Proms 2022

[PhilipT]

Sunday evening's offering of "The Wreckers" was tremendous though!

Hooray! Someone I can agree with. I splashed out on two nights in a hotel so I could be in the front row. It was far, far more involving there than at Glyndebourne. I'd have liked to go to the previous night's Prom as well, but for some unaccountable reason it was in Gateshead.

[Pulcinella]

Hooray! Someone I can agree with. I splashed out on two nights in a hotel so I could be in the front row. It was far, far more involving there than at Glyndebourne. I'd have liked to go to the previous night's Prom as well, but for some unaccountable reason it was in Gateshead.

It's called levelling up when used in other contexts, a seemingly unknown concept to those who believe that the country should and does revolve around London.

[PhilipT]

It's called levelling up when used in other contexts, a seemingly unknown concept to those who believe that the country should and does revolve around London.

I would ask you to read my earlier post more carefully. My point is that festivals should be concentrated. I have no objection to the Edinburgh Festival being in Edinburgh. Come to that, I would have no objection if, outside of the Proms Season, there was a Proms on Tour going around the country, just as with Glyndebourne. What I do object to is an existing, established festival being diluted, apparently in the interests of political correctness.

[Pulcinella]

I would ask you to read my earlier post more carefully. My point is that festivals should be concentrated. I have no objection to the Edinburgh Festival being in Edinburgh. Come to that, I would have no objection if, outside of the Proms Season, there was a Proms on Tour going around the country, just as with Glyndebourne. What I do object to is an existing, established festival being diluted, apparently in the interests of political correctness.

I did use a winkeye at the end of my message!

Concentrated, yes, but in time or place? Most festivals use different venues, after all, some at a fair distance from others, so I don't particularly think that the Proms season as a whole is being 'diluted' by having a few concerts outside London. Surely season ticket holders are the only people who can perhaps justifiably feel put out if they can't attend everything. Radio 3 broadcasts every concert live, as they keep reminding us (though in fact they don't, in the case of the CBeebies one, but that's perhaps understandable), so not all is lost. There are much greater concerns for music and musicians right now than whether a concert is held in the RAH or Sage Gateshead.

[Belgrove]

In a review Fiona Maddox commented favourably on the new air conditioning system that has been installed at the RAH. Has anyone who has attended a concert this season noticed an improvement?

[PhilipT]

In a review Fiona Maddox commented favourably on the new air conditioning system that has been installed at the RAH. Has anyone who has attended a concert this season noticed an improvement?

A system (initially billed as 'forced air cooling' rather than 'air-conditioning') was installed as part of a major refurbishment about 20 years ago, didn't prove quite up to the job, and has been upgraded more than once since. I wasn't aware that there's a new system this year, but what there is now does the job, and may be quieter than the original. The changeover of the stage lighting to LEDs has also helped, especially on TV nights.

[duncan]

I was there for the late night Purcell on the day of the record-breaking temperatures. The audience was small and there were no TV lights but it was still ~30C outside at 10pm so a decent test. The temperature inside was pleasant - low 20s I'd guess - and the cooling system was inaudible to me. I think they've finally cracked it. It should be noted that I don't like fierce air-conditioning and I'm in the minority (one that included Haitink) that didn't mind the old sauna!

[Andrew]

I thought last night's Prom (Thursday 28th) somewhat "different", to put things mildly! Although no doubt Jennifer Walshe's "Site Of Investigation" monologue was well intentioned, it sounded more like a diatribe against the modern world, disparaging many of its aspects we now rely on to ease our way through life. But that's probably just me!

The Brahms in the second half was far more what I should expect to hear in a Prom broadcast. It was both beautifully played and interpreted.

[DracoM]

Proms Shosta 5th - end of grief-stricken slow movements - and that b*788^y Proms audience CLAPS.
Do they have NO SOUL or discretion? Good Grief!

[Ein Heldenleben]

Proms Shosta 5th - end of grief-stricken slow movements - and that b*788^y Proms audience CLAPS.
Do they have NO SOUL or discretion? Good Grief!

Ooh is it on delay on R3 ? They haven’t had the slow movt yet …
Oops yes they have - went out for a walk with my iPhone Sounds stream running 30 mins delayed !

[DracoM]

IMO one of the very best live perfs of the Shostakovich 5th I've heard in a very long while. Bravo BBCSSO.

[ARBurton]

Does anyone know how the BBC decide which Proms to televise (1st and last nights apart, obv)? I`m not going down the "why isn`t the Prom on xxx being televised" road - genuinely interested in how.

[Opinionated Knowall]

There's an article in today's Guardian titled "Proms composers and their extraordinary new music." It reminds me to ask if anyone has ever gone back over the last 50 years of BBC Proms commissions to find out (a) how many works received just one performance and then sunk without trace after their premieres, never to be played again; and (b) how much money was paid to the various composers for each commission, presumably out of the licence fee. I think we should be told!

I have just finished a PhD on the music the BBC commissioned for the Proms between 1960 and 1985, and John Buller was one of the composers I looked at in detail. One subject that I considered then rejected on grounds of space was the 'afterlife' of Proms commissions. Many have had commercial recordings (like Proenca), and several have appeared on NMC, among other labels. Proenca was given another performance in the BBCSO's winter season, on 7 November 1979, and Buller tried to persuade Robert Ponsonby to take the work on a foreign tour, without success. Very few Prom commissions have entered the repertoire: Nicholas Maw's 'Scenes and Arias', maybe? And of course Tavener's 'Protecting Veil', although that fell outside the scope of my research. I did write a chapter on the development of the commissioning fund for the Proms during this period, which grew from £150 in 1960 to £30,000 in 1985. The amount paid to individual composers is available in the BBC Written Archives Centre. All I'll say is that William Glock offered composers £50 in 1960! The kudos of a Proms commission (the 'cultural capital') was always more significant than the actual fee. I'll go and take a look at that Guardian article now!

[Ein Heldenleben]

I have just finished a PhD on the music the BBC commissioned for the Proms between 1960 and 1985, and John Buller was one of the composers I looked at in detail. One subject that I considered then rejected on grounds of space was the 'afterlife' of Proms commissions. Many have had commercial recordings (like Proenca), and several have appeared on NMC, among other labels. Proenca was given another performance in the BBCSO's winter season, on 7 November 1979, and Buller tried to persuade Robert Ponsonby to take the work on a foreign tour, without success. Very few Prom commissions have entered the repertoire: Nicholas Maw's 'Scenes and Arias', maybe? And of course Tavener's 'Protecting Veil', although that fell outside the scope of my research. I did write a chapter on the development of the commissioning fund for the Proms during this period, which grew from £150 in 1960 to £30,000 in 1985. The amount paid to individual composers is available in the BBC Written Archives Centre. All I'll say is that William Glock offered composers £50 in 1960! The kudos of a Proms commission (the 'cultural capital') was always more significant than the actual fee. I'll go and take a look at that Guardian article now!

Although many Proms commissions have little afterlife the exposure to a Radio audience of somewhere between 200 to 400,000 (my estimate - much more if it’s a last night commission ) means that anything heard at the proms will get a significantly bigger audience than a concert performance (unless that is also broadcast ).
It would be interesting to know , and perhaps your thesis considers this , whether Proms commissions have had any impact on fashions in classical music. They must be one of the few large scale commissions left. There’s quite a tendency for composers to do a “fill the space “ piece full of flashy effects . Whereas in the Albert Hall it’s often cannier to go quiet - that has a lot of impact.
£50 in 1960 is the equivalent of £1240 now using RPI figures . As a comparison I budgeted £8,000 for a 12 - 15 cue non complex Synth based film score 14 years ago and was told I was getting it relatively cheaply . Proms commissions are no road to riches .

[jayne lee wilson]

Proms Shosta 5th - end of grief-stricken slow movements - and that b*788^y Proms audience CLAPS.
Do they have NO SOUL or discretion? Good Grief!

There was no applause at the end of the slow movement; as anyone who heard the performance (which had plenty wrong with it, if fine technically) will know. If you want to hear what actually happened just go and listen to it.

How so to see such sparse comment on a wonderful Rachmaninov 2 and Tchaikovsky 4, so little generally on symphonic performances this season, and almost nothing on the new music.

Posted under protest at my reduced membership