsure whether the present season is somewhat lacklustre because of limitations arising from caution, still, on the covid front, or whether it is a cost-reduction outcome. We will see. Although there are some Proms I would consider for the trek up Exhibition Road, the ticket prices for a seat where the sound is half decent is pretty steep and the number of items and length of the concert, in many cases hardly return value for the cost.

Maybe the heavy marketing (the superlatives) and the ticket sales to tourists, and those new audiences, will sustain the Proms -we will see.

[Master Jacques]

Maybe the heavy marketing (the superlatives) and the ticket sales to tourists, and those new audiences, will sustain the Proms -we will see.

Tourists are most certainly being targeted as never before, as part of the "London experience". I remember a Messiaen prom about five years ago, where I found myself (side stalls) behind a bank of Italian tourists, who - judging from the amount of phone filming and clicking that was going on during the performance - were clearly not there for the music. Fortunately, they didn't return after the interval!

[Andrew]

I'm making a determined attempt to listen to all the Proms this year. In the past I've "dropped in" on a few broadcasts but, with the use of BBC Sounds and a half-way decent set of Bose headphones I intend to catch them all-eventually!

So far Verdi's Requiem has been a blast and the Vaughan Williams' fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis was delightful! Let's hope this "Proms novice" enjoys the rest of them as much. One odd thing, though: Sunday's Prom was preceded by an announcement that the broadcast had been edited..... I thought all the transmissions were to be placed on the "Sounds" App unedited and in full. Has anyone else noticed this or can explain why the announcement was made?

[BBMmk2]

Bad signal on R3 this evening.

[BBMmk2]

I'm making a determined attempt to listen to all the Proms this year. In the past I've "dropped in" on a few broadcasts but, with the use of BBC Sounds and a half-way decent set of Bose headphones I intend to catch them all-eventually!

So far Verdi's Requiem has been a blast and the Vaughan Williams' fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis was delightful! Let's hope this "Proms novice" enjoys the rest of them as much. One odd thing, though: Sunday's Prom was preceded by an announcement that the broadcast had been edited..... I thought all the transmissions were to be placed on the "Sounds" App unedited and in full. Has anyone else noticed this or can explain why the announcement was made?

Enjoy!

[Andrew]

Enjoy!

I AM! So far, so brilliant!

[Andrew]

Thursday's Prom was based on two versions of "Shéhérazde, both of which were beautiful to listen to, and I was reminded by the oft-quoted definition of an intellectual as being someone who can listen to the "William Tell" overture without being reminded of "The Lone Ranger". Perhaps the definition of a Radio 3 listener is one who can listen to Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade without being reminded of the early episodes of "Paul Temple". I'm sorry to have to admit that my exposure to Radio 4extra precludes me from qualifying.....